by William Eric McFadden
From the Strouds Run State Park website:
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Strouds Run State Park is located in the scenic forested hills of Athens County, in the midst of the unglaciated Appalachian Plateau. Although untouched by the vast ice sheets that moved across portions of the state over 12,000 years ago, Strouds Run displays the effects of the glaciers -- in the deep ravines and high hills -- where the valleys served as outlets for torrents of glacial meltwaters. The erosive power of these waters carved the valleys and hillsides, creating the familiar topography Ohioans know today. Large deposits of glacial outwash, primarily sand and gravel, were deposited along these streams and strongly affected the type of biological communities present today.
Pictures
Description
On Saturday, December 28, 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) program.
When the day brought unseasonably-warm weather, Eric McFadden, WD8RIF, decided to combine a bicycle ride with a POTA activation. Eric began his ride at his workplace parking lot, when the temperature was 65°F (!), and rode to the state park's Bulldog Shelter, arriving at 1855 UTC, finding the picnic shelter to be unoccupied.
"Welcome to Strouds Run State Park".
Eric had carried with him on this ride his KH1 Micro Travel Kit, a Whiterook MK-33 single-lever paddle and cable in a tin can, clipboards, and his Goture Red Fox Super Hard 720 carbon-fiber mast. Placing his KH1 on one of the picnic tables, Eric deployed his ad hoc 35' EFRW antenna as an inverted-L between a picnic shelter post and the top of his Goture Red Fox Super Hard 720 telescoping carbon fiber mast bungied vertically to his bicycle, with the 13' counterpoise wire placed directly on the ground opposite the radiating wire. Because the saturated ground was very soft, he placed his paddle's tin can under the bicycle's kickstand in order to prevent the kickstand from sinking into the ground and the bicycle toppling over. Eric was on the air at 1908 UTC.
Dow Lake, viewed prior to set-up.
The KH1 station.
The antenna and mast.
The whole station viewed from a distance.
As he has come to expect, Eric had cell-signal at Bulldog Shelter and he would be able to access POTA Spots to spot himself and to find Park-to-Park (P2P) QSO opportunities.
Eric began his operation on 20m. Finding himself a clear frequency to run, he began calling "CQ POTA" and was auto-spotted on POTA Spots. His first QSO came at 1911 UTC with AE0PL in Nebraska. During this QSO, a strong signal answering another station appeared, which told Eric that the frequency he thought was clear, wasn't, so he spent a few minutes trying to find a truly clear frequency on what turned out to be a surprisingly busy band. During this period, he stumbled upon an activator calling CQ and, at 1916 UTC he made a P2P QSO on 20m with W9UUM who was activating Hallie Marsh State Wildlife Area (US-11230) in Wisconsin.
After finally finding a frequency that appeared to be clear, Eric began calling "CQ POTA" and his first QSO in this run came at 1920 UTC with W2UD in New Jersey. QSOs came quickly, with Eric's sixth QSO in this run coming at 1926 UTC with WJ0L in Minnesota. This run included QSOs with operators located in Alabama, Colorado, Minnesota, New Jersey (2), and Oregon.
Pausing to check POTA Spots for P2P QSO opportunities, at 1930 UTC Eric made a P2P QSO on 20m with W4LOO who was activating Savannas Preserve State Park (US-3654) in Florida.
Returning again to run the frequency on 20m, Eric's first QSO in this run came at 1933 UTC with K8OD in Michigan. QSOs came quickly, with his seventh QSO in this run coming at 1939 UTC with VE2ZM in Quebec. This run included a P2P QSO with KI5GTR who was activating Bollinger Mill State Historic Site (US-3341) in Missouri, a P2P QSO with KF4GAA who was activating Three Forks State Conservation Area (US-8375) in Florida, and QSOs with operators located in Florida, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, Ontario, Quebec, and Wisconsin.
Switching to 30m, Eric found a clear frequency to run, began calling "CQ POTA", and was again auto-spotted on POTA Spots. His first QSO in this run came at 1945 UTC with W1TER in Connecticut. QSOs came quickly, with Eric's twelfth QSO in this run coming at 2004 UTC with N2TNN in Virginia. This run included a short rag-chew with Nathan, K4NTS, in Kentucky and QSOs with operators located in Connecticut, Georgia, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan (2), Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.
By this time, gray clouds were appearing in the sky and a cool breeze was picking up, so Eric decided it was time to quit, just in case those gray clouds were bringing rain.
In all, Eric made twenty-eight QSOs, including four P2P QSOs, in about forty-five minutes of on-air time.
After the operation, Eric took some more photos, loaded his bicycle, and began the ride back to his car. (Eric did not encounter rain on his return bicycle ride, but he did encounter wet roads, an indication that rain had fallen nearby while he was performing his activation.)
Dow Lake, viewed after station tear-down.
Geese arrived as Eric was leaving.
Eric was pleased to have been able to perform an unprecedented fourth bicycle-portable POTA activation during this Ohio December.
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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