Activated on 4 October, 2023
The devil is in the details — Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe
I returned to the beautiful Kenneth Hann State Recreation Area for my 5th activation today. Things did not go as expected, however, the activation was still a success. With my level of experience in CW activations, little things can throw off my game. This is why the more one does it the easier it gets. In the military we called it the 5-P Principle, Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance. Okay, let me put it this way, I just learned to ride the bike and I’m still a little wobbly.
Setting up the antenna is the first thing on the list for my activations. Then I set up my safety cones, so people stay away from my coax and antenna. The next thing is putting out the solar panels and connecting them to the battery when needed. This way, I start pumping juice into the battery as soon as I can. When the activation is completed, disconnecting the solar panels is the last thing on the list.
So, this was a normal set-up for me today, including the equipment and tablet. Almost. HAMRS is my logging program out in the field. My backup is pencil and paper. I have connectivity at this park, and using my phone’s hot spot I was spotting on POTA.app, running HAMRS, and texting friends on the tablet. Oh yeah, HAMRS. Somehow, I forgot to update my park information; like the frequency, callsign, grid, you know—that pesky data you need to log your contacts. Ha! So, when the first QSO came in, I was not prepared. The call was not SSB as HAMRS said, and I could not understand why I could not log it. To top it off, I had QRM from multiple incoming calls and I became saturated and lost the contact due to QSB. With some of the calls I got, I felt like I had to fight to complete the contact. I concentrated on the one call and continued my exchange while other QSOs were in progress. They could have been for me, I don’t know.
As I entered the calls in the log, I noticed no supporting information was displayed on HAMRS. I mean, no name, state, grid, etc. It’s not supposed to happen this way. Therefore, my displayed safety net of information showing I copied the call correctly was gone. Oh boy, I thought, calls, QSB, QRM were still coming in along with three-letter codes and choice four-letter words from me. I needed a break, so I sent out DE W1SAV QRX 5 and walked away. Once my heartbeat slowed back down, I updated all the information in HAMRS. Now the thing is working right and I’m getting a grip on my heartbeat and the situation. So, I keep moving forward.
The second contact in the log through all that mess, was from Italy. It actually was the second Italy contact as I lost the first one through QRM and QSB. I kept calling for the first Italian and the second Italian kept putting out his call. Eventually, I realized the first one was gone and responded to the second one to make sure I got a DX contact. I bagged Italy. A few contacts later I got the Hawaiian sugar problem: S&H. Esses and Aiches. Three dits and four dits. Now add QRM and QSB and it becomes fun. I got a call from France; I recognized it as such because it started with F4. I was excited. F4SZR? RR. I confirmed twice and entered it in my log. Wrong! It was F4HZR and I didn’t find out until I got home and when I downloaded the contact on eQSL. Wow, the things you think you know. C’est la vie.
I had several passers-by this time: most of them of the white-haired retired variety. One gentleman asked me what frequency I was on, I told him I was on 15 meters and was going to change to 20 meters later. He looked at me, gave me a dismissive hand gesture and continued walking. I suppose he was not impressed. I chuckled. Folks did slow down and read my little POTA yard flag, and somewhere in all this activity Alaska came in booming. Loud. I mean direct-connection-loud. It was good to know I was also a 599.
As fifteen meters started to slow down I QSY-ed to twenty meters. In the end I only got two contacts on twenty because I stopped calling CQ due to an unexpected, wonderful conversation with two ladies. It started with asking if I was a ham. Eventually I find out they are part of an international women’s club that travels. Laura Klines (L) and Donna Stuart (R) belong to the Women Welcome Women World Wide. The club members welcome travelling women from around the world into their homes to get to know them, their history, culture, and so on. We chatted for about an hour on both our passion subjects, and it truly was delightful.
I called QRT and packed up while chatting with the ladies. I gave them each a QSL card, one for one of their ham friends and one for one of their nephews. This was good as it kept my mind off the stress of this activation. Eventually, we said our good-byes and went on our way. Surprisingly, I don’t recall thinking about the activation on the way home but once home, I rehashed what happened during the activation.
Again, I thought, this was not so bad. In my own way, I took control of the situation, called a time out, and came back more focused. Afterall, I finished the activation with 19 contacts that included three DX entities. Did I learn something? Youbetcha! It goes back to the 5-P Principle, as some of the PRIOR stuff can happen right before you call CQ, while setting up. Handling a pile-up, if I can call it that, does take experience. Go after the loudest? Go after the last one? Call CQ again to reset the hunters? I expect there is no definitive answer, as it depends. Was it a challenge? Did I learn something? Would I do it again?
Youbetcha!
Activation Statistics
| Activation Number | 27 |
| Date | 4 October, 2023 |
| Park | K-3451 Kenneth Hann State Recreation Area |
| Number of Contacts | 20 |
| DX Contacts | 2 |
| Park Activated? | Yes |
| Previous Attempts | 3 |
| Park to Park Contacts | None |
| Mode | CW |
| Radio | Yaesu FT-891 |
| Antenna | MPAS 2.0 in the vertical configutaion staked to the ground |
| Tuner | MFJ 939Y |
| Power | 50W using a 30Ah Bioenno battery with Bioenno 40W solar panels |
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