Amateur Radio Station WD8RIF | POTA Activation Pater Wildlife Area

On Sunday, May 19, 2024, three members of the Southeast Ohio Radio Adventure Team performed successful activations of Pater Wildlife Area in Ohio as part of the Parks on the Air (POTA; link) program.

After spending Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at Hamvention (link) and Four Days in May (link), Eric McFadden, WD8RIF; Thomas Witherspoon, K4SWL; and Miles McFadden, KD8KNC, were joined by Joshua Ellis, N5FY; Charlie Brown, NJ7V; Brian Manley, K3ES; and Kyle Krieg, AA0Z, for a group activation of Pater Wildlife Area. The weather was beautiful but HF propagation conditions were abysmal, but success was found by all who operated.

The group, traveling in three motor vehicles, arrived at Bunker Hill with Pater Wildlife Area at about 1415 UTC to find an unoccupied parking area, one picnic table, plenty of shade trees, and room to set up several stations. Eric chose to operate at the picnic table, Thomas chose to operate pedestrian mobile ("/PM") with his Elecraft KH1, Joshua chose to operate /PM with his KH1, Brian chose to operate beneath a large shade tree with his Elecraft KX2 and an end-fed wire, and Kyle and Charlie chose to share Kyle's Elecraft KX3 and an end-fed wire on the tailgate of Kyle's pickup truck. (Miles did not operate but he helped with set-up and tear-down and did much of the activation photography.)

The operators all had good cell-signal and would be able to spot themselves on POTA Spots (link) and to use POTA Spots to identify possible park-to-park (P2P) QSO opportunities.

This was to be Eric's very first activation with his Elecraft KH1, and he chose to operate with the hand-held transceiver's whip instead of deploying a wire antenna, and adding the AXE1 40m coil for the 30 and 40m bands. (The KH1 is so new to him, he had to ask Joshua how to program the transceiver's built-in memory keyer.) Eric chose to operate his KH1 in "tabletop" mode, using the Tufteln KH1 Right Angle Adapter with Stand (link), which was designed and is marketed by Joshua, and he chose to use a Whiterook MK-33 paddle (link) instead of the Elecraft KHPD1 paddle.

Eric's KH1 Station in "tabletop" mode, with
the Tufteln KH1 Right Angle Adapter with Stand.

Eric began his operation by hunting for P2P QSOs and at 1445 UTC he completed a P2P QSO on 40m with N3RTW who was activating Prince William Forest Park (US-0691) in Virginia. At 1449 UTC, he completed a P2P QSO with Joshua, N5FY, and eleven minutes later he completed a P2P QSO with Brian, K3ES, both of whom were at Pater Wildlife Area with Eric.

Finding himself a clear frequency on 40m to run, Eric began calling "CQ", self-spotted himself on POTA Spots, and began to realize how poor the bands were. At 1504 UTC, he completed a QSO with WX4TW in North Carolina. At 1507 UTC, he completed a QSO with W5GDW in North Carolina. At 1509 UTC, he completed a P2P QSO with Thomas, K4SWL, who was at Pater Wildlife Area with Eric.

Switching to 30m, Eric found a clear frequency to run, began calling CQ, and self-spotted himself on POTA Spots. Seven minutes of calling CQ produced no QSOs. At 1518 UTC, he was called first by Kyle, ' AA0Z, and then by Charlie, NJ7V, both of whom were at Pater Wildlife Area taking turns with Kyle's KX3 station. (During this run, Eric got a bit of an RF burn from his key, a reminder that an antenna mounted directly on a transceiver might put RF on the metal parts of a key.)

Switching to 20m, Eric found a clear frequency to run and began calling CQ. After several calls he was answered by KF0GZK but no QSO was completed because 'GZK didn't come back when Eric answered him; either the QSB was too deep or 'GZK was unable to hear Eric but through his callsign out, anyway. Eric managed only to complete only three QSOs on 20m, and all of them were QSOs with guys at Pater Wildlife Area: Joshua, N5FY at 1530 UTC; Charlie, NJ7V, at 1531 UTC; and Kyle, AA0Z, at 1539 UTC.

In all, Eric made eleven QSOs, with nine P2P QSOs, only one of which was not Pater Wildlife Area. All of Eric's QSOs were CW and were made with five watts or less of output.

Thomas has published a report about his /PM activation: Post-Hamvention Activation with Friends.

Thomas Witherspoon, K4SWL,
operating his KH1 in /PM configuration;
photo by Miles McFadden.

Joshua Ellis, N5FY,
operating his KH1 in /PM configuration;
photo by Miles McFadden.

Brian Manley, K3ES, operating his KX3 under
a shade-tree; photo by Miles McFadden.

Sometime during the activation, a super-friendly local dog showed up to share the fun. (Thomas's report has some excellent photos of this canine friend.)