Parks on the Air had another record breaking month!

I recently began activating using a Comet HFJ-350M antenna. It is a 4 ft tall vertical. It takes some fiddleing to tune it. But it really does work. I use a wire for a counterpoise, and put the antenna on a magnet mount, the MFJ-333BS. I put it on top of my van and sit on the tailgate.

 

One of the only things I wish they would improve is the uploading of logs. It should be something you can do yourself like SOTA

 

Glad you all have been enjoying the program. Yes, I tried to emphasize that the Activator can choose to activate in whatever speed or manner they wish. I have tried to also to encourage a friendly and "elmer-esque" overall atmosphere. The whole point is not just just practice emergency communications, but to be a great steward for the hobby outside of the ham radio world. Try and encourage everyone to take part to grow interest, and watch it bloom. This is why I also encourage the use of ALL digital modes, while also extremely focused on the benefits of CW and its international popularity. It can be a win-win for everyone.

With regard to self-uploads, yes, we have been working on it, but we have very few active developers. Please see this site, and look at the skills needed. Know someone who can help us? Let them know to contact us!

https://parksontheair.com/roadmap/


73 W3AAX

 

I got hooked on POTA last year. Only hunted so far. Can't wait to activate my first park!

 

POTA the most fun I've had on ham radio in years.

this is from Oct.09

 

You guys are doing a great job with the program. It’s actually the reason I upgraded to general after being inactive for years. My apartment has an S8 noise floor and the first park I went to was S0 and I was blown away at what I could hear.

 

Now that's what it is all about...

 

We KD4BVG and I KC4TVZ Activate and Hunt them. POTA is Blowing up..! WoW.

 

One nice by product of POTA is that it seems to encourage "no code" radio amateurs to learn Morse because of it's low power efficacy and simplicity. Bonus is that it also helped to pump a boost to more interest in the QRP community and kit makers. Sounds like good amateur radio to me! Have fun and see you on the bands! 73

 

I've only done two activations, so I'm no expert, but have a newbie perspective. My radio just runs at 20 watts. The pileups I've had have been rather minor and easily handled. So you could start at a lower power and then start to crank it up when you get a handle on the circumstances. Go for it!

 

I say give it a go. The hunters who do get you will appreciate it. Even with two good ears the pile ups can be hard to handle hi hi! I often go with a few radio pals to help log, trade off when fatigued and for that extra set of ears. Many POTA photos here on my QRZ website. It is so much fun. POTA is a magic word!
73 de W2SMF

 

Well, you've convinced me! It will take a while to gather the equipment and build the antenna. As much as I would like my wife to come with me, she has zero interest in my hobby. I will shoot for this coming spring. Thank you all for the encouragement and advice.

 

Here's a POTA pile up from GW-0006 Clwydian Ranges - we were on Halkyn Mountain, part of the Park, the rain was horizontal, you can hear it hitting the side of the car!
Ron, G4DIY on the key/keyboard.. At the end, our friend Jay, M0UNN called us from A71A.

We also operate relaxed SSB but like to work as many CW as we can.

 

Winter is a great time to activate parks, no bugs, humidity or heat

A portable battery is probably the biggest thing to focus on. The LiFePO4 batteries are fantastic, a 20AH LiFePO4 will run a 100w radio on CW or SSB for hours. I use a 40AH Bioenno LiFePO4 and have never used more than 25AH of it's capacity, it lasts far longer than I can operate for a day at a park. My wife is a ham and we bring our dogs and stay out for hours at a time, usually all afternoon with both of use using the radio (me CW, her SSB).

Any reasonably compact home station radio works at a park outing, and there are lots of portable antennas that don't cost much. I use a 32 ft fiberglass collapsible mast in a trailer hitch mount with a couple of different wire antennas, a 40m/20m dipole is probably the easiest to make. EFHW antennas are very popular and also work really well for portable. I've worked a ham at a Japanese park while I was at a park in CO on 40m, using a 40m EFHW supported in the middle by the 32 ft mast (like an Inverted-V).

Yesterday I went to a local wildlife refuge in CO and made 177 contacts on 20m in 2 hours !!

QRP rigs are popular but I'm not a fan of those for activating parks. I run 90w from a TT Eagle (the max on 13V battery power) and I want as many people to be able to work the park as possible while I'm there I also use a single-band 20 EFHW wire up the mast for a fast up-and-down and smaller footprint at some places (like yesterday).

Hope to see you ont he air, park activating is a blast

Glenn AE0Q

 

Great shots, well done Sir!