I started the day fairly early, and left the Super 8 Motel in Black Mountain, NC, and wanted to get an activation in Lake James State Park. I am not sure the reason, but google maps directed me to a place that was near the lake area, but not exactly "in" the park. I got the lat/lon of the park as listed on the POTA site, and wanted to navigate to that point, but it gave me an ETA of an hour, so I am guessing that it was on the other side of the lake. So I just went to the closest place that had an official Lake James entrance, and activated there. The main motivation for this activation was to get my 75th distinct park for the Sapphire Activator Award.
I had the lake to myself, which was peaceful, but a little unsettling at the same time. It was a little chilly and gusty, but not too bad. To make the activation easier, I elected to just use the KH1.
I picked a nice picnic table, and set up on 40m as I was hoping that either Thomas or Vlado would pick me up.
Sure enough, Thomas was the first to spot me, and so that was nice to get him as a hunter! I was also pleased to get a lot of Ontario friends, including Mike (VE3MKX), Bill (VE3MRX), and Chris (VA3CJW), as well as a LICW friend, Eric, N9ANA as a park-to-park. Just as I was packing up and collapsing the KH1 antenna, a HUGE gust of wind came off the lake and distracted me, and unfortunately, I bent the antenna! Thomas was gracious to give me a loaner whip, that I will return in Dayton, and thankfully they are not expensive to source from Elecraft. The whip itself is common enough, but they do put some compressible material to make it fit snugly in the KH1 case.
It might have cost me whip antenna, but at least I got the award.
After the activation, I caught-up on some work at Peri Social House in Black Mountain. A great place to "work".
I was pleased with the QSO map, given just 3 watts and a tiny antenna.
| Date | Time | Call | State | Band | Mode | Park |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025/11/16 | 15:00 | K4SWL | NC | 40m | CW | |
| 2025/11/16 | 15:02 | WA4RXO | NC | 40m | CW | |
| 2025/11/16 | 15:09 | KD3CA | PA | 40m | CW | |
| 2025/11/16 | 15:17 | N9JFZ | IL | 20m | CW | |
| 2025/11/16 | 15:18 | ND9M | SD | 20m | CW | |
| 2025/11/16 | 15:20 | KC8ZWP | OH | 20m | CW | |
| 2025/11/16 | 15:23 | VA3CJW | ON | 20m | CW | |
| 2025/11/16 | 15:34 | NS1C | FL | 20m | CW | US-1909 |
| 2025/11/16 | 15:35 | K4ZGB | AL | 20m | CW | US-3601 |
| 2025/11/16 | 15:37 | AC4NK | TN | 20m | CW | US-12715 |
| 2025/11/16 | 15:39 | W3JPH | PA | 20m | CW | US-8908 |
| 2025/11/16 | 15:49 | N9ANA | IL | 20m | CW | US-7638 |
| 2025/11/16 | 15:54 | K2RTR | NJ | 20m | CW | |
| 2025/11/16 | 15:56 | VE3MKX | ON | 20m | CW | |
| 2025/11/16 | 15:59 | VE3MRX | ON | 20m | CW |