On March 12th I ventured a few miles down the road to Lake Louisa State Park again for another POTA activation. This time my wife joined me along with our dachshunds, Daisy and Max.
I decided to venture away from my car and setup on a picnic table. I strongly prefer getting out of the car and connecting with nature. This was also an opportunity to test out a new organizational strategy and a few cases I picked up at Orlando Hamcation.
For this activation I wanted to work both data and voice. I brought my usual portable FT-857D and matching tuner as well as an end fed antenna. The radio, tuner, Signalink, and associated cables live in one Pelican 1520 case. I used a another case to hold the antenna, coax, and arbor weights and lines.
I used my solar power case (another Pelican 1520) with a 60 watt panel and 15 Ah battery. The power setup is well tested with past ARRL Field Days and worked fantastically. I threw the end fed up in the tree using some arbor weights and line. The antenna tuned up well on 15 and 20 meters. This end fed is only 29 feet long, so I could greatly improve my efficiency by using a longer wire. I do have another end fed that I used on ARRL Field Day last year and I do intend to give that a try next time.
My wife took the dogs for a walk, but Daisy got tired and decided to spend some time with me. She was my “Bark Ranger” and patrolled the antenna. I really liked being able to do radio with my family.
In the end I made 94 contacts, of which only 25 were FT8. This was a ton of fun as I had several pileups. I also ventured on to 15 meters and made a few contacts on FT8. I consider this a huge success for a POTA. My goal is to earn a Kilo award for Lake Lousia and I’m well on my way with over 125 QSOs to date. With the park less than 5 miles from my QTH, I expect to hit this goal either this year or early next year depending on where my next activation takes me!