Amateur Radio Station WD8RIF | POTA Activation Strouds Run State Park

On Saturday, April 25, 2026, one member of the Southeast Ohio Radio Adventure Team performed a activation of Strouds Run State Park (US-1994) as part of the Parks on the Air (POTA; link) program while participating in the QRP to the Field (link) field operating event.

Eric McFadden, WD8RIF, had hoped to participate in QRP to the Field (QRPttF) as a bicycle-portable POTA activation of Strouds Run State Park but the overcast sky and the threat of rain dissuaded him from bicycling. Instead, Eric got to Strouds Run State Park by automobile and performed his operation at Lakeview Shelter within the state park. Eric was joined by his wife Vickie and their dogs Theo and Gracie.

Eric, Vickie, and the dogs were actually out grocery shopping, and Eric had thrown his station into the car because he wanted to participate in QRPttF but hadn't yet decided at what time he would try to do so. At his wife's suggestion, they went to Strouds Run Lake first, before doing any shopping, but they found all three picnic shelters (Bulldog, Bobcat, and Lakeview) to be occupied. Wanting a roof over his head in case rain were to arrive, and not having a great deal of motivation, anyway, Eric decided they'd leave to do their shopping and then reassess the situation.

After their shopping was completed, Eric, Vickie, and the dogs returned to Strouds Run State Park. While Bulldog and Bobcat shelters were still occupied, Lakeview Shelter had only one person in it, and this person readily agreed to allow Eric to "crash his party". After thanking him for his hospitality, Eric selected a picnic table for his operation, deployed his Tufteln (link) as a 29' inverted-L/sloper using the picnic shelter's fascia and his Goture Red Fox Super Hard 720 carbon-fiber mast on a spike, laying two 17' counterpoise wires directly on the ground. Placing his Elecraft KX2 on a picnic table, and connecting his Whiterook MK-33 and Sony earbuds, Eric was on the air at 1939 UTC.

Eric's mast and antenna; the visible wire is the
vertical portion of the inverted-L, running
from his KX2 up to the picnic shelter's fascia.

Eric's KX2 station.

As he had hoped he would, Eric found he 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.

Wanting to start his operation as a bona fide QRP to the Field station, Eric didn't initially spot himself on POTA Spots, although he had announced his upcoming activation on POTA Spots and, thus, would probably be autospotted on POTA Spots once he began calling "CQ".

Eric began his operation on 20m. Finding himself a clear frequency near the 20m QRP calling freqency of 14.060 MHz, Eric began calling "CQ TTF" and was auto-spotted on POTA Spots. His first QSO came at 1942 UTC with POTA hunter WD5EEI in Texas. QSOs came steadily, if not quickly, with Eric's fourth QSO coming at 1952 UTC with W5VRX in Texas. All four of these QSOs were with POTA hunters, not QRPttF participants and were with stations located in Idaho, Missouri, and Texas (2).

By the end of his fourth QSO, it was apparent to Eric that another station was operating on the same frequency, so Eric found a clear frequency, began calling "CQ TTF", and was again auto-spotted on POTA Spots. His first QSO in this run came with QRPttF participant N5GW operating int he field in Mississpi. His fourth QSO in this run came at 2002 UTC with WA7SHP in Oregon. This run include one QSO with a QRPttF participant, three QSOs with POTA hunters, and QSOs with operators located in Florida, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Oregon.

Switching to 40m, Eric found himself a clear frequency to run near the 40m QRP calling frequency of 7.030 MHz, began calling "CQ TTF", and self-spotted himself on POTA Spots. His first QSO in this run came at 2011 UTC with KR4BJN in Kentucky. QSOs can quickly, with Eric's eighth QSO in this run coming at 2022 UTC with N2TNN in New Jersey. This run included seven QSOs with POTA hunters, a P2P QSO with K8ARA at North Country Trail National Scenic Trail (US-4239) in Ohio, and QSOs with operators located in Indiana, Kentucky (2), New Jersey, Ohio (2), Ontario, and Virginia.

In all, Eric made sixteen QSOs, including one P2P QSO, in forty-three minutes of on-air time. All of Eric's QSOs were CW and were made at five watts output.

After he had completed his operation, Eric took a few more photos before tearing down his station.

For his QRPttF submission, and based by instructions in the QRPttF rules (link) Eric presumed that any station not at a park and not sending the full QRPttF exchage was "Home" and that any station performing a POTA activation was "Field".

For QRP to the Field, Eric's calculated score was 468 points.

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.