POTA (Page 6 of 8)
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Finally got Alaska on 20M tonight. Two activators in two parks showed up on HamAlert, and we had good propagation, they were a solid 55. This afternoon I had experimented with an end fed half square, and it was promising, but fragile with two 17' whips and a wire between them. I took it down after proving the concept. So I really wasn't betting on success tonight, but, I got them! 
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Originally Posted By tyrex13: New POTA tent. I'm getting old. Myself and a whole group of us will be on the air all weekend. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/83116/IMG_5793_jpeg-3744597.JPG https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/83116/IMG_5795_jpeg-3744598.JPG |
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Is it my setup or is the bands all messed up today, lots of QRN (lots) and QSB (less)??🤷🏼♂️ eta: what a first day out in a park with my new FT-710... at a park I've activated before, without any issues, I wonder if there is a problem out there now, and or a combination of that and bands were just terrible.. My FT-891 seemed to hear about the same amount of crap. I got one P2P on 17 and 10 other Q's on 20m, and about 1/2 of them were contesters. I came home and duplicated my setup, and I guess things got a little better? still, had to poke a lot of buttons to milk some contacts out with the 710. I did get Poland on FT4 with my EFHW today, and I was hearing Kuwait really good on 14.200, but he had such a pile up, and I wasn't able to get in. (on 20m) |
MIA: M/SGT James W. Holt USSF 2-7-68 SVN
"Your freedom to be you includes my freedom to be free from you."
-A. Wilkow
"Your freedom to be you includes my freedom to be free from you."
-A. Wilkow
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Originally Posted By tyrex13: No, we’re all down in Seward this weekend. You probably got DUG and 5Y or 5NE earlier, they were passing the mic on 20m. I heard them. Tried to get them but I forgot to switch from U-D to USB, and my DX Commander had an issue. Once I got the mast with my Rybakov back up, they went QRT. Almost had them as a P2P and also a SOTA spot. 
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Originally Posted By RED_5: Is it my setup or is the bands all messed up today, lots of QRN (lots) and QSB (less)??🤷🏼♂️ eta: what a first day out in a park with my new FT-710... at a park I've activated before, without any issues, I wonder if there is a problem out there now, and or a combination of that and bands were just terrible.. My FT-891 seemed to hear about the same amount of crap. I got one P2P on 17 and 10 other Q's on 20m, and about 1/2 of them were contesters. I came home and duplicated my setup, and I guess things got a little better? still, had to poke a lot of buttons to milk some contacts out with the 710. I did get Poland on FT4 with my EFHW today, and I was hearing Kuwait really good on 14.200, but he had such a pile up, and I wasn't able to get in. (on 20m) Yeah, I heard that Kuwait station too, but no dice. |
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Activated US-4509 yesterday afternoon, made contact on 10,17,20 and 40m. Georgia QSO party was going on so got several of them some PTPs and the 10m was from Paraguay. Really nice day for it. Attached File Attached File Attached File |
We should have been working on a vaccine for Liberalism rather than a vaccine for COVID. gunham
PFG # 195
PFG # 195
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Failed activation today at US-7409 w/ 20w. Called CQ for an hour on 40m, spotting myself every 5min. No one responded. Tried hunting on 40 and 20 and could hear everyone, but no one could hear me. I got a single contact on 40, 20, and 17 in two hours of operating with an EFHW. (FTR, I have had 3 successful activations) |
We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission...- Ayn Rand
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Originally Posted By MoparMike: Failed activation today at US-7409 w/ 20w. Called CQ for an hour on 40m, spotting myself every 5min. No one responded. Tried hunting on 40 and 20 and could hear everyone, but no one could hear me. I got a single contact on 40, 20, and 17 in two hours of operating with an EFHW. Did you try CW? When conditions are bad, CW will often make the difference. |
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I can make two letters in CW and recognize those two letters. Unfortunately, making them in the sequence I know is a felony as I'm not a ship in distress.  (I don't CW) I was so frustrated I didn't try FT8. I just wanted to leave, especially with as muddy as it was. |
We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission...- Ayn Rand
| Hang in there, I've got about 20 activations so far, some are duplicate parks. I had my first failed park last year and got discouraged by it. Then back in February I activated again and am working toward 30 individual parks by the end of the year. |
We should have been working on a vaccine for Liberalism rather than a vaccine for COVID. gunham
PFG # 195
PFG # 195
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Originally Posted By MoparMike: I can make two letters in CW and recognize those two letters. Unfortunately, making them in the sequence I know is a felony as I'm not a ship in distress. (I don't CW) I was so frustrated I didn't try FT8. I just wanted to leave, especially with as muddy as it was. I understand. When I passed the Extra back in 1975 I made a vow to myself to never touch CW again. I never liked CW, and I hated having to learn it to pass the Extra test as was required back then. When I left the FCC testing center up in Kansas City, I was "done" with CW. My skills faded fast when I didn't use it for years. After a few years I relented to making a CW contact at the end of each year during "straight key night". Finally after a few years I bought a paddle. I didn't use it much. In 2017 I started "DXing" in earnest and joined LOTW and started keeping track of contacts and countries. CW is a "necessary evil" if you are serious about DXing. Then POTA happened. I started actually having a bit of fun hunting on CW. Yes, I actually started seeking out these simple contacts. My skills improved QUICKLY. For the last couple of months I have been taking the wife to Springfield for Chemo treatments and I have been sitting out in the truck and working CW POTA. I am getting better, and enjoying it more. ME, the guy that loathed CW, and made a vow to never touch it again 50 years ago. I was young then, now I am old and I am liking this crap. I can't promise that you will like/love it. but you will never know unless you try. It isn't hard to do IF it is something you WANT to do. If you are forced to do it, you might hate it. I sure did. So many newer hams are giving it a try and loving it. Getting started in POTA hunting with CW is a great way to start in. It sure has been fun for me. |
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Originally Posted By oldcatawba: Got KL7DUG on 4/12/26 on 20m for a POTA 2 fer US-4570 & US-7884 into western North Carolina. Just my second Alaska contact. Nice! He worked hard and led our group in contacts. As a group it looks like we made about 600 contacts for 1,200 POTA QSO’s. We will be going out again together for field day. Attached File Attached File |
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36 contacts in 45 minutes. Bands weren’t bad. ETA Antenna used is a new one. REZ 4:1 with the Chameleon SS25 whip to make a Rybakov. Seemed to work OK. Attached File Attached File |
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Originally Posted By tyrex13: 36 contacts in 45 minutes. Bands weren't bad. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/83116/IMG_5804_jpeg-3746086.JPG https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/83116/IMG_5805_jpeg-3746087.JPG |
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Better activation today in US-2306, 22 contacts including Germany on his beam. I was using my MFJ 17ft whip on a 6in camera tripod plus radials (40m coil from WRC). 40 was too noisy to tolerate for long, 20 was tolerable. |
We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission...- Ayn Rand
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Originally Posted By TVille: I listened for you, but you weren't making the trip to East TN today. Neither was any of your other compatriots today. Went out this evening and 20M was dead here. I made a guys day in WV and worked a weak signal in FL. Strangely, I got one each RI, NH, ME and MD. Don't get into that part of the country too much. I was the only one of the group on the air today, everyone else went home yesterday. |
| Not too bad on 20 this morning at the first early stop for a 2fer, 51 contacts in 90 minutes. Got real slow at second spot, 21 contacts in about and hour and 45 minutes. |
Extorris, because he's a heartless cunt. The purity of his apathy is laboratory grade, and I sleep well knowing that he's out there somewhere,
not giving a shit about anyone or anything.
not giving a shit about anyone or anything.
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I worked first shift today so I had lots of daylight after work. I went to a nearby park and the noise was still terrible on 20 thru 10. 20m seemed to have the most activity, so I put up a fight and got a valid activation on phone. It was bad enough to quit trying (SSB), so I tried FT8, which was way more productive. I picked up a new DX, 8Q7PR in the Maldives. Heard UAE and some other not too often heard DX, but wasn't lucky enough to get 'em I quit after constant to answers to my CQ, and no follow up from the other stations when I called 'em back.. Turned out better than I thought it would after I first set up. |
MIA: M/SGT James W. Holt USSF 2-7-68 SVN
"Your freedom to be you includes my freedom to be free from you."
-A. Wilkow
"Your freedom to be you includes my freedom to be free from you."
-A. Wilkow
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Originally Posted By RED_5: I worked first shift today so I had lots of daylight after work. I went to a nearby park and the noise was still terrible on 20 thru 10. 20m seemed to have the most activity, so I put up a fight and got a valid activation on phone. It was bad enough to quit trying (SSB), so I tried FT8, which was way more productive. Yeah, 20 was rough yesterday but I got enough contacts for my three activations. ETA: For some reason my logs for the first two still show as "Pending" on the POTA site. My log for the last one was approved in a few minutes. |
Extorris, because he's a heartless cunt. The purity of his apathy is laboratory grade, and I sleep well knowing that he's out there somewhere,
not giving a shit about anyone or anything.
not giving a shit about anyone or anything.
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Originally Posted By Extorris: Yeah, 20 was rough yesterday but I got enough contacts for my three activations. ETA: For some reason my logs for the first two still show as "Pending" on the POTA site. My log for the last one was approved in a few minutes. I had a log upload that got hung up in that "pending" cycle last week. I waited until the next day and hit that request support link - got an email 5 minutes later that all is well. Something about an ft8 dupe qso screwing thing up. Great support. |
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Originally Posted By no_1: I had a log upload that got hung up in that "pending" cycle last week. I waited until the next day and hit that request support link - got an email 5 minutes later that all is well. Something about an ft8 dupe qso screwing thing up. Great support. I sent them a support request after I uploaded today's log when I saw they're still showing pending over 24 hours. Hopefully they straighten it out today. ETA: They fixed it. |
Extorris, because he's a heartless cunt. The purity of his apathy is laboratory grade, and I sleep well knowing that he's out there somewhere,
not giving a shit about anyone or anything.
not giving a shit about anyone or anything.
What is the "that's close enough" distance to the park? US-4116 has a few parking lots 50-100yds away from the official boundaries of the park, but the only place to park within the According to Hoyle boundaries is the boat dock. The road in is a dyke as well as any pull-offs...probably a bad idea in a rental. 
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We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission...- Ayn Rand
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Originally Posted By MoparMike: What is the "that's close enough" distance to the park? US-4116 has a few parking lots 50-100yds away from the official boundaries of the park, but the only place to park within the According to Hoyle boundaries is the boat dock. The road in is a dyke as well as any pull-offs...probably a bad idea in a rental. Originally Posted By MoparMike: What is the "that's close enough" distance to the park? US-4116 has a few parking lots 50-100yds away from the official boundaries of the park, but the only place to park within the According to Hoyle boundaries is the boat dock. The road in is a dyke as well as any pull-offs...probably a bad idea in a rental. From their site: The activator and all equipment must be within the park’s boundary and on public property. |
Extorris, because he's a heartless cunt. The purity of his apathy is laboratory grade, and I sleep well knowing that he's out there somewhere,
not giving a shit about anyone or anything.
not giving a shit about anyone or anything.
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Originally Posted By Extorris: From their site: Originally Posted By Extorris: Originally Posted By MoparMike: What is the "that's close enough" distance to the park? US-4116 has a few parking lots 50-100yds away from the official boundaries of the park, but the only place to park within the According to Hoyle boundaries is the boat dock. The road in is a dyke as well as any pull-offs...probably a bad idea in a rental. From their site: The activator and all equipment must be within the park's boundary and on public property. POTA Rules |
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Originally Posted By TVille: The exception to this is if the park is a trail. In which case the activator must be on public land within 100 feet of the trail. I know this because my only activation was a 2fer with one of them being the Appalachain Trail. So I needed to make sure I got within 100 feet of the trail. POTA Rules We're lucky with the AT around here, there are numerous parking lots where the trail goes right through them. The Springer Mountain lot is good for a 3fer. ETA: Tried to activate that 3fer today but the wind was not cooperating. |
Extorris, because he's a heartless cunt. The purity of his apathy is laboratory grade, and I sleep well knowing that he's out there somewhere,
not giving a shit about anyone or anything.
not giving a shit about anyone or anything.
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The noise level at my house isn't great, and current band conditions don't help. As a result, I get a lot of FT8 time, I got 4 parks despite the GridTracker map showing more parks being activated then I have ever seen before. I was able to snag one park w/ CW, but the QSB was pretty bad here. I couldn't 100% copy hardly anyone else  I was too lazy to drag out the FT-710 and a "real" antenna (DXC, EFHW, Rybakov....). (I actually got some much need yard work done instead) 
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MIA: M/SGT James W. Holt USSF 2-7-68 SVN
"Your freedom to be you includes my freedom to be free from you."
-A. Wilkow
"Your freedom to be you includes my freedom to be free from you."
-A. Wilkow
|
Originally Posted By MoparMike: What is the "that's close enough" distance to the park? US-4116 has a few parking lots 50-100yds away from the official boundaries of the park, but the only place to park within the According to Hoyle boundaries is the boat dock. The road in is a dyke as well as any pull-offs...probably a bad idea in a rental. @MoparMike You sure you mean US-4116 ? 
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| Yes. I'm a truck driver and am in a rental car at the moment. (The truck's transmission crapped out) I'm in StL at the moment. |
We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission...- Ayn Rand
| It was rough today but I was able to scrape up enough contacts to get a 3fer and a 2fer activated. |
Extorris, because he's a heartless cunt. The purity of his apathy is laboratory grade, and I sleep well knowing that he's out there somewhere,
not giving a shit about anyone or anything.
not giving a shit about anyone or anything.
|
As most of you know, I do POTA in AK. I've guided a few lower 48 activators out to POTA sites to lend gear and help them get their activations. I've also helped a number of guys get their activations locally by hopping bands with them. Myself and a handful of experienced AK POTA guys have come up with the Alaska Challenge and I thought I'd share. The purpose of this challenge is to simulate what its like operating in AK and prepare yourself for getting your POTA activation in AK. The challenge is as follows: 1. Max power 20w if 100w rig. This will help to simulate weaker propagation this far north. 2. Operate with preamp off and attenuator on. This will also help to simulate weaker propagation and reduce your ability to hear closer stations. 3. Only use 20m and 40m bands. 10m is rarely available here, 15m sometimes is, but rarely in the summer. 4. Only count QSO’s greater than 1,500 miles. This is the distance from Anchorage to Western Washington and most of the time will be your shortest QSO on your activation. For anyone planning a future trip to AK, we are also working on a list of tips and tricks that I will share when complete. |
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Originally Posted By tyrex13: As most of you know, I do POTA in AK. I've guided a few lower 48 activators out to POTA sites to lend gear and help them get their activations. I've also helped a number of guys get their activations locally by hopping bands with them. Myself and a handful of experienced AK POTA guys have come up with the Alaska Challenge and I thought I'd share. The purpose of this challenge is to simulate what its like operating in AK and prepare yourself for getting your POTA activation in AK. The challenge is as follows: 1. Max power 20w if 100w rig. This will help to simulate weaker propagation this far north. 2. Operate with preamp off and attenuator on. This will also help to simulate weaker propagation and reduce your ability to hear closer stations. 3. Only use 20m and 40m bands. 10m is rarely available here, 15m sometimes is, but rarely in the summer. 4. Only count QSO's greater than 1,500 miles. This is the distance from Anchorage to Western Washington and most of the time will be your shortest QSO on your activation. For anyone planning a future trip to AK, we are also working on a list of tips and tricks that I will share when complete. Don't you get any response from Canada? I find quite a few activators in Canada I can contact. |
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Today was indeed very rough. It took me about 5 hours to get 34 contacts on 20w SSB. Half of those were hunted. Work has once again failed to get me the equipment they want me to go use, so I went to a POTA park near the yard in Pontoon Beach, IL (NE of East StL). |
We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission...- Ayn Rand
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Originally Posted By TVille: Well, that would explain why I have about 4 QSOs to AK out of 2,400 or so in the past 12 months. But, with good propagation, anything is possible. When I got my AK POTA propagation was definitely working up there! Don't you get any response from Canada? I find quite a few activators in Canada I can contact. I'll get the occasional BC or other Canada stations from major population centers mostly, but they are all just as far as the rest of the US. |
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Originally Posted By MoparMike: Today was indeed very rough. It took me about 5 hours to get 34 contacts on 20w SSB. Half of those were hunted. It took me 90 minutes to get 12 at my first activation yesterday. It was easier at my second one, got 15 in about 35 minutes and called it quits. |
Extorris, because he's a heartless cunt. The purity of his apathy is laboratory grade, and I sleep well knowing that he's out there somewhere,
not giving a shit about anyone or anything.
not giving a shit about anyone or anything.
Member
Joined:
Jan 2022
Posts:
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MO, USA
| Well guys as conditions will continue to get worse for the next few years, CW and Digital will be "where it is at". CW is a pain in the rear end to learn and get good at, but, it is worth it. It makes the difference. And I know many don't like all the aspects of FT8 but it will get you contacts when nothing else will. These are just facts of life. When the going gets rough, CW and Digital for the win. |
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Originally Posted By K0UA: Well guys as conditions will continue to get worse for the next few years, CW and Digital will be "where it is at". CW is a pain in the rear end to learn and get good at, but, it is worth it. It makes the difference. And I know many don't like all the aspects of FT8 but it will get you contacts when nothing else will. These are just facts of life. When the going gets rough, CW and Digital for the win.  Debbie Downer Theme Song But I just got an FT-710 and new fun to play with antennae  But I have been getting back into cw, after having been burned out on it (lesson learned: don't make something you enjoy a 'job') This year, I've upped my POTA CW contacts 500% over the previous 5 years (zero attempts till last month (~))
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MIA: M/SGT James W. Holt USSF 2-7-68 SVN
"Your freedom to be you includes my freedom to be free from you."
-A. Wilkow
"Your freedom to be you includes my freedom to be free from you."
-A. Wilkow
|
Originally Posted By K0UA: Well guys as conditions will continue to get worse for the next few years, CW and Digital will be "where it is at". CW is a pain in the rear end to learn and get good at, but, it is worth it. It makes the difference. And I know many don't like all the aspects of FT8 but it will get you contacts when nothing else will. These are just facts of life. When the going gets rough, CW and Digital for the win. I preferred POTA in 2021 and 2022 to the last 3 years. You could reliably go get a voice activation on 20m in the summertime. |
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Rough again today but got enough for two activations. The P2P with a group of three operators was a big help on the second activation.
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Extorris, because he's a heartless cunt. The purity of his apathy is laboratory grade, and I sleep well knowing that he's out there somewhere,
not giving a shit about anyone or anything.
not giving a shit about anyone or anything.
Member
Joined:
Jan 2022
Posts:
2910
EE: 0% (0)
MO, USA
| I have been working CW on almost all of my POTA hunting lately. Only switch to SSB when I have worked out all of the CW on the POTA app, and then go back to CW to pick up the newest ones. I continue to improve, but I really have to work on CW to get better. It doesn't come easy for me and never has. But POTA helps a lot. And I can work CW POTA stations that I can barely hear, and there is no way I could get them on SSB |
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Going to activate US-1950 (Findley SP) in late May, weather permitting. Rig is going to be either an IC-703+, IC-706MkIIG or an IC-7000. Have three 14AH batteries I'll take for power and will set the power at 10-20w out so hopefully will get enough run-time to make a decent go of things. Also going to take along my Dell 7139 and two keyboard/battery combos for some FT8 or other digital modes. Digimode-4 works with any of these so it's in the go-bag. We get the same spot each time. Right behind where I pitch my tent is a 120ft pine and I should be able to loft a wire high enough into it to make a decent vertical - or support an inverted vee. A few years down the road will hopefully see the purchase of a camper, at which point I'm going to activate any legit place where I park the thing. A 6BTV and some sort of loop array for 6 and 2 should cover the antenna side of things nicely. |