30th POTA Activation is in the Books

KB9BVN in the Wild

What a glorious October day in Indiana.  Got out of the house about 8:30, and headed to K-4183 Atterbury Fish and Wildlife Area. I was totally setup next to Stone Arch Lake and on the air by 9:35AM. I started out on 40m this morning and within 10 minutes I already had 10 contacts, 2 of which were operators in other parks.  

The band was wide open so I stayed put on 7065Khz and called CQ POTA every so often.  I had decent internet coverage so I was able to post my location on the POTA Spotter page, that always helps to bring the contact numbers up. 

I stayed an operated the radio for about 45 minutes, the temps were in the mid 40's and it was just a beautiful day to be outdoors.  I noticed quite a few deer hunters parked all over the place. This is bow season in Indiana, and also squirrel season.  If I make it out again this fall, I will be wearing my hunter orange hat for safety sake. 

POTA Spotting Page on the Web

Most of my contacts were maybe a couple states away.  The furthest today was Rhode Island (N1BS)  and Texas (KJ5W).  The spotting page shows the mode and the location of the park activator along with the frequency they are operating on. This makes it QUITE easy to find parks and work them as hunters.  

My station today was the venerable Elecraft KX-2, Eagle One Vertical antenna mounted to my trailer hitch, and two 16 foot radial wires laid out north/south.  Today I was running 9-10 watts. 

Anyway, this is now logged and in the books in the vast POTA mainframe. #30 for me, I'm averaging 10 activations per year...definitely not tearing up the record book. 

73 de KB9BVN