September 18th, 2024 – Not Activated
It was last-minute, quite impromptu, and a little rushed. I almost went out the day before, but the solar data did not look good. This morning, continuing to check the solar data and now the weather, things begin to line up for me. Except for 80 meters, the bands were all green. The Weather was going to be cool, and rain was not predicted until the evening. I quickly stuff my computer and camera into my backpack and jump into KindaNottaJeep, my JINO Jeep Compass. Maybe I should change his name to Jino. Whattayathink?
My first stop was, yes, you guessed it, Albert’s Mexican Food. I even filmed myself starting in on my breakfast burrito for some B-Roll but thought better of it. After all, who wants to see an old man eating a burrito! Filling my coffee thermos with Mexican coffee, it is really just coffee brewed with a little cinnamon, I was on my way.
Twenty minutes later I was parked at the north end of the park. As always, I take a small walk around the area and scope out my location, and backup locations. The spot I wanted was occupied, I checked the baseball field across the parking area, walked south to the start of the hard hat area (renovations until January 2026), and walked back to where I parked my car. It turned out that my spot was no longer occupied. Ten minutes later I claimed the spot, a concrete picnic table under the shade of a small tree.
It did not take long to set up my Elecraft KX3 and my ever-trusted MPAS 2.0 antenna in its vertical configuration. I went through my normal administrative tasks; POTA spotting page, HAMRS, Discord, and my notebook. I started calling CQ POTA after a couple of QRLs. I was QRV. This time, it did not take long.
About five minutes or so after I started, I got my first hunter from New Mexico. The wonderful thing was that about four minutes later I got my second contact! Wow, I am not used to this speed. Remember, I am from Southern California where for me it’s been a radio desert lately with occasional eagles and hawks making their presence known with their shrills.
At first, I controlled my enthusiasm as I heard 4A7 coming in as the call’s prefix. Could it be Japan? Several months ago, I realized Japan uses some numbers as the first character in their call signs. I know the number 7 is one, but 4? I did not catch all of it, so I asked for a repeat. The operator returned with VA7 prefix. Okay that makes sense, the V is often mistaken for a 4 in adverse reception. It was hard to hear so send the call sign back with a question mark. I sent the prefix back as VA7. I gain I had problems hearing the response due to QSB.
The most inexplicable thing happens next. Maybe because I really wanted Japan in the log so badly, I sent the call back as JA7. JA7! Now here is the weird part, I received a “ROGER ROGER” as a response cementing my error in the log. I can not explain this Stupid Human Trick of mine. Could our signal reports give us a clue? I sent him a 339 and received a 229. I don’t get it; I clearly sent him VA7, then on my next transmission I sent a JA7. When the QSO was over, I exclaimed a loud “yes!”, pumping my fist. Rest assured; my log has the correct Canadian entry.
The next four calls came in in under ten minutes. Mother Nature has not treated me this kindly in months. According to my log, my first six contacts came in under twenty minutes. Unbelievable! I was flying high at this speed. Then, Mother Nature put the kibosh to my jubilation by making me wait for almost forty minutes for my next contact, which was now on 15 meters. She continued this merciless torture by making me wait another forty minutes for the next contact, this time back on 20 meters.
At the rate I started, I was on track to activate in 33 minutes. As it turned out it took me an hour and forty minutes, and I only got eight QSOs. Such is life. Así es la vida. C’est la vie. By the way, why does French sound so sophisticated? I digress.
As I finished packing, I noticed a man with a hardhat on the bench next to me. I was hoping he might have something to do with the work on the south side of the park. He did as he was an inspector for the City of Los Angeles. Basically, the refurbishment is scheduled to take until September of next year. Then, there are the inspections which could take several months. I good guestimate is that the southern part of the park could be ready on or before January of 2025.
In chatting with my POTA friends, they reminded me that a bad day at the park is better than a good day at work. That is also true, as I think about it, to those of us who are retired. The park is better than the shack. And for me, I am looking forward to the next time.
There is always a next time. Ciao for niao…
Activation Statistics
| Activation Attempt | 75 |
| Date | 18 September, 2024 |
| Park | US-3548 Rio de Los Angeles State Park |
| Number of Contacts | 8 |
| Historical Contacts | 236 |
| DX Contacts | 1 |
| Park Activated? | No |
| Previous Attempts | 18 |
| Park to Park Contacts | None |
| Mode | CW |
| Radio | Elecraft KX3 |
| Antenna | MPAS 2.0 in the vertical configuration |
| Tuner | Internal |
| Power | 5W using a 3Ah Bioenno battery |
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