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, January 4, 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 morning (25°F; winds 12G17), with the first snow of the new year still covering the ground, Eric McFadden, WD8RIF, visited Strouds Run State Park to perform his 120th activation of the park to complete his quest to earn his first Tier Two Oasis Repeat Offender Activator Award.
Eric arrived at the unoccupied Bulldog Shelter at 1620 UTC. Because of the cold temperature and gusty winds, Eric chose to operate in the relative comfort of his car. Unlike at his visit to Strouds Run on the January 3, this time Eric did have his 29' end-fed Zepp (EFZ) no-counterpoise wire antenna, which he could deploy without laying any wires onto the snow lying on the ground. He deployed the 29' EFZ as a vertical on a Jackite 31' telescoping fiberglass mast in a drive-on base and, mounting his Elecraft KX3 on the passenger-side dashboard of his car, Eric was on the air at 1630 UTC.
Eric's KX3 mounted in his car.
Eric's mast and antenna.
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.
Despite solar numbers indicating 40m might not be productive, Eric began his operation on this band. Finding himself a clear frequency to run, he began calling "CQ POTA" and was auto-spotted on POTA Spots. His first QSO came at 1634 UTC with K3TE in Pennsylvania. Surprisingly, QSOs came relatively quickly, with Eric's twelfth QSO coming at 1646 UTC with N4MJL in Virginia. This run included QSOs with operators located in Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan (3), New York, Ohio (2), 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 1652 UTC with WB8DTT in Michigan. As on 40m, QSOs came relatively quickly, with Eric's seventh QSO in this run coming at 1659 UTC with W8NWG in Illinois. This run included QSOs with operators located in Arkansas, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, North Carolina, and Wisconsin.
Eric finished his operation by consulting POTA Spots for P2P QSO opportunities and at 1707 UTC he made a P2P QSO on 40m with KE8NJW who was activating Delaware State Park (US-1946) in central Ohio.
Snow covers Strouds Run State Park.
In all, Eric made twenty QSOs, including one P2P QSO, in thirty-five minutes of on-air time. All of Eric's QSOs were CW and were made at five watts output.
Eric was pleased with the performance of his 29' EFZ no-counterpoise antenna, and was especially pleased that no parts of the antenna system needed to be in contact with the snow and slush on the ground.
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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