My first POTA activation - And onto POTA with a shoebox!

 I finally decided to take the plunge into POTA activation! I am fortunate to have several POTA entities within a short driving distance and I picked the one closest to my QTH... Maybury State Park K-1518. In addition to being close, this is a park in an urban area with all amenities including power outlets in shelters if one needs it.

But before that....

I wanted to see what a POTA activation would entail and did not want many surprises. So I practiced operating my Alinco DX-70 which I was intending to use for POTA in my backyard. The antenna that I was planning to use at the time is an EuroCom Vertical. I opened the DX-70 and flipped the internal switch to restrict it to a max of 50W to keep my battery rundown low. Since I was planning on operating CW (the mic for Alinco was nearly inoperable then), I believed that this will extend my run time if needed. I noticed that I got about 2-4 hours with the rig at 5w (low power setting) with a few interspersed moments at 50W. The antenna was a good match for 20m and I could run at full power, but for 40m I was restricted to 5W. Although I had a manual antenna tuner, it was bulky and did not want to carry it along.

From my backyard operations, I knew all the things I needed including a flat-head screwdriver for the hose clamps that held the vertical antennas sections extended. I added a few scraps of paper and pencil for logging and packed everything into an old laptop bag and I was all set!

The Activation....

So, on the morning of March, 26 2023, I headed over to Maybury State Park. When I reached the park  it was a brisk 45-50F (7-9C). But at least it was sunny and not very windy.

The picnic tables were right next to the parking lot. So it was a simple matter of setting up the antenna (after checking for power lines). I had jerry rigged a cheap photo light stand as the tripod to hold the antenna by bungee cording them together. I did not use any radials.

Rudimentary first POTA activation at K-1518

My CW skills were not the greatest and took me a few tries to get the calls right as shown by the erasures in the entries below. After my first successful activation, I was ready for more.

My activation log for the first POTA. Thank you if you're on the list

As I activated additional parks, I found the vertical a little cumbersome to set up. I wanted to reduce the time to set up. I found that getting a wire up the tree was probably the fastest way to go if you have trees around. And Michigan parks have no shortage of trees and our rangers do not bother us much as long as we are careful in not destroying trees by getting wires on them. So, I traded my laptop/shoulder bag and the vertical antenna for a shoebox with all the gear to spring up a wire antenna. Since, I was planning on using the motorcycle for activations and wanted a compact package and this fitted the bill perfectly.

POTA Kit in a shoebox. Literally! Alinco DX-70 with 10-80 EFHW wire antenna

I am glad to say that after a good period of service, I accepted the retirement request from the shoebox and now use an Apache 2800 (from Harbor Freight in the US) hardcase instead. I have also since started using the KX-3.  Here's what the current package looks like

Harbor Freight Apache 2800 case holding the current POTA gear including the KX-3 and 10Ah LiFePO4. The bag contains the antenna, counterpoise, paracord, headphones, battery cables etc.