Amateur Radio Station WD8RIF | POTA Activation Strouds Run State Park

On Monday, March 29, 2026, 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.

Taking advantage of a beautiful late (but windy) March afternoon, Eric McFadden, WD8RIF, did his first real ride on his new bicycle, a 2026 Surly Preamble, and performed a POTA activation of Strouds Run State park, bicycling from his work-office's parking lot to Bulldog Shelter within the state park.

Eric started his ride at 1744 UTC, and arrived at Bulldog Shelter at 1817 UTC, finding a group of three picnicking in the shelter. After being given permission to "crash their party", Eric selected a picnic table and began setting up his station. Because it was quite windy, and because Eric hadn't yet determined if his new bicycle can serve as a stable tripod for his mast, Eric deployed his ad hoc 35' EFRW antenna as a sloper to the top of his Goture Red Fox Super Hard 720 carbon-fiber mast held upright on a spike stuck into the ground. (And, he quite stupidly forgot to lay down or connect his 13' counterpoise wire until after he had made his first thirteen QSOs!) Placing his Elecraft KH1 on a picnic table, and connecting his Whiterook MK-33 paddle and a small powered speaker, Eric was on the air at 1830 UTC.

Eric had cell-signal at Bulldog Shelter, and would be able to access POTA Spots to spot himself and to find Park-to-Park (P2P) QSO opportunities.

Eric started his operation on 20m. After finding himself a clear frequency to run, Eric began calling "CQ POTA" and was auto-spotted on POTA Spots. His first QSO came at 1833 UTC with N6MRS in Florida. QSOs came quickly, with Eric's thirteenth QSO coming at 1849 UTC with K1NW in Rhode Island. (It was right after the QSO with K1NW that Eric realized he hadn't connected his counterpoise wire.) This run included a QSO with F4WBN in France, a P2P QSO with VE2JFM at Parc de la Commune Recreation Park (CA-2140) in Quebec, a P2P QSO with KO4ALY at Monte Sano State Park (US-1048) in Alabama, and QSOs with operators located in Alabama (2), Florida (2), Louisiana, Missouri, Quebec (2), Rhode Island, Tennessee, and Texas (2).

Upon realizing he had forgotten to lay out his counterpoise wire, Eric quickly laid the 13' wire directly on the concrete floor of the picnic shelter, let his KH1 retune for the 20m frequency, and called "CQ POTA" a few more times, but no one else answered his calls.

Despite having no counterpoise wire—and no feedline to act as a counterpoise—the stations that Eric worked were generally pretty strong, and the stations he worked gave him reasonable signal reports. Still, next time, Eric will remember his counterpoise wire!

Switching to 30m, 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 1856 UTC with KG2GL in New Jersey. His second QSO in this run came at 1857 UTC with N9EDL in Indiana.

Eric finished his operation by hunting for P2P QSOs. At 1902 UTC, he made a P2P QSO on 17m with KA0LDG on North Country Trail National Scenic Trail (US-4239) in Fort Abercrombie State Historic Site (US-5748) in North Dakota. At 1906 UTC, he made a P2P QSO on 15m with NV4H at Fred C. Babcock/Cecil M. Webb Wildlife Management Area (US-6291) in Florida. At 1908 UTC, he made a P2P QSO on 30m with N3KAE at PA 206 State Game Land (US-8903) in Pennsylvania.

In all, Eric made eighteen QSOs, including six P2P QSOs, in thirty-eight minutes of on-air time. All of Eric's QSOs were CW and were made at five watts output.

Following his final QSO, Eric took some more photos, tore down his station, and began the ride back to his car.

Eric was quite pleased with the performance of his new Surly Preamble Flat Milky Lemonade (info). This bicycle replaced the ancient black GT Arette that had suffered a broken frame on the previous bicycle-portable POTA activation of Strouds Run State Park (on March 9, 2026), the bicycle that had been his primary bicycle since 1998 and a bicycle on which he had ridden more than 30,000 miles. Eric ordered the new Surly with a 2x9 drivetrain instead of the 1x9 drivetrain that the Preamble comes with from the factory, specifying chainrings and cogs to provide better gearing for climbs. The Surly is equipped with hydraulic disc brakes, something Eric had no previous experience with, and he quickly decided that he quite likes hydraulic disk brakes. The new Surly felt extremely good on this ride—much better, in fact, than Eric had anticipated; it seems the bicycle industry has learned a thing or two about bicycle design and performance since 1998!

Eric's new 2026 Surly Preamble Flat Milky
Lemonade; the bicycle is configured with a
new rear-rack, a pair of water-bottle cages,
a frame-pump, and a VHF/UHF antenna
mount for support of the Athens Marathon

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.