Amateur Radio Station WD8RIF | POTA Activation Battleship North Carolina State Historic Site, NC

On Saturday, May 10, 2025, one member of the Southeast Ohio Radio Adventure Team performed a successful activation of Battleship North Carolina State Historic Site in North Carolina as part of the Parks on the Air (POTA; link) program.

While on his first day of the drive home to Ohio from coastal North Carolina, Eric McFadden, WD8RIF, visited USS North Carolina so that he could perform a POTA activation and tour the ship. (The last time he toured the ship was probably two decades ago.)

Eric was traveling with his wife Vickie and their two dogs, Theo and Ginny. Since the dogs wouldn't be allowed to tour the battleship, Vickie asked that she and the dogs be left at Belville Riverwalk Park, near the battleship, while Eric was doing his thing on the battleship.

Eric's plan was to perform a quick activation of the state historic site on the deck of the battleship, using his low-profile Elecraft KH1 transceiver and its minimal 48" telescoping whip antenna, before taking ninety minutes or two hours to tour the battleship. (However, "best laid plans"...)

Eric arrived at the state historic site at about 1500 UTC, bought his tour ticket, and climbed the gangway onto the battleship. In a lightweight backpack, one he hoped would be low profile enough to allow him to tour the battleship without hindering him in the narrow hatches and passageways, he carried his KH1 Micro Travel Kit, a Whiterook MK-33 paddle, a pair of clipboards, a small towel, and water bottle.

Boarding the battleship astern, Eric found a pair of large raised access hatches, one on either side of the ship's stern. Choosing the one that wasn't near the Kingfisher scout plane—so he wouldn't ruin over visitors' pictures— Eric quickly set up his station. Using a Tufteln KH1 Right Angle Adapter with Stand (link) to allow him to place the KH1 on its back yet allow the 48" whip to stand vertically, Eric attached his Elecraft AXE1 40m extender to the KH1, and attached the 48" whip to that. Laying the 33' counterpoise wire out along the edge of the deck, Eric was on the air at 1525 UTC.

Boarding the USS North Carolina.

Kingfisher scout plane.

Turrent 3 Gunhouse.

Eric's KH1 station.

As he had expected he would, Eric found he had good cell-signal and would be able to spot himself on POTA Spots (link) and to use POTA Spots to identify possible park-to-park (P2P) QSO opportunities.

With improving solar numbers (SFI=136, SN=56, A-Index=15, K-Index=2), Eric foolishly anticipated no trouble in making the ten QSOs required to validate the activation.

Eric began his operation on 40m. He found himself a clear frequency to run, self-spotted himself on POTA Spots, and began calling "CQ POTA". And called, and called, and called...

Eric's view from his station: the Kingfisher scout plane...

... and Turret 3 Gunhouse.

Finding absolutely no success whatsoever on 40m, Eric removed the AXE1 40m extender from his antenna system and switched to 20m. Finding himself a clear frequency to run, Eric self-spotted himself, and began to call "CQ POTA". His first QSO came at 1533 UTC with WD5JR in Oklahoma. This was followed at 1537 UTC by a QSO with K0FD in Missouri, and at 1542 UCT by a QSO with K4KKK who was activating Charlotte Harbor Preserve State Park (US-3612) in Florida.

Three QSOs in a half-hour? By this point, light rain had begun to fall and it was apparent that, despite what the solar numbers might indicate, band conditions were atrocious and the KH1 station with the tiny antenna just wasn't going to work for validating the POTA activation. Eric made the decision to pack up the KH1 Micro Travel Kit, return to his car in the parking lot, deploy a larger antenna, and continue his operation there.

Back at his car, Eric deployed his 28½' end-fed wire antenna, supporting it as a vertical on his 31' Jackite telescoping fiberglass mast in a drive-on base, laying three 17' counterpoise wires directly on the ground, arranged to minimize any trip-hazards. Mounting his Elecraft KX2 on his car's passenger-side dashboard, Eric was on the air from the car at 1611 UTC.

Remaining on 20m, Eric refreshed his spot on POTA Spots and began calling "CQ POTA". His first QSO in this run came at 1613 UTC with KJ5W who was activating Lake Bob Sandlin State Park (US-3023) in Texas, after which Eric continued to call "CQ POTA". He called, and he called, and he called...

When it became apparent that 20m was going to produce no more QSOs, Eric changed to 40m in hopes that hunters within the region could hear him. Finding himself a clear frequency to run, Eric self-spotted himself on POTA Spots, began calling "CQ POTA", and made exactly one QSO, at 1622 UTC with W4FOA in Georgia.

When it became apparent that 40m was going to produce no more QSOs, Eric changed to 30m, but several minutes calling on that band produced no QSOs.

Thinking that perhaps hunting would allow him to validate his activation, Eric consulted POTA Spots but he couldn't work—or even hear, in most cases—any other activators.

With foolish optimism, Eric returned to run on 40m, and was rewarded at 1645 UTC with an ESP-level QSO with his friend, Thomas, K4SWL, in western North Carolina. This was followed at 1652 UTC by a QSO with K2TPZ in Maryland and at 1654 UTC by a QSO with KM4JHK in North Carolina.

Having been operating for well over an hour at this point, and with only eight QSOs in the log, Eric returned to run on 20m. His first QSO in this run came at 1714 UTC with VE3JZT in Ontario. This was followed at 1716 UTC by a QSO with W2OCW, and 1718 UTC by a QSO with K0ACP who was activating Kawkawlin Creek Flooding Wildlife Management Area (US-6711) in Michigan.

Happy to have finally validated his activation, Eric finished his operation by switching to 30m. His short run there produced a single QSO, at 1721 UTC, with K1PUG in Connecticut.

In all, Eric made only twelve QSOs in almost two hours of on-air time. All of Eric's QSOs were CW and were made with five watts output.

Given that it had taken two hours to complete his POTA activation, and given that Vickie and the dogs were still at Belville Riverwalk Park, Eric decided he really had no time left to tour the battleship, but thought that, perhaps, he might be able to return after lunch in Wilmington.

Eric tore down his station and returned to Belville Riverwalk Park to pick Vickie and the dogs. Vickie wanted to visit Gems4U in Wilmington's Cotton Exchange, which led to an excellent lunch at Paddy's Hollow and visits to other shops in the Cotton Exchange. Before anyone knew it, enough time had passed that there wasn't enough time to tour the battleship before the Battleship North Carolina State Historic Site's closure at 5pm. (Next time, perhaps, Eric will tour the battleship first, and then do an activation.)