Did not activate – February 22, 2024
This is not the first time I went to a park to activate and ended up not doing so. I don’t mean failing to get the requisite ten QSOs, but not even getting one response or sending out a CQ.
The first time this happened was at a historical park nestled in a nice neighborhood in Los Angeles. I don’t even remember the park now, but I set up my kit and tried calling CQ with no luck. I then noticed a student tour of the park and offered the staff to show some technology to the kids. I know, not the reason for the tour. However, as the tour passed by my area, they stopped and asked questions. Right before they left, I offered to answer any questions later, if they wished.
As I was trying to get a response on the radio, I noticed a mass of middle-schoolers heading my way, some were eating sandwiches as they walked. For the next 30 minutes or so these kids asked questions and we interacted in an educational way. It was fun, as I enjoy teaching, especially to kids. Some, of course, would ask questions or make statements in that pre-teen manner. After they left, I simply tore down my kit and went home.
This time I went to Chino Hills State Park with full intentions of activating, again accompanied by Marco KN6SJQ. We stopped at Albert’s for breakfast and were soon on our way to the park. Our 45-minute trip there took us to the wrong part of the park, the Discovery Center. That is not where we wanted to go, so there was another 25- minute trek we had to make to get to the other entrance. As it turned out, this jaunt was a bonus.
It took about 25 minutes to wend through the hills to get to the other entrance to the park. Usually, Southern California presents us with earth tones of browns and beiges. This time, because of the rain in the last couple of weeks, our travels through these hills, and the sleepy town of Chino hills itself, presented us with a vivid, verdant view of the hills. It was absolutely beautiful. Part of the way there, the twists and turns of the road, especially through Chino Hills, reminded me of the west entrance to Big Bear in the San Bernardino Mountains. For Marco, however, it reminded him of his native region near Termoli, Italy. The beauty of the area truly made him homesick. Even the slow trek to Horse Camp, the location in the location we would set up, provided us with amazing green hills. I just wonder how these vistas would change once the heat of the summer falls upon these hills.
We arrived at Horse Camp around 1030 and started to set up our kits. This time Marco was about 30 meters away from me. The ground was muddy in places attesting to the recent rains. The weather was beautiful with bright sunshine accentuated by sporadic clouds. Not far away though, were clouds that eventually brought on an overcast. The slight breeze was cool but turned cold once it became overcast. A light coat was all that was needed to stay comfortable.
My radio was set up, tuned, and I was spotting myself on 15-meters at the POTA site. I had a 1.0:1 match with the MAPS 2.0 int the vertical configuration when, coming across loud and proud, was a K7 station from south central Washington calling CQ POTA. I answered the call as any other hunter shying away from P2P exchanges on CW. It was 599 both ways, and we were both QRP, and the QSO was logged on paper. This is when I noticed that Marco’s transmissions were coming across quite clearly on my radio.
Still new to the KX3, I had forgotten what settings I had when last activating with Marco, where there was no interference in either direction. I retrieved my 15-meter band pass filter from Betelgeuse! Yeah, I’m prepared, I said. This is no problem, I said. I confidently went to my backpack to pull out my assortment of BNC to PL-259 adaptors! I pulled out my adaptors and realized I did not have a PL-259 to female BNC adaptor! Oh, @#$%, I said.
Around this time Milton N6MG arrived on scene. He contacted me after I placed a message on the new POTASouthernCalifornia Groups.io site. We exchanged emails as he wanted to meet in person and gave him a time to meet us at the park. We finally met as Marco was busy accumulating his 20 contacts, and I was contemplating swapping radios as I had my FT-891 or getting my longer BNC terminated coax. However, I still had the issue of the band pass filter!
Milton, or Milt, is a very nice gentleman. Knowledgeable, kind, with stories of the local area, especially the park. It was my pleasure to meet him. He and I had a wonderful conversation, each exchanging our POTA experiences, CW, DXpeditions, and our radios. As we conversed, I started to pack up my kit as I felt tired as I probably did not sleep well the night before. This was done without a single QSO or call on my part, excluding the one I previously mentioned. Milt eventually left, commenting that we should keep in touch and try to do this again. Indeed.
Now, Betelgeuse was packed up and I was ready to go. I drove over to Marco as he finished packing up and getting ready to head home. He contacted his mother in Termoli on video. I asked him to do it again videoing me as I sent a greeting in my broken Italian. We left a beautiful, green site.
For my part, although I did not activate, I cannot say it was a failed activation because I never sent out a CQ, it was nevertheless a successful outing as I got to spend time with a fellow ham, an activator, and an all-round nice guy. Did I mention Marco? Did I enjoy the outing? Yes. Would I like to activate the next time? Yes. Will I have the requisite adaptors next time? Yes.
Order placed.
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