Activated on November 30th, 2023
The morning did not look so good. It was overcast, quite gray, and the weather forecast was warning of a 25% chance of rain. I continued hunting POTA, did some LICW Challenge and SKCC contacts and eventually decided to go. Rio de Los Angeles State Park is not a beauty spot, but at the south end of the park there is one roofed park bench which I wanted to use in case of rain. In fact, it’s the only roofed bench in the park. It probably would not have done too much good because the arched metal roof is a bit too high. However, I have a blanket that would work well as a cover while packing in case of a quick egress. I got to the park shortly before 1100, hoping to get started before 1200. The bench was in use.
I literally waited for the three gentlemen, who evidently were eating their lunch, to finish so I could claim the spot. I relaxed, listened to Starship Troopers on Audible, drove around a bit, and returned to find it empty. Although these guys were not the culprits, previous visitors were not so gracious. The spot was a mess. I would make sure to navigate around the stuff.
Setting up my kit was just as smooth as previous times. The ground was softer than on previous activations, so after the antenna was erected I used my plastic mallet to buttress the antenna and keep it vertical. The difference was only about 10 degrees, but if I can do something about it, why not? Then, the realization hit me that I was under clear, sunny skies. It was warm and there was no breeze. Considering that it was several months since I visited the spot, the sun being much further south than last time, had a direct line under the shelter roof, making it even warmer. That, and the lack of breeze, made it a balmy afternoon.
After the wait and the setup, I finally started calling CQ POTA around 1300. Right away a call from SD came in, loud and proud! He got a 599 and I was ready to call CQ again when another booming signal came in. Its prefix was LW2, almost as loud as South Dakota. I sent him a 559 while trying to figure out whether it was Chile or Argentina. My multitasking skills kept me from working that thought as I suck at multitasking while working CW. In fact, I cannot even enter three numbers, an RST, while sending a rote response. In the end, Argentina won out.
The band conditions did not help at all. I got several three-letter conditions in differing combinations and intensities: QRM, QRN, and QSB. One call kept dropping out during it’s call area; I got the prefix and the suffix, but not the call area! QSB struck at just the right moment to keep me from hearing it. It was not hard to copy, but Mother Nature was a little playful. Well, maybe not so little… Eventually, after several question marks, I got the full callsign. Several of the calls came in so far in the surf (remember I’m from Southern California), that I did not bother to try to pull them in and kept calling CQ POTA. In all, I think I had about three or four calls to which I responded and tried to pull them in several times which Mother Nature helped me lose. Still, I was pleased that I got my 17 contacts that included one DX station.
In all, I called it a day after 45 minutes of activation. I would have gone longer, but I did not want to keep fighting the three Qs. I sent out a QRT and was about to shut down the radio when, you guessed it, I got a sneaker call. The guy sneaked in there and got his QSO, and I got my 17th. I immediately sent out QRT and shut down the radio. In retrospect, this is a good problem to have!
Packing up my kit was quick and easy. Gone is the adrenaline crash of my first Morse Code activations. I simply went about my task concentrating on what I had to do when I felt something squirt up on me. I looked down at the ground and did not see anything out of sorts. Then I realized something wet on my hand and pants. I stepped on a small green salsa container that somehow squirted up. Yeah, sometimes there is the yuck factor.
Activation Statistics
| Activation Number | 37 |
| Date | 30 November, 2023 |
| Park | K-3548 Rio de Los Angeles State Park |
| Number of Contacts | 17 |
| DX Contacts | 1 |
| Park Activated? | Yes |
| Previous Attempts | 7 |
| Park to Park Contacts | None |
| Mode | CW |
| Radio | Yaesu FT-891 |
| Antenna | MPAS 2.0 in the verticalconfigutaion staked to the ground |
| Tuner | MFJ 939Y |
| Power | 50W using a 30Ah Bioenno battery |
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