Chris, VA3CJW, and I went out from the horse barn to activate another POTA. I wanted to pick up my 69th distinct park in the hopes of getting the next activator award at 75 before the awful weather starts. The leaves were in full color, and so tht parks were very packed with people. Unfortunately, the first two parks we tried to get access to had already reached capacity. We ended up at Island Lake Conservation Area. Not the first choice, but still quite nice. Here's a picture of the leaves from along the highway.
We picked a rather large tree right next to the picnic tables. I set up with the QRP Guys Random Wire Antenna
I set up first, and started my activation while Chris got set up.
I activated for about 50 minutes, and got 25 QSOs in a mixture of 40m and 20m, all on CW, 5W. It was nice to get two friends from our weekly BARC CW Zoom get together: Dave, VA3CP, and Gary, VE3GSS. I also got John, AA8UP in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, who is in many of my LICW classes. 20m is given in blue, and 40m in green.
| Date | Time | Call | State | Band | Mode | Park |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025/10/18 | 17:42 | AB3FH | MD | 20m | CW | |
| 2025/10/18 | 17:45 | W4SV | TN | 20m | CW | |
| 2025/10/18 | 17:46 | KC5F | NC | 20m | CW | |
| 2025/10/18 | 17:47 | K3TTS | PA | 20m | CW | |
| 2025/10/18 | 17:48 | AC6NT | TN | 20m | CW | |
| 2025/10/18 | 17:49 | AA8UP | MI | 20m | CW | |
| 2025/10/18 | 17:51 | N8SCO | WV | 20m | CW | |
| 2025/10/18 | 17:52 | N9QB | WI | 20m | CW | |
| 2025/10/18 | 17:52 | WC1D | MA | 20m | CW | |
| 2025/10/18 | 17:55 | KA3MAJ | PA | 20m | CW | |
| 2025/10/18 | 17:55 | K2MZ | MA | 20m | CW | |
| 2025/10/18 | 17:58 | W4NLT | VA | 20m | CW | |
| 2025/10/18 | 18:01 | VE2JCW | QC | 20m | CW | CA-5918 |
| 2025/10/18 | 18:05 | VA3CP | ON | 40m | CW | |
| 2025/10/18 | 18:07 | KR8P | MI | 40m | CW | |
| 2025/10/18 | 18:08 | W9AV | WI | 40m | CW | |
| 2025/10/18 | 18:08 | VE3GRG | ON | 40m | CW | |
| 2025/10/18 | 18:09 | NQ8T | OH | 40m | CW | |
| 2025/10/18 | 18:11 | W4TRA | NC | 40m | CW | |
| 2025/10/18 | 18:13 | VE3SIF | ON | 40m | CW | |
| 2025/10/18 | 18:17 | KO4MJC | TN | 40m | CW | |
| 2025/10/18 | 18:19 | N8JY | MI | 40m | CW | |
| 2025/10/18 | 18:20 | VA3UZ | ON | 40m | CW | |
| 2025/10/18 | 18:22 | VE3GSS | ON | 40m | CW | |
| 2025/10/18 | 18:30 | KU8T | WI | 20m | CW | US-9842 |
I shut down the KX-2 so that Chris could start, and I heated up my middle eastern chickpea and spinach stew, with homemade corn bread. It was delicious!
Chris then took over, and I scrolled for spotted stations while eating.
The weather was glorious, at 20°C, and I am very glad we made the most of it!