Activated on March 24th, 2025
It’s only been four days since my last activation, but I’ve been hankerin’ to do a beach activation for a while. Since it was a Monday, I figured there would not be too many folks at the beach. So, I headed out to US-3426 Doheny State Beach which is a 65-mile drive from home. It took me about 70 minutes or so to get there, and I arrived at 1100. As always, I never go directly to set up. I chat with people, in this case, an older surfer who is applying a salve to his old knees. I guess you can get the boy out of the surf, but you can’t get the surf out of the boy.
Something I almost always do is to start my activation day with a good breakfast at…well, you know where. I then had a short stop to top off with some carboniferous juice (not dyno juice, by the way) and off I went. Once I arrived, I got the lay of the land and started to set up my station.
From the start I got distracted by the sights at the beach. Please understand that I am not a prude, however, I have not ever seen so many moons at the beach in the afternoon. I guess this tells you how long it’s been since I’ve been at the beach with so many people. It started when I was loading my cart and the girl across from me was changing into her wetsuit. ¡Ay Dios mio! This was going to be an interesting activation.
I started calling CQ POTA on 14.063 MHZ. I quickly got a Q, but needed to stop recording afterwards to make sure my computer was connected to my hotspot. A minute later I continued my activation. When you’re by yourself it’s easy to forget that you’re on camera. So, between Qs, I would look at the scenery as I am always want to do. However, this time there were so many distractions, it was astronomical. Look, I may be pushing 69, but I am still a guy. Okay?
I know that when I first start activating my fist is rusty and I make mistakes. The problem was that my keying this day was persistently off. I may as well have been on the night side of Saturn looking up at the night sky. Yes, I am not sure I ever made a perfect QSO.
After my fifth QSO, the band shifted and a POTA QSO in progress washed over me. I had to move as their signal strength was too strong. I QSYed to 14.057 MHZ to continue my activation. Things were looking up, however, because it took me 8 minutes for my first five Q’s, and that’s including the time it took to get my computer on the hotspot. Then the doldrums hit.
It took around ten minutes on the new frequency to have someone answer my call. All this time was difficult to fill with color commentary. Again, I fell back into enjoying the view, but the view here was distracting. I swear I am not used to today’s bikinis, and that makes me sound like an old fuddy-duddy (look it up, maybe I am). Eventually I got three more Qs in the log. And then nothing.
I was calling CQ POTA for over 20 minutes when I started to face my fears of not activating. Something had to change. I started hunting and got my last two contacts to activate. That works every time (almost).
Knowing (guessing?) I had ten good contacts, I called it a day and started packing up. You see, when you’re by yourself you must consider logistics. Needing to take a bio break is not an easy thing when you have thousands of dollars’ worth of equipment, and no one to watch your stuff for you. Besides, I was getting tired and hungry.
I packed up my gear in the car and decided to get something to eat at the DOHO Café, a snack place and bar right on the beach. By this time the beach was fully overcast with a noticeable chill in the breeze. I sat at one of the tables closest to the shore and watched the folks packing up and leaving for the day.
I got a lot of looks while I was activating, and some good rubberneckers, too. However, no one ever stopped by to ask any questions although I got a couple of waves. I was not impeding anyone’s flow even though I was close to the walkways. It was a nice day. The weather was nice as well, until the end. Cool breeze and a bright sun. Who would not love activating at the beach. Especially one of the beaches mentioned by the Beach Boys in their 1963 song, “Surfin’ U.S.A.”
It was “totally bitchin’.”
Activation Statistics
| Location | DM13dl71, 33.46252, -117.68569 |
| Activation Attempt | 88 |
| Date | March 24, 2025 |
| Park | US-3426 Doheny State Beach |
| Park Activated? | Yes, #76 |
| First Activation | March 24, 2025 |
| Previous Attempts | None |
| Park to Park Contacts | 2 – US-3068 East Canyon State Park US-UT, CA-3591 Hawthorne Park CA-BC |
| Number of Contacts | 10 |
| DX Contacts | 1 – Canada |
| Historical Contacts | 10 |
| Mode | CW |
| Radio | Elecraft KX3 |
| Antenna | Chameleon MPAS 2.0 in the vertical configuration |
| Tuner | Internal |
| Power | 5W using a 3Ah Bioenno battery |
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