Multi-day activation on a single trip

All POTA operators will be aware that the activation calendar is based on the UTC day. So if your activation session extends across the 0000 UTC hour the new contacts are counted against the next day and a fresh activation. In the US Eastern time zone; we are 4 hours behind UTC during our summer. This makes activations past the 8 PM local time count against a fresh day. 

Although, the time differential makes it convenient, I have not taken advantage of this as much as I would like to. Often, I need to be home to get ready for the early start next day. However, I have done multi-day activations twice to date. During the peak of our summer we have daylight past 9:30 PM and it is generally easier then. I made my first multi-day activation one one of those long days. Today however, our sunset was at 7:30 PM. But the weather was predicted to be mild and nice. The skies were going to be clear with some moonlight. I decided to activate Maybury State Park K-1518 that is very close to my QTH. I went in prepared with additional lights to enable me to work in the dark. 

After making about 60 contacts for the current day, I decided to take a break and take in some light reading. As I was counting down the minutes to the start of the new UTC day, I took in the beautiful sunset from my perch. 

Time to enjoy the sunset and do some reading!

As the sun began to set, the crowds began to thin.  Consequently the parking lot began to look more and more desolate; until finally all that was left was my motorcycle.

It was fully dark by around 8 PM. The park was eerily silent and a sole light lit the parking lot a little ways away.  It was reassuring to be able to keep my ride back home in sight! 

The zero UTC hour! I decided to work CW on 40m! Spotted myself lower in the band and put out CQs

POTA after dark.

I worked 3 contacts at a furious pace. Suddenly all hell broke loose -- no QRL-- just digital noise mayhem. It was the RTTY day. The RTTY folks took over the band and pretty much took over usual CQ haunts. I switched over to 7.114 MHz and re-spotted myself. I need not have worried about making a successful activation. The contacts came in fast and furious. After about 15 contacts, the deluge stopped. Time to put out a few QRT calls to catch any stragglers! Finally I was done. Took me another 20 minutes to pack up and begin the ride back home. 

Malicious QRM during activations - Patience is the key

 July 28,2023

At the conclusion of my CW POTA activation of K-1518 today I issued the QRT QRT DE ... TY ES 73 to catch any lingering folks before wrapping up as well as to people who listen in on activation. I heard a "GUD" come back. I remember working a callsign with that suffix before and sent a "GUD?". Got a "GUD RIDANCE " [sic] back. FWIW: The response was at about 5wpm. This is a first one for me. Since I was wrapping up my activation and headed to run an errand, I did nothing further and hoped it would be an isolated incident. That was not to be. 

Aug 10, 2023

 I was activating K-3519 today and the bands were sparse around 1700UTC.  This was my second park in a 3 park sequence for the day. I was putting out CQs on 20M SSB (running 10W). Suddenly a station came on with strong digital noise and some cackling like sounds that lasted for about a minute or so. I had already quite a few contacts and nothing but time on my hands before moving to the next park that day. Once they were done with the QRM, I continued to put out CQs. After every CQ sequence they would repeat the noise again. I never acknowledged the noise, but continued to go on as if nothing was wrong. But I am happy to say I prevailed as after about 5 to 7 repetitions, whoever it was got tired and went down the band to QRM someone else. Sometimes malicious QRM can provide much needed break from the monotony of POTA activation! 

Later on I find that the digital noise was very similar to the one described in this Youtube video

Since that time I have had a few instances where someone would send LID during my CQ activations. Fortunately to date, the QRM has not managed to derail an activation yet.

Upon conferring with the folks at QRZ, this does not seem isolated; but fortunately, nor is it widely prevalent. There are apparently people who take perverse pleasure in disrupting POTA activations or ranting on POTA activators. The universal consensus is to ignore the trolls. 

May all your POTA activations be QRM free!

First time use of fiberglass pole for POTA

Those of you who have visited my QRZ page know that I try to ride my motorcycle to my POTA activations. This allows me to combine my passions for riding and POTA at the same time. While I usually carry a 20ft lightweight antenna pole, I never had to use it until today. You never know when the items in your kit may come in handy.

Sep 16, 2023: What a beautiful Michigan day! Late summer/early fall weather with temperatures around 70F (21C). Time to pile on some miles....

Today I rode up to activate St. Clair Township State Game Land (K-6788). It is about an hour's ride away from my residence. I usually plan my activation ahead of time and took a look at the POTA site for information. Most state Game Lands have a small area cleared for parking. Looking at the map linked to at the POTA site I see a parking area identified. As is usual for most game areas, the access road is a dirt road and not a paved surface. Although I ride a touring bike, I can handle a few miles of dirt road if I take it easy. When I ride up there, I find the entire parking area to be a muddy mess due to some rains. I did not want to risk my heavy bike getting stuck in the mud or even worse  dropping my bike. 

So I decided to park my bike on a soft shoulder at a safe location and then walk to a mowed field within the Game Land. In almost all my activations, I usually find a tree close by and string up my antenna using a throw line. But today, there was not a tree that was convenient. The field was a little soggy closer to the tree lines. So I had to resort to using my 20ft fiberglass pole that I carry for the first time. My pole is the WiMO-18333-6K pole from DXEngineering. I used this with a 1-1/2 inch PVC tube, WiMO portable mast Guy Ring WMO-18310-40 along with some paracords and garden stakes to anchor the pole to the ground.  

Fiberglass pole at St. Clair Township State Game Land

The pole is not a heavy-duty pole at all. So forget about heavy baluns etc. at the top end of the antenna. The pole tends to bend even under the weight of 16-18g speaker wires. In the above picture you can see it bending even though the antenna wire is not pulled taut. It is a last ditch attempt at gaining some height for simple antennas. It is however very light weight and works in a pinch. I had a successful activation and worked most stations on 40m CW that morning. 

After this activation, I rode down to K-6789 (St. John's Marsh).  This is a short ride through semi-rural roads. Once I reached the marsh, I noticed that the place was the Waldorf Astoria compared to K-6788. It had a convenient bench with a nearby tree. This was my first time activating from a bench as I usually look for picnic tables when possible. As I was activating, I saw humming birds and other small birds go on about their business. It does not get any better or so I thought!

St. John's Marsh. My ride is visible far in the background to the left of the parked truck. To the right was the marsh where humming birds were at play

Finally to cap my day I went up to Algonac State Park (K-1484). What a beautiful park!  Even better than the marsh! The main picnic area overlooks the St. Clair river and it was great to watch the ore vessels go by silently as you are activating the park. Time for some lunch as well and a nice ride back home after three successful activations!

Algonac State Park Picnic area overlooking the St. Clair river. Watching the ore vessels silently drifting by during activation is fun! To it add home-cooked pasta and it doesn't get any better. Note: this is a mirror image due to Selfie!

Let me know of your enjoyable POTA excursions!