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 Friday, January 3, 2025, one member of the Southeast Ohio Radio Adventure Team performed a successful activation of Strouds Run State Park (US-1994) as part of the Parks on the Air (POTA; link) program.
On a bitterly cold and windy afternoon (26°F; winds 13G22), after the first snowfall of the new year, Eric McFadden, WD8RIF, visited the state park's Bulldog Shelter to perform his first POTA activation of the year. Eric was accompanied by his small dog, Theo.
Arriving at the unoccupied Bulldog Shelter at 2045 UTC, Eric quickly walked Theo and then began setting up his station. Unsurprisingly, because of the cold temperature and gusty winds, Eric chose to operate in the relative comfort of his car. He had hoped to use the same 29' no-counterpoise antenna he had tested at McCausland Wildlife Management Area but, when he had gathered his gear for this outing, he had been unable to find it; it seems it had been "put away somewhere" during house-cleaning prior to holiday entertaining. Instead, Eric deployed his regular go-to antenna, his 28½' EFRW, as a vertical on a Jackite 31' telescoping fiberglass mast in a drive-on base, placing three 17' counterpoise wires directly on the snow- and slush-covered ground. Mounting his Elecraft KX3 on the passenger-side dashboard of his car, Eric was on the air at 2058 UTC.
Snow at Bulldog Shelter.
Eric's KX3 mounted inside his car.
As had come to be the norm at this location, 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 40m. Finding himself a clear frequency to run, he began calling "CQ POTA" and was auto-spotted on POTA Spots. His first QSO came at 2059 UTC with N4DH in North Carolina. QSOs on 40m came much more quickly than Eric had anticipated, with his fifteenth QSO coming at 2115 UTC with KW4FM in Virginia. This run included QSOs with operators located in Georgia, Illinois (2), Indiana, New Jersey, North Carolina, Maryland, Michigan (2), Missouri, Ontario, Pennsylvania (2), Virginia, and Wisconsin.
Switching to 20m, Eric found a clear frequency to run, began calling "CQ POTA", and was auto-spotted on POTA Spots. His first QSO in this run came at 2120 UTC with stalwart hunter KJ7DT in Idaho. QSOs on 20m came very quickly, with Eric's twenty-first QSO in this run coming at 2140 UTC with KF4CGQ in Texas. This run included a P2P QSO with K5DGR who was activating Alamo Lake State Park (US-1052) in Arizona; a P2P QSO with N1BS at Rocky Point State Park (US-2879) in Rhode Island; and QSOs with operators located in Arizona, Connecticut (2), Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois (2), Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri (2), New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania (2), Rhode Island, and Texas (3).
Little dog Theo.
In all, Eric made thirty-six QSOs, including two P2P QSOs, in forty-two minutes of on-air time. All of Eric's QSOs were CW and were made at five watts output.
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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