Parks on the Air

One of my new passions is Parks on the Air (POTA). I didn't get a chance to participate in the ARRL's National Parks on the Air (NPOTA). I found out about Parks on the Air on Cale Nelson's Ham Radio 360.

Parks on the Air is part of the World Wide Flora & Fauna. The US parks fall under KFF-WWFF. There are currently over 4,000 sites that can be activated in the US.

My first site I activated was in North Carolina when I visited my daughter, Toni. That gave me the bug and now I'd like to activate more. Last week I activated KFF-1829 - Alafia River State Park. There are 10 parks within an hour drive of my house and I hope to activate most of them this year.

The equipment I use for my activations is:
KX3
7ah SLA Battery (optional)
Headphones
American Morse KK1B Strait Key
LNR 10/20/40 Trail-Friendly antenna or
BuddiPole Antenna

All except the BuddiPole fits into a padded camera backpack to make it very compact.

AE4RM's Blog

This is my home station, most of which doubles as my portable station. If consists of an Elecraft KX3, laptop for logging and digital modes, Yeasu FTM-3200D, MFJ power supply, and MFJ antenna tuner. Home antennas consist of an Alpha-Delta DX-CC and a homemade J-pole for 2 meters and 70 cm on a 30 foot home made tiltable mast (so it can come down during a hurricane). The ball is for Samantha, my German Shepherd Dog who is usually right next to me when I'm on the radio.

My station may be small and I can only run 15 watts max at this point but I have confirmed 111 countries confirmed on LoTW, 103 on phone and 53 on CW.

When I am not operating at home I can now be found doing my new favorite thing - Parks on the Air. But more on that in a different post.

I do operate mainly CW now. I use a Lionel J-36 bug (slowed down with additional weights), a Navy flameproof, and an American Morse KK1B strait key. I also enjoy SSB and work the digital modes - JT65, PSK31, and Winlink RMS Express.

I am a member of the following:
SKCC - 15542T
FISTS - 17946
Flying Pigs - 3783
QCWA - 37324
OMISS - 10396
YLSSB - 17145
SkyWarn - POL-914
QRP ARCI

I am a member of the Lake Wales Radio Amateurs and participate regularly in their monthly QRP day. I also am member of the Lakeland Amateur Radio Club and am active on their repeater.