From the state park website:

Originally constructed as a feeder reservoir dug by hand for the Miami & Erie Canal, Grand Lake St. Marys was the world's largest reservoir when built. The region played an important role in opening up the Northwest Territory as the St. Marys River was a vital link between the Great Lakes and the Ohio River.

The park offers 52 miles of shoreline for boating and fishing, as well as a family campground, swimming pool, and picnic areas.

Pictures

The park sign
Eric's station
Grand Lake St. Marys: 1 | 2
Behm's Lighthouse
The Rotary Lighthouse
A concrete dolphin

Description

On Friday, March 14, 2025, one member of the Southeast Ohio Radio Adventure Team performed a successful activation of Grand Lake St. Marys State Park (US-1953) in Ohio as part of the Parks on the Air (POTA; link) program.

On the drive home from a two-day work conference in Chicago, and following successful activations of Pokagon State Park, Potawatomi State Nature Preserve, and Trine at Pokagon State Recreation Area in Indiana, Eric McFadden, WD8RIF, performed an activation of Grand Lake St. Marys State Park. He was accompanied by his wife, Vickie.

Eric and Vickie arrived at Grand Lake St. Marys State Park and spent considerable time exploring before Eric decided to perform his activation in the parking area near the swimming and fishing beaches along the eastern shore of the lake. Eric deployed his 28½' end-fed random wire as a vertical on his 31' Jackite telescoping fiberglass mast in a drive-on base, placing three 17' counterpoise wires directly on the ground. Eric would have liked to operate in the great outdoors, but the wind was so blustery that he chose to operate inside the car. Mounting his Elecraft KX2 on the car's passenger-side dashboard, Eric was on the air at 1957 UTC.

"Welcome to Grand Lake St. Marys".


Eric's station; notice the
wind bending the mast over.

Eric had good cell-signal and would be able to spot himself on POTA Spots (link) and to use POTA Spots to identify possible park-to-park (P2P) QSO opportunities.

Eric began his operation on 20m. Finding himself a clear frequency to run, Eric began calling "CQ POTA" and self-spotted himself on POTA Spots. His first QSO came at 2000 UTC with N0ZT in Missouri. QSOs came quickly, with Eric's fourteenth QSO coming at 2013 UTC with NC8I in Florida. This run included a P2P QSO with W2UD who was activating Garret Mountain Reservation State Park (US-6462) in New Jersey; a P2P QSO with W3GTR who was activating Franklin Point State Park (US-1572) in Maryland; and QSOs with operators located in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, New York (2), North Carolina (2), and Tennessee.

In all, Eric made fourteen QSOs in about sixteen minutes of on-air time. All of Eric's QSOs were CW and were made with five watts output.

During his operation, Eric and Vickie saw pelicans and gulls on and over the lake. They also found two of the three lighthouses on Grand Lake St. Mary. (Had Eric been aware of the third light, he would have kept looking, but he now knows that the third light, the "Northwood Lighthouse" is viewable only from on the lake.)

Grand Lake St. Mary.


"Behm's Lighthouse", constructed 2003 in memory
of Stanley Mike Grimm, who was killed in an auto
accident in 1997. The operating marine light can
be seen up to seven miles. (source)


"Rotary Lighthouse"; built in 1986 by the Celina
Rotary Club, this structure has a wrought iron
observation deck encircling it for those who wish a
"grander" view of the lake. (source)


A concrete dolphin on the lake shore.

Eric also submitted his log to the World Wide Flora and Fauna in Amateur Radio (WWFF; link) program.

(return)

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