Peculiarities of motorcycle based activation of a Game Area

 I started POTA activations earlier this year and have been mostly activating State Parks or State Recreation Areas. My QTH (in Michigan) is blessed with several of them within an hour's commute. This is just in the south eastern part of the state. I have several others to explore outside of this region which should keep me engaged for some time to come :-)

During summer time, I ride my motorcycle to the park for POTA activations. Motorcycle activations provide a level of difficulty somewhere in between that of a car-based activation and a POTA/SOTA backpacking trip. I am not as constrained by weight or volume as the backpacking activators. All the gear must fit in the motorcycle and hopefully the weather cooperates.

I ride a touring motorcycle with ample capacity for my KX-3, my current preferred POTA rig. My antenna is a random-wire antenna made of speaker wire with an appropriate counterpoise. I use a 75ft paracord and a arborist throw bag to get the antennas up on trees. All of the radio gear fits in an Apache 2800 all weather case with the exception of the 20ft fiberglass mast that I bungee cord to my rear seat. I have never needed to use the fiberglass pole to date. In addition to the radio gear I carry a bag of lunch and a few water bottles (one with Gatorade) to keep me going for the few hours it may take for an activation. In one of my posts I will lay out the gear I take out during my motorcycle based activations in detail!

I initially preferred state parks because of their amenities. I know I can find a picnic table under the shade close to a parking area. I ride with full protective gear and do not envision hiking deep into the woods in my riding boots to get to an activation. 

I was soon running out of state parks near me and found it boring to go the same park again and again! I started looking into State Game Areas and Game Preserves. Now these are less fancy with their amenities. The state Game Areas are usually a wooded area accessible by dirt road with a small clearance on the side for hunters to park their vehicles. 

My first activation of a game area was Petersburg State Game Land (K-6755). I did this on my car on my way down to home on a road-trip. At that time my rig was an Alinco DX-70. It gave me a feel for what to expect in such areas.

Car based Activation of Petersen State Game Land

Today, I decided to make my first motorcycle based Game Area activation at Holly Wildlife State Recreation Area (K-6705). My plan was there to get there early when I am the freshest, complete my activation and then head on to the nearby park with better facilities. But as they say in Michigan, there are two seasons: Construction and Winter. I hit a construction snag (Google Maps did not warn me) and got stuck in a stop and go traffic for the final 6 miles into the park. This set me back by almost an hour and the sun was getting higher in the sky! The sun has two effects: one on propagation which dips around midday for the bands I work on and the other on the riding comfort.

After navigating the final mile of dirt road, I finally pull into the (so-called) parking lot. As mentioned earlier it is just a small clearing on the side of the road. After picking a careful spot to set my motorcycle on my side stand (lest it sink into the ground) while at the same time being away from a tree so that I can string up my random wire without sags; the activation began. First comes the taking off the helmet, the ear-plugs the riding gloves etc. and exchange them with the radio box in the top-case. But before that a swill of water to sate my thirst as I was already sweating from moving the motorcycle around by duck-walking it. After the gear was safely stashed, time to get on with the radio!

I unwrapped the paracord and attached it to the throw-bag. After selecting a suitable branch, I heaved the throw bag. Success! Hit my intended branch the first time. As the throw bag came down on the other side, it was a little into the bushes. I had to walk through the bushes to retrieve it so that I can pull my antenna tied to the other end of the rope. 

This foray into the bushes was a trigger for the bugs to know there is fresh food supply in their midst! As they began swarming me and demanding their share of my blood, I rush to my motorcycle and retrieve the bug spray and thwart their attempts.

Having temporarily halted the arthropod armada, I proceeded to hook my radio up to the power supply, antennas, CW keyer etc. There are no tables and I was not about to set the radio on the dirt floor. All of this was carefully arranged on the rear seat of my motorcycle

On Motorcycle Activation at Holly State Wildlife Area

I did not intend to linger long here as it was a little difficult to bend down and operate the keyer and write down the logs. Fortunately, I got the requisite number of contacts within the hour and and I then high-tailed it to Holly State Recreation Area. I was hoping to find a nice picnic table under a tree, but as luck would have it, there was a wedding party at a nearby shelter and all the picnic tables were occupied. Luckily, I also either carry a tarp or a picnic mat with me! So it is almost the same ritual again, except I do not have to position my motorcycle. All I had to do was to find a place for the mat where I could string up an antenna to a nearby tree!

No picnic table at Holly State Rec Area

By the time I got started, the prop had dipped. I thought I could use FT8 contacts, but I took a newer laptop and never updated the required USB drivers (Lesson learnt!). The data service at my location was spotty. So I was stuck with CW and it took me a while ( about 2 hours)  to get it done. Finally time to head home after two good activations. My first motorcycle based activation in a State Game Area is a success!