This weekend was spent in El Paso in order to do a 30 km trail run. During my journeys, I did three POTA activations. Two were in El Paso, and one was on the way there in New Mexico. The parks activated were K-0462 Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge in Socorro County, New Mexico; K-0770 Chamizal National Memorial in El Paso; and K-3012 Franklin Mountains State Park also in El Paso.
I had several DX contacts on 15 meters. The one over 5000 km were ZS6NL (South Africa, FT8, 15644 km and V51WW (Namibia, SSB, 14241 km). I also had two local contacts, WB5LJO and KD5KC.
I was also able to attend a meting of the Sun City Amateur Radio Club (K5WPH) at their clubhouse in Logan Heights, El Paso. After the run, I went to a spaghetti dinner with the club as well. The dinner really hit the spot after the run. I got to meet a lot of great people while I was there.
| Date | Park | County, State | QSOs | SSB | Digital | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19-Jan-23 | K-0462 Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge | Socorro, New Mexico | 21 | 21 | 0 | 20 m |
| 20-Jan-23 | K-0770 Chamizal National Memorial | El Paso, Texas | 112 | 68 | 44 | 15 m |
| 20-Jan-23 | K-3012 Franklin Mountains State Park | El Paso, Texas | 61 | 35 | 26 | 20 m |
K-0462: A quick activation during a 14 hour drive
K-0770: Back to Chamizal looking a Ciudad Juárez in the distance
K-3012: On Transmountain looking out towards the west with the waning sun
I finally got to meet WB5LJO after having heard him on the air for years.
This was my first time back here in almost a year. When the Russian aggression against Ukraine started, I stayed away in favor of closer POTA sites. This time I was back. I had 107 QSOs on SSB and FT8 om 15 and 20 meters. Not counting Canada, 11 were DX (6 FT8, 5 SSB). This brought my total for this park up to 479 QSOs.
Parked in a snowy parking lot at K-3062. This activation was done using ham sticks off the roof of my car
I woke up early and got on 80 meters FT8 before going to work. I was able to complete a contact with YJ0A (K7AR from Vancouver, Washington) who was operating in Vanuatu, grid RH34. It was a rare contact with a small country in the South Pacific.
My FT8 contact with Vanuatu
It was back to K-3062 for Presidents Day. This time it was 60 FT8 and 57 SSB contacts putting me at 596 total for the park. This is 60% of the way to a kilo. All of the QSOs were on 20 and 15 meters. 4 of the QSOs were DX.
I helped out with as a VE at an exam session in Eagle Mountain done by VEC KI6OSS. After the session, I went out to Camp Floyd and did a POTA activation. It was a short one, as I needed to get home for some other activities. I had 24 QSOs, all digital (FT8 and FT4) on 15, 12 and 10 meters. That got me up to 623 activator QSOs for this park.
I spent some more time out at Camp Floyd for this activation. I operated from 15:30 to 18:00 UTC. I had a total of 100 QSOs. I worked both FT8 and FT4 for digital. 54 of my QSOs were SSB. I had 4 QSOs on 40 meters at the beginning. The rest were 15 meter. 15 meters was working rather well into Europe. My DX contacts were DF3JO, F4JJA, OH2MDN, SP9RXP (SSB!), IU0KWX, EA3SI, SP7QJF, HI3AA, US2YW, DK8NX, RZ1OA, HA7TM, IK4LZH and F1SAA. This was all on a ham stick antenna. This put me at 723 activator QSOs for this park (277 to go to kilo).
The snow had melted and most of the mud was gone for this activation at K-3062. The hamstick on the roof worked into Europe this time.
I used my Wolf River Coil antenna and Xiegu G90 with a 6 Ah battery. I am able to take this is a setup as a carry-on in a plane.
I had some trouble with the antenna. I think there may have been an open at the wiper on the coil. I was only able to get 4 contacts on 26 March at Saint Edward State Park (K-3261) in Kenmore. After three successful QSOs (one with Japan) at Legion Park in Everett (CN88va) on 29 March, I tried the same setup at Camano Island State Park (K-3169) and only go 2 QSOs, one with another station on Camano Island. I checked my coil with a multimeter at work and made sure everything was working fine. I went back to Saint Edward State Park on 30 March and was able to complete the activation with 12 QSOs on the 31 March side of 00:00 UTC and 4 warm-up QSOs on 30 March I used 15, 20 and 30 meters to complete the activation. I also had two Winlink HF sessions while at the park.
This gave me an 11th state for activation. I had previously tried to activate a park in October 2021, but ran into propagation problems.
Set up at Saint Edward State Park (K-3261, CN87ur).
Camano Island State Park (K-3169, CN88rd). Only 2 QSOs, but it was a really nice drive out there.
Carry-on antenna bag containing Xiegu G90, Wolf River Antenna, Coax and Signallink at SEA.
I went to Anaheim with my family. I went to the International Temperature Symposium 10 (ITS10) conference. They went to Disneyland.
The first night we arrived, I set up in the Holiday Inn parking lot (DM13at). I was able to check in to the Mission Trail Net on 80 meters. I then switched over to 40 meters and made 5 40 meter FT8 QSOs. I had one with KC1SFA in Massachusetts at a distance of 4169 km.
On the way back, I activated K-0650 Mojave Preserve National Conservation Area on the side of I-15 between Baker, California and Primm, Nevada (DM25dk). I had 15 QSOs, all 15 meter FT8.
Set up outside the Holiday Inn in Anaheim.
On this day I had a 25K trail run in Tooele. On the way back, I activated the Great Salt Lake Park. I worked all SSB on both 20 and 15 meters. Quite a few of the 20 meter contacts came from Southern California. I don’t know how this was possible with a 20 degree vertical angle mountain in the way.
Looking out to the Great Salt Lake.
I helped out with the Salt Lake Marathon. Besides doing the radio communications for the marathon, I also checked into a net on 80 meters and two on 40 meters using ham sticks.
After the marathon, I activated This is the Place Heritage Park (K-5950, DN40cs). The entire activation was on 20 meters with a combination of FT8 and SSB. My favorite QSO was WB7UZO in a rare grid square CN78 in Washington. I never thought I would get that one. I also had a QSO with Ed in El Paso, KD5MFS.
Aid Station N at Highland Drive and Crandall Avenue near the boundary of Millcreek and Salt Lake City (DN40bq).
Looking towards Emigration Canyon from This is the Place.
This was actually done the night of the 4th, but it was on the 5th for UTC. I had a 50 K endurance run and was camping overnight. I had some really noisy conditions but managed to get the required number of contacts. I had 28 QSOs (23 SSB and 5 FT8) on 20 and 40 meters from DN30ct east of Wendover in Tooele County.
I was back out at Camp Floyd again. The band conditions weren’t so good this time. I had 60 QSOs. I worked both FT8 and SSB on the 10, 15, 17, and 20 meter bands. This got me up to 783 QSOs for this park.
This was a Friday after work activation of the 40 acre enclave of K-4398 Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest in Highland, Utah (DN40ck). All of my 29 HF contacts were 15 meter digital (4 FT4 and 25 FT8). I had an additional contact on FM 2 m on 146.52. The 30 QSOs brought me to a total of 407 QSOs for this park. 6 of the contacts were DX in 3 different continents.
This was my first service event in a while for Utah County AREA (UCARES). I worked the corner of 400 S and Main in Springville (DN40ed). There were no incidents other than making sure children didn’t jump out in front of parade vehicles. I enjoyed some pizza afterwards with the other radio operators and the fire and police departments.
My participation in this contest was accidental. I got on 6 meter FT8 about 18:00 MDT and noticed quite a few stations on the band. I decided to make some contacts. By the end of the contest at 21:00 MDT, I had 48 QSOs. I did turn in a log. My furthest contact was KB0Y at a distance of 2815 km (1750 miles) in Grid EM80 located in Valdosta, Georgia. This and a number of others were probably double hop.
I had to go close to this park to pick up my items for the Emigration Canyon Half Marathon, so I decided to activate a This is the Place Heritage Park before going back home. I had 45 QSOs, 8 data and 37 SSB. All contacts were on 20 meters except for one phone contact on 40 at the end. I started this just after 0:00 UTC, so for logging purposes, all of the contacts were on 16 June.
I was back out to Camp Floyd again, trying to get closer to 1000. The band conditions were not too good this day. I had a total of 56 QSOs for this activation. I worked 15 meter (FT8 only) and 20 meter (SSB and FT8). I also had one FM contact on 2 meters with a station in Eagle Mountain. 35 data and 21 phone contacts gave me 56 QSOs to get my total for the park up to 839.
I was a ham on the run again this year. The race was pushed back to June from April due to the excessive snow we had this year. I packed a radio in my runners vest. Unfortunately, the antenna severed off and broke the mount inside the radio. This was my Woxun KG-UV8T. It had been in service for almost 5 years. It was a great radio. I completed the race in 2:34, quite a bit better than the previous year.
My equipment for the race; the this is the radio that broke
This trip out to Camp Floyd was much more fruitful that the previous activation. I started the activation with an opening on 6 meters and worked 9 stations. I then dropped down to 15 meter for the rest of the activation. I had 60 FT8 contacts and 49 voice for a total of 109 for this activation. This put me at 948 contacts for this park and just 52 from kilo.
Due to the excessive mount of snow on Skyline Drive above Ephraim, the Skyline Radio Club (K7BSK) held Field Day at W7DKO’s cabin east of Salina Utah (DM48ex). I helped to do some operating. A great meal was served for dinner including some delicious brisket.
Before Filed Day started, I did a POTA activation at Fishlake National Forest (K-4396) working both analog and digital on 40, 20, and 15 meters for a total of 25 QSOs.
W7DKO, K1LOK, N1LGQ, and W7DHH an hour before start
Solar panels for battery operation
I received my Level 1 Utah County ARES (UCARES) Certification at a UCARES Meeting. They gave me a nice certificate.
I went back this day to get Kilo. I worked mostly on 20 meters, both SSB and FT8. KN6KI of Anderson, California was my #1000. I ended up with 71 QSOs for a total of 1019 for this park. This was my first park I activated. I have come to enjoy its peaceful nature both in seasons of hot and seasons of cold. Thanks to all those who have hunted me to make this happen. Also, a special thanks to my XYL for supporting me in this hobby.
A pie chart of the contact distances
I ran the 10 K before the parade. I then went to my post on 700 E and Center Street. There were 7 lost kids this parade. There was one lost in my area, but she was found before I called it in.
Cooling down from the run, working the parade
We were out in Colorado for a relative’s wedding. My son and I went to Cripple Creek. On the way back, we stopped at the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument’s visitor center parking lot for POTA. The band conditions were not too good. I had one SSB contact on 15 meters with North Texas. I then switched to digital with 20 FT8 QSOs on 15 and 20 meters.
I was back to my 40 acre enclave of the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest. I had a total of 29 QSOs. 4 were SSB on 20 meter; 2 were FM 2 meter; and the rest were FT8 on 15, 17 and 20 meters. The band conditions were not good this day. There was a lot of noise.
I wasn’t sure if I could do this. I had my first two contacts (the Indianapolis Grand Prix and Indianapolis 500) from Utah on 20 meters, the first one portable from Lehi (DN40bj) on 15-May and the second from home on 27-May, both on 20 meters. When I saw the date for the NASCAR 200 at the Brickyard, I knew we would be on vacation in Texas. On 9-Aug, I set up a ham stick on a metal picnic table in my mom’s front yard in Jasper, Texas (EM20xw) and made the contact, again on 20 meters. I earned the certificate from 3 different QTHs.
QTH of third contact with W9IMS. The metal table provided a good ground plane for the ham stick.
Checker Flag cert
I did two activations from parks in East Texas over two consecutive days. The one on 9 August was from Martin Dies Park (K-3037, EM20vu) west of Jasper, Texas in Jasper County. It was 40 °C (104 °F), so I tried activating as quick as possible. I had 16 SSB contacts on 20 meters. The next morning, I went just inside Sabine County near Brookeland (EM31ae) off of US96 and activated the Sabine National Forrest (K-4416). This time I had 31 QSOs all 20 meter FT8.
Set up next to Steinhagen Reservoir at Martin Dies State Park. There was absolutely no one else there.
Back out to Highland again. This time I operated in two different UTC days, all on 20 meters, both SSB and FT8. I had a total of 68 QSOs.
I helped out as a Laurel VE at a ham radio exam in Eagle Mountain. WE7OMG, who has made a few of my -pole antennas, passed his Extra exam. Before activating, I checked into two of the MARA nets and did some FT8 from the city hall parking lot (DN30xh).
This was another activation from the 40 acre parcel of Forest Service in Highland. This one was all on 20 meters, both phone and digital. This time I had a total of 55 QSOs. This got me to a total of 559 QSOs for this park.
This was done across 00:00 Z. There were 34 on 6 Oct and 71 on 7 Oct. All were on 20 meters SSB. I quit around sunset. A lone Peak police officer showed up. One of the neighbors saw my car open and didn’t see anybody. Anyway, this got me up to 664 QSOs for K-4398.
This year, I did most of my Moab 240 work at net control. I worked the first aid station (Hidden Valley) on Friday, then went back to HQ and worked until Monday morning.
There were several instances where we effectively used radio to get help out to places where there was no cell service. In one case there was a saddled horse with no rider wandering around at 4:30 in the morning on the trail. In another case, a volunteer's vehicle had a mechanical problem.
There was a really serious incident that had a good outcome. One of the race’s truck drivers is also a ham (KD2MAL). He had just dropped off supplies at the Base Camp Aid Station and was on the way back to HQ. He spotted a vehicle that had fallen 200 feet off the road near Hurrah Pass. He called the incident into me at net control and KA7OLB got on the phone to 911 to get help out there. We were able to get help out there. Both the driver and his dog survived the fall.
Video of vehicle recovery at Hurrah Pass
During the time in Moab, I did several POTA activations. Three of these were on Thursday night and Friday morning consisting of three BLM recreation areas (K-5795, K-5797, K-5799) on Kane Creek Road along the Colorado River. These were all digital, due to the lack of cell coverage and the location in the Colorado River Canyon.
After working at the Hidden Valley Aid Station on 13 Oct, I activated the Hidden Valley Trail State Recreation Area (K-5787) on SSB 20 meters. I then went down to Wilson Arch (K-5773) in the direction of Monticello and activated it on FT8.
The second set of POTA activations came on Monday when I was done helping with the race. I drove to Blanding and activated K-3069. I then drove over to Hovenweap and activated K-0943. Then I headed over to the Four Corners and activated all four corners at K-9589. By the time I was done with that, the Navajo taco stands were closed, so I drove into Shiprock for one.
Two of the three Kane Creek Road POTA locations along the Colorado River. Two at K-5799 Moonflower Canyon and the other at K-5797 Moab Rim Trail.
Hidden Valley K-5787 off of US191. I worked the aid station, then did the activation.
Wilson Arch, K-5773, off of US191
The parking lot at K-0943 Hovenweep National Monument
Activation of all four states at K-9589 Four Corners Monument, Navajo Tribal Park
| Date | Park | State | QSOs | Modes | Bands |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13-Oct-23 | K-5795 Kane Creek BLM Recreation Management Area | UT | 18 | FT8 | 40 m |
| 13-Oct-23 | K-5799 Moonflower Canyon BLM Recreation Management Area | UT | 14 | FT8 | 20 m |
| 13-Oct-23 | K-5797 Moab Rim Trail BLM Recreation Management Area | UT | 11 | FT8 | 15 m, 20 m |
| 13-Oct-23 | K-5787 Hidden Valley Trail State Recreation Area | UT | 25 | SSB | 20 m |
| 13-Oct-23 | K-5773 Wilson Arch BLM Recreation Management Area | UT | 19 | FT8 | 20 m |
| 16-Oct-23 | K-3069 Edge of the Cedars State Park | UT | 15 | SSB | 20 m |
| 16-Oct-23 | K-0943 Hovenweep National Monument | UT | 12 | SSB | 20 m |
| 16-Oct-23 | K-9589 Four Corners Monument, Navajo Tribal Park | CO | 12 | FT8 | 20 m |
| 16-Oct-23 | K-9589 Four Corners Monument, Navajo Tribal Park | UT | 14 | FT8 | 20 m |
| 16-Oct-23 | K-9589 Four Corners Monument, Navajo Tribal Park | AZ | 15 | FT8 | 20 m |
| 16-Oct-23 | K-9589 Four Corners Monument, Navajo Tribal Park | NM | 15 | FT8 | 15 m, 20 m |
This was an afternoon activation, all on 20 meters. This time I did activate FT8 with 10 QSOs and 29 on SSB. This got me to a total of 703 QSOs.
During late October, the Wyoming Cowboy Net manager Tom, NA7AA, made a challenge that whoever could check in 16 times in the month of November would get a free Wyoming Cowboy Net hat. I accepted the challenge. I was able to get 20 check-ins. The only two nights I missed were the night before Thanksgiving when I was helping at a food pantry, and Thanksgiving night itself. On Friday November 17, I was in Monument Valley, Arizona (for a trail race the next day) and was able to check-in with out problem with a ham stick on top of my car.
Thanks NA7AA
| # | UTC | Freq | Call | My QTH | Dist / km | Grid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 02-Nov-23 01:12 | 3.9235 | KI7GFU | DN40cj | 439 | DN53 |
| 2 | 03-Nov-23 00:50 | 3.9235 | AI7MY | DN40cj | 365 | DN52 |
| 3 | 04-Nov-23 01:08 | 3.9235 | N7AOK | DN40cj | 547 | DN62 |
| 4 | 07-Nov-23 01:49 | 3.9235 | NG7L | DN40cj | 604 | DN72 |
| 5 | 08-Nov-23 02:11 | 3.9235 | NQ7Q | DN40cj | 538 | DN71 |
| 6 | 09-Nov-23 01:47 | 3.9235 | KI7GFU | DN40cj | 439 | DN53 |
| 7 | 10-Nov-23 02:17 | 3.9235 | KI7GFV | DN40cj | 439 | DN53 |
| 8 | 11-Nov-23 01:48 | 3.9235 | N7AOK | DN40cj | 547 | DN62 |
| 9 | 14-Nov-23 02:12 | 3.9235 | KI7GFV | DN40cj | 439 | DN53 |
| 10 | 15-Nov-23 01:47 | 3.9235 | NQ7Q | DN40cj | 538 | DN71 |
| 11 | 16-Nov-23 02:11 | 3.9235 | KI7GFU | DN40cj | 439 | DN53 |
| 12 | 17-Nov-23 01:47 | 3.9235 | NG7L | DN40cj | 604 | DN72 |
| 13 | 18-Nov-23 02:10 | 3.9235 | N7AOK | DM46wx | 745 | DN62 |
| 14 | 21-Nov-23 01:48 | 3.9235 | AI7MY | DN40cj | 365 | DN52 |
| 15 | 21-Nov-23 02:11 | 3.9235 | NQ7Q | DN40cj | 538 | DN71 |
| M | Food Pantry | |||||
| M | Family for Thanksgiving | |||||
| 16 | 25-Nov-23 01:47 | 3.9235 | KI7GFV | DN40cj | 439 | DN53 |
| 17 | 28-Nov-23 02:15 | 3.9235 | KD7HH | DN40cj | 490 | DN53 |
| 18 | 29-Nov-23 01:47 | 3.9235 | KI7GFV | DN40cj | 439 | DN53 |
| 19 | 30-Nov-23 02:13 | 3.9235 | KI7GFU | DN40cj | 439 | DN53 |
| 20 | 01-Dec-23 01:50 | 3.9235 | KD7HH | DN40cj | 490 | DN53 |
This one was a late afternoon activation. When I got out of there it was getting chilly. This one was purely 20 meters phone with 4 Park to Parks for a total of 72 QSOs. This brought my total for K-4398 to 775 QSOs.
This was a quick activation on the way to a trail marathon in Monument Valley, Arizona. This was a 20 meter phone activation with 44 QSOs. Then it was back on I-70, then south towards Kayenta.
On the banks of the Green River in Green River, Utah (DM48wx). The tressle in the back is the train line from Denver to Salt Lake City, and I70 is behind that.
This is one of the new 5-digit locations that were added recently. It is only about 2 acres in area, and the parking area is rather small. I activated both digital and phone on 20 and 15 meters. I was there almost 3 hours and had 122 contacts. 5 of the 20 meter QSOs were from El Paso.
On the banks of the Jordan River in Lehi, Utah (DN40bj).
I had applied for this on 2 November, and it finally came through. I had to pay the fee, but the good thing is that my license is now valid until 2033. The reason for the change is that I will be retiring to Texas in a few years. The WX is for weather, the 5 for Region 5 which both Texas and New Mexico are part of, and LOK for locomotive.
WX: weather; 5: Texas (El Paso); LOK: Locamotive
I started out the morning by activating K-5929, Utah State Flight Park. It was well below freezing up there. Due to shopping obligations, I didn’t have a lot of time there. I had 15 QSOs on 40 meter FT8. This brought my total for this park to 293.
Later in the morning, I activated K-5943 and K-4398. This was my first dual activation. I have done K-4398 before quite a few times. The boundary for the part of the wilderness is a residential area. I parked my car and hand carried my equipment about 250 meters. The fact is I have trail run past this location multiple times (with my Altra Lone Peak’s, no kidding).
The location was on the side of a west facing slope. Somehow, I was able to have QSOs with stations in Kansas and Colorado, all to the east of me. I think the signal must have bounced off some mountains before going into the atmosphere. I had 17 QSOs, all FT8 20 meters. For this activation I used my IC-7100 with a Wolf River Coil antenna. For K-4398, this brought my total up to 792.
A couple of pictures of my setup just inside the wilderness boundaries. The wooden fence below the houses is the boundary line.
Most of the propagation was to the west.
I operated at home for this one. I was going to do some portable operations, but there was too much snow on the ground to make it enjoyable. I had QSOs 22 States and 10 NWS offices. I operated 80, 40 and 20 meters on SSB, JS8CALL, Winlink and FM. The Winlink was a new experience on Skywarn for me. I used both the 'Local Weather Report' and 'ICS213'. I found the ICS213 better to use due to its smaller size (quicker sending speed).
The Kestrel 5200 set up at home on a snowy Utah evening taking reading for SRD
This one was a quick after work activation. I had 45 QSO. There were 2 on the 2 meter calling frequency, and the rest were on 20 meter phone. This brought me to 338 QSOs for this park.
Out for a morning activation in the cold. This time I worked 1 2m FM contact, 40, 20 and 15 meters on both SSB and FT8. I had a total of 45 QSOs to bring my total to 386.
This was a morning Boxing Day (I did have 2 QSOs with Canada) almost entirely on 20 meter phone. I had three QSOs with my friends in El Paso (DM61) and one 2 meter FM contact with a ham in the Cabelas lot in Lehi. The 24 QSOs brought my total up to 816 for this park. (less than 200 to go for Kilo)
I decided to get another one in before my 40 acres get covered with snow. This time I did half digital and half phone on 15 and 20 meters (with an additional FT8 contact on 40 m). I had 6 park to parks. This gave me 97 more QSOs for a total of 913 at K-4398.
I went back to do this duel activation again. I did it with a Xiegu X-90 on 20 watts this time. All of my QSOs were to the west of me on 20 meters. I had 18 QSOs. For K-4398, this got me up to 931 QSOs.
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