by William Eric McFadden
From the Strouds Run State Park website:
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The park derives its name from the Strouds family who settled in the area in the early 1800s. The land was purchased by the state for forest conservation purposes from 1948 to 1953. The dam creating Dow Lake was completed in 1960. The lake bears the name of C.L. Dow of Ohio University who was instrumental in initiating the project.
Pictures
Description
On Saturday, July 6, 2024, one member of the Southeast Ohio Radio Adventure Team performed a successful bicycle-portable activation of Strouds Run State Park (US-1994) as part of the Parks on the Air (POTA; link).
Prior to the start of an afternoon cookout and picnic at Strouds Run State Park with his family, Eric McFadden, WD8RIF, bicycled from his home to the state park's Bulldog Shelter, carrying his KX2 Mini Travel Kit, with the plan to validate his activation and then join his family elsewhere at the park for afternoon cookout and picnic.
Eric arrived at Bulldog Shelter at about 1900 UTC, finding it occupied by a single family grilling and fishing. After gaining their permission to share the picnic shelter, Eric set up his Elecraft KX2 on a well-placed picnic table, erected his Goture Red Fox Super Hard 720 carbon-fiber mast on his bicycle, sloped his Tufteln (link) 35' EFRW antenna from the KX2 up to top of the mast, and deployed three 17' counterpoise wires directly on the ground. Eric was on the air at 1914 UTC.
Eric's KX2 station.
The mast supported on the bicycle. The
wire antenna is not visible in this photo.
Eric had good cell-signal at this location 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 and beginning to call "CQ POTA", and was pleased to be auto-spotted on POTA Spots. His first QSO at 1915 UTC with WB8IZM in Michigan. This was followed at 1918 UTC by a P2P QSO with AE0Z who was activating Branched Oak State Recreation Area (US-5647) in Nebraska.
After several minutes of calling CQ with no takers, Eric checked POTA Spots for P2P QSO opportunities and at 1926 UTC he completed a P2P QSO on 20m with KE5CW who was activating Ray Roberts Lake State Park (US-3051) in Texas.
Switching to 40m, Eric found a clear frequency to run, began calling CQ, and was again auto-spotted on POTA Spots. His first QSO in this run came at 1931 UTC with KC5F. The 40m band proved to be more productive than the 20m band had been, with Eric's seventh QSO in this run coming at 1940 UTC with WB8DTT in Michigan. This run included a P2P QSO with KC8LA at John Bryan State Park (US-1964) in Ohio and QSOs with operators located in North Carolina, Illinois, Maryland, Vermont, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Michigan.
With his activation validated with ten QSOs, Eric turned to hunting for P2P QSOs. At 1945 UTC, Eric completed a P2P QSO on 20m with W0ABE at Pawnee National Grassland (US-7490) in Colorado.At 2001 UTC, he completed a P2P QSO on 20m with W5RRR at Brazos Bend State Park (US-2992) in Texas. At 2005 UTC he completed a P2P QSO on 30m with NA9M at Nevin Springs State Fish and Wildlife Area (US-10650) in Wisconsin. Finally, at 2011 UTC, he completed a P2P QSO on 20m with AG7TX at Spooner Lake and Backcountry State Park (US-3389) in Nevada.
In all, Eric logged fourteen QSOs, with seven P2P QSOs. All of Eric's QSOs were CW and were made at five watts output.
During his operation, the family that had been there upon his arrival departed, to be replaced by a much larger group who set out a large spread and cooked shish over charcoal.
Young anglers.
Preparing to cook shish.
Eric tore down his station, loaded everything back onto his bicycle, and rode to the park's swim-beach area to meet his family for their own picnic cookout. Following the picnic, Eric bicycled home. (In an effort to lighten his load on the climbs he would encounter on his ride home, Eric let his wife carry his KX2 Mini Travel Kit and pannier home in her car.)
Eric also submitted his log to the World Wide Flora and Fauna in Amateur Radio (WWFF; link) program for an operation at Strouds Run State Park, KFF-1994.
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