You may think the Rez Antenna Systems Recon 40 is like any other base loaded coil, but what makes this one different is that you can change bands with a flick of a switch
Rez Antenna Systems Recon 40 coil: https://www.rezantenna.com/product-page/recon-40
As you may know, I am a big fan of using a vertical antenna for my portable operations and Parks on the Air activations. I enjoy the speed of setting up a quarter wave vertical antenna for the higher bands, and I love the versatility of using a loaded coil to extend my operation down into the 40 meter band.
Knowing that many people like to take advantage of the efficiency of the 213 inch vertical whip as a ¼ radiator, Rez antenna systems has developed this product, the Recon 40, to extend the range of the 17 foot vertical whip down into the 40 meter band.
The Recon 40 is a fixed inductance coil system to turn a 17 foot whip, which is resonant on the 20 meter band, into a base loaded vertical antenna that is now resonant on the 40 meter band.
But with conventional coil systems, you have to add or remove the coil, or somehow bypass it in order to switch between 40 and 20 meters. The Recon 40 solves that problem by adding a bypass switch, right in the coil system. This switch, when turned on, puts the coil in line with the antenna and turns it into a 40 meter antenna. Flick the switch off, and now you’ve bypassed the coil and your whip is instantly resonant on 20 meters. Physically adjusting the whip will get you resonance for any other band above 20 meters.
Rez antenna systems loaned me a kit for this review. I’ve returned it and no further compensation was received. My comments and experience with it are my own without outside influence.
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We take a road trip to northern Wisconsin to discover the origins of the Wolf River and then follow the scenic waterway downwards in this entertaining Parks on the Air activation.
As a bonus, patrons can view the unedited phone contacts for this POTA activation. Visit my page on Patreon for details: https://www.patreon.com/kb9vbrantennas
I do return QSL, if you made a contact with me and would like a QSL, please send me one. Return postage not necessary, but always appreciated. As they say, KB9VBR is ‘good in the book.
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Ham Radio Dude’s portable end fed half wave antenna, the Dudetenna, features a substantial toroid and reinforced radiating wire for 100 watt operation in both digital and sideband modes.
The dudetenna end fed half wave, like other end fed kits on the market is pretty similar to the others in construction and performance. I;ve always said that an end fed is an end fed and all the models on the market and going to work pretty much the same. But there are a couple of key differences in this antenna that set it apart.
First off, the Dudetenna uses a different toroid than the others. Most end feds that are capable of 100 watt transmit power will commonly use the T140-43 toroid. This antenna is different and its transformer is built around this larger Fair-rite 43 mix toroid. The bigger toroid has about three times the mass of the T140, giving you greater permeability and slightly more bandwidth. With a bigger toroid, it should handle a full 100 watts sideband without overheating.
The other two notable features are the use of an SO-239 or UHF female connection instead of a BNC, so no adapter will be required if your coax has PL-259s and finally, the kit comes with 75 feet of vectron fiber reinforced wire. Vectron fiber, much like Kevlar, will not stretch or break, giving your radiator wire greater mechanical strength for use out in the field.
Screenshot
The kit is also available with or without the wire, so you can build the transformer and then supply your own wire. It’s your choice.
Ham Radio Dude did send me a Dudetenna end fed half wave antenna kit to build and put on the air in exchange for a video. But my opinions are my own and there is no outside influence. So let’s head inside, build this antenna, and then put it on the air.
As a bonus, patrons can view an hour long video of me assembling the Dudetenna end fed half wave. Visit my page on Patreon for details: https://www.patreon.com/kb9vbrantennas
I do return QSL, if you made a contact with me and would like a QSL, please send me one. Return postage not necessary, but always appreciated. As they say, KB9VBR is ‘good in the book.
Timestamp: 00:00:00 Ham Radio Dude End Fed Half Wave 00:02:04 Dudetenna EFHW Parts 00:07:50 Assembling the end fed half wave antenna 00:09:02 Adjusting and tuning an EFHW antenna 00:14:53 Dudetenna on the air 00:17:24 Conclusion and my thoughts
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As a bonus, patrons can view the unedited phone contacts for this POTA activation. Visit my page on Patreon for details: https://www.patreon.com/kb9vbrantennas
I do return QSL, if you made a contact with me and would like a QSL, please send me one. Return postage not necessary, but always appreciated. As they say, KB9VBR is ‘good in the book.
Links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This does not affect the price you pay.
The Frankentenna consists of parts from three different antennas to create a 25 foot tall vertical non resonant radiator that when combined with a remote antenna tune results in amazing performance on the bands. Join me at the Plover River State Fishery and Wildlife Area (POTA US-10054) in North Central Wisconsin as I put this park on the air.
As a bonus, patrons can view the full, unedited phone contacts for this Parks on the Air activation. Visit my page on Patreon for details: https://www.patreon.com/kb9vbrantennas
I do return QSL, if you made a contact with me and would like a QSL, please send me one. Return postage not necessary, but always appreciated. As they say, KB9VBR is ‘good in the book.
Links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This does not affect the price you pay.
CaHRTenna Poseidon is the Coffee and Ham Radio’s take on the popular Rybakov vertical non resonant antenna. Today we’ll talk about Poseidon, show you how to build your own, and put the Greek god of the sea on the air.
Coffee and Ham Radio’s Poseidon is based on an antenna called the Rybakov. That antenna, created by Italian ham IV3SBE about 20 years ago is a non resonant ground ground mounted vertical antenna with a radiating element of 25 feet. At the feed point is a 4:1 unun or transformer to match the 200 ohm impedance the antenna presents. Radials of about a similar length provide the ground network for the antenna. With a tuner, the antenna will operate on the 80 through 6 meter bands, although it gets pretty inefficient on 40 meters and below. Your best performance will be on the higher bands and this style of antenna really excels on 10, 12, and 15 meters. As you get higher in frequency, the RF radiation angle gets lower and lower, making it an excellent DX antenna.
But why the name Rybakov? When IV3SBE designed the antenna, he envisioned it being supported by an 8 meter fishing pole. The antenna’s 25 foot length makes it perfect to deploy with a lightweight mast or fishing pole. Rybakov is Russian for fisherman, so it makes sense to give the fishing pole antenna that name.
Coffee and Ham Radios did send me a Poseidon vertical antenna kit to build and put on the air in exchange for a video. But my opinions are my own and there is no outside influence. So let’s head inside, build this antenna, and then put it on the air.
Screenshot
So what makes Poseidon different? I believe the key difference lies in the transformer. If you look at most 4:1 unun designs, they use a red T200 style toroid. The red toroids work well and offer very good overall efficiency, but a key design element of this antenna was to make is tunable with a transceiver’s internal tuner. That means you will need an SWR that’s 3:1 or less over the entire frequency range the antenna is designed for. Unfortunately the T200 isn’t up to that and you will get higher impedances at the lower frequencies. This green colored iron powder core that’s used in Poseidon offers an overall better impedance matching at a wider range of frequencies, with a slight tradeoff of efficiency. Is the tradeoff worth it? It is if you don’t want to bring an extra piece of gear out into the field. Also consider, lower impedance coming out of the antenna means less losses in your feed line. So overall, its a valid choice to make.
The second consideration with this antenna is that 4:1 transformers can pass along common mode currents, causing the outer shield of your feed line to radiate. This will affect your antenna’s radiation pattern. Proper 4:1 windings will also include a second toroid would as a 1:1 choke. In order to make this antenna easier to build, Poseidon does not use the double toroid winding, instead you will need a choke of some sort on your coaxial cable. Today I’ll be using an integrated choke on my feed line for this antenna.
3 years ago I did a review of the Chameleon Tactical Delta Loop antenna. At that time I had a mediocre feeling towards it. But taking a 2nd look, I am totally impressed on how this amazing antenna performs on the upper bands.
As a bonus, patrons can view the full, unedited phone contacts for this Parks on the Air activation. Visit my page on Patreon for details: https://www.patreon.com/kb9vbrantennas
I do return QSL, if you made a contact with me and would like a QSL, please send me one. Return postage not necessary, but always appreciated. As they say, KB9VBR is ‘good in the book.
Links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This does not affect the price you pay.
It’s a POTA road trip! I head out to activate three new to me parks while using a different antenna at each one. Ride along with me for an epic Parks on the Air activation as we find out which one will be the best
As a bonus, patrons can view the full, unedited phone contacts for this Parks on the Air activation. Visit my page on Patreon for details: https://www.patreon.com/kb9vbrantennas
I do return QSL, if you made a contact with me and would like a QSL, please send me one. Return postage not necessary, but always appreciated. As they say, KB9VBR is ‘good in the book.
New Parks on the Air Activators often ask: how do I find a good spot to do my activation? In this video I give you the resources you need to find those awesome POTA locations.
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Team K0M is back and we are on the road for the Minnesota QSO Party! Will we beat last year’s score? Can we hit our stretch goal? Watch now in this rapid pace adventure.
Team K0M is Michael KB9VBR and Dave KZ9V. This is our third year as mobile operators in the Minnesota QSO party. If you made contact with K0M during the QSO party and would like a card, please QSL via KB9VBR. As they say, I’m good in the book.
As a bonus, patrons can view the unedited phone contacts for the QSO Party and extended conversations between Dave and I. Visit my page on Patreon for details: https://www.patreon.com/kb9vbrantennas
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Joe and I hit the road to activate five newly added Parks on the Air entities in Central Wisconsin. Will our five park POTA rove be a success or end in disappointment?
As a bonus, patrons can view the full, unedited phone contacts for this Parks on the Air activation. Visit my page on Patreon for details: https://www.patreon.com/kb9vbrantennas
I do return QSL, if you made a contact with me and would like a QSL, please send me one. Return postage not necessary, but always appreciated. As they say, KB9VBR is ‘good in the book.
Links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This does not affect the price you pay.
I made over 1000 contacts and spent a month working with the Chameleon PRV or Portable Resonant Vertical Antenna kit. The core of the PRV is the Multi Configuration Coil or MCC. This adjustable coil, when paired with an appropriate length whip, will operate on any frequency between 6 and 80 meters. The PRV kit is well suited for outdoor and portable operations such as SOTA, Summits on the Air or POTA, Parks on the Air.
A Chameleon PRV POTA Kit was provided in exchange for this video.
PRV kit breakdown
The core component of the PRV or portable resonant vertical kit is the Multi Configuration Coil. The PRV is a base loaded antenna and the multi configuration coil, when paired with an appropriate sized whip, allows you to achieve a resonant match for any frequency between 6 and 80 meters.
The coil is constructed out of anodized aluminum outer body with a delrin center and stainless steel and silver clad copper wire. At first glance you will say this is Chameleon’s knockoff of the Wolf River coil, but i believe it is more appropriate to compare the PRV kit and multi configuration coil with the Super Antenna MP1. The MCC is a more refined and elevated version of the MP1 coil, with the addition of being manufactured in the USA.
The coil itself is fairly lightweight, weighing in at just under 16 ounces and fully collapsed, it is 12 ½ inches long. At the base of the coil is a 3/8×24 male thread for attaching it to a base. Their is an SO-239 or UHF female connection for the coax, a thumb screw to lock the outer body of the coil to the center. This will keep it from slipping after you have a match. And finally, a 3/8×24 female receptacle for a whip. The choice of whip you use will determine the frequency range of the coil.
Chameleon sells the PRV kit in three different packages, the MCC coil by itself, the SOTA, or summits on the air light kit, and the POTA, parks on the air heavy kit.
Assembling the kit
Assembling your PRV or portable resonant vertical antenna is pretty straight forward. If you have any experience with other base loaded verticals this will seem familiar.
First off is the base or antenna support. The PRV kit comes with a ground spike you can push into the ground to support the antenna. If you are working with soft earth, this stainless steel spike will the coil and up to the 17 foot whip. But, if you are like me, and it’s winter, or if you are operating on hard earth, or a durable surface like asphalt or concrete, the spike won’t work. The POTA heavy kit solves that with the UCM or universal clamp mount can be attached to anything with a lip, like a picnic table or bbq grill. The coil and whip can be deployed from that.
For my testing I preferred to use their new carbon fiber tripod. This is a lightweight portable tripod with extendable and adjustable legs. You can splay the legs out and it will easily support the coil and the PRV standard whip in most weather conditions. It will also support the 17 foot whip as long as it is not windy. If there is anything brisker than a gentle breeze, you run the risk of the tripod tipping over. Sand bags or weights on the legs will help prevent that. The tripod has a 3×8 x 16 course thread and ¼ inch male thread. These are standard tripod threads and the PRV kit comes with a ¼ inch to ⅜ inch fine thread adapter. You will use this adapter with the Chameleon tripod or any other tripod you wish to use.
Tuning
Tuning, or finding a good match, on your PRV can be easy, or it can be a challenge, it all depends on how you approach the process. I’ve had situations where the SWR in my vertical antenna drops down to nothing, and other times when it was a total bear and I can’t get lower than 2:1. I’m going to tell you right now, it’s not you, and often it is the location or ground conditions the antenna is on. That means if you are going to run with base loaded vertical antennas, you just need to accept that sometimes you won’t get perfect SWR, and in reality, anything less than 2:1 really is ok. Fortunately, Chameleon, with the PRV offers a fair amount of guidance in their user guide on how to get a good match on the various bands.
My experiences
So what is my experience with the Chameleon PRV or portable resonant vertical antenna? I’m going to say that I am very impressed. Honestly, this isn’t a one off review of the antenna, but instead my opinions after using for a full month and making over 1000 contacts with it. There are some things that I like, and some that I don’t.
First off, construction is top notch. This antenna is made in the USA and it shows with quality components. The multi configuration coil is well built, it is designed to handle up to 500 watts single sideband and 200 watts digital modes. I find that the construction of the coil and whip would support those claims. The documentation is excellent, it goes into great detail on how to tune and adjust the antenna, which is outstanding. The system is extensible, you can use it with the 58 inch whip, but I believe it really shines when you combine it with either the 9 foot Mil-Whip or 17 foot stainless collapsible whip. The 34 foot wire winder radial is innovative, but I think its also the weakest part of the package.
The problem I have with the wire winder radial is the weight. When you suspend it on a line from the elevated tripod to another support, you will need either a substantial tripod or to guy everything down as the weight of the winder on the line will pull the whole thing down. Since the ground was frozen during my test period, I couldn’t guy things, so I struggled with deploying the elevated radial system.
But the elevated radial system also seemed to offer the best performance overall, so the effort to put it up is worth it. Properly deployed, I found it easy to get a match with the elevated radial as you weren’t subject to the vagaries of ground conditions.
But I really like that the kit is extensible. You can add additional radials for better ground performance. I found that to really be a benefit for the 20 and 40 meter bands. You can use it with the magic carpet. I had a difficult time getting a good match with the faraday cloth and the 58 inch whip, but the ground screen worked great with the longer whips. And speaking of longer whips, I think the PRV is at its best when you use it with the 17 foot stainless or 9 foot mil-whips. I had no problems putting out great signals QRP, with only 5 watts of power using the long whips.
Bonus content and activation videos using the Chameleon MCC coil and the PRV kit are available to my patrons. Please visit my page on Patreon for details: https://www.patreon.com/kb9vbrantennas
Timestamp 00:00:00 Chameleon PRV Portable Resonant Vertical Antenna kit 00:00:57 CHA MCC Multi Configuration Coil 00:02:38 PRV SOTA Light and POTA Heavy Kits 00:03:36 Deploying the PRV POTA Heavy Kit with Extensions 00:05:52 Ground Spike, UCM, Carbon Fiber Tripod 00:07:55 PRV SOTA Light Kit Deployment 00:09:15 Tuning the MCC Multi Configuration Coil 00:11:01 Elevated deployment with the wire winder radial 00:12:35 My experience with the Chameleon CHA PRV POTA Kit
Our Ham Radio holiday adventure takes us to Wisconsin’s scenic Door County peninsula on the shores of Lake Michigan. We activate to Parks on the Air parks: Potawatomie State Park (POTA K-1472) and Newport State Park (POTA K-1468). Plus, we explore a Door County Christkindlmarkt, have dinner in a historic Wisconsin Supper Club, and top off the evening playing classic arcade games. Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas.
As a bonus, patrons can view the full, unedited phone contacts for this Parks on the Air activation. Visit my page on Patreon for details: https://www.patreon.com/kb9vbrantennas
I do return QSL, if you made a contact with me and would like a QSL, please send me one. Return postage not necessary, but always appreciated. As they say, KB9VBR is ‘good in the book.
Links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This does not affect the price you pay.
Timestamp 00:00:00 Goats on the Roof 00:00:29 Potawatomie State Park 00:01:05 Activation of K-1472 Potawatomie State Park 00:05:40 Christkindltmarkt 00:06:33 Newport State Park 00:07:33 Activation of K-1468 Newport State Park 00:12:40 Chameleon PRV Portable Resonant Vertical 00:14:12 Holiday Lights Supper Club and Pinball 00:15:45 Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas
I head out to Dewey Marsh State Wildlife Area (POTA K-9840) with my QRP Yaesu FT-817ND to give the Chameleon OCF 40 Off Center Fed dipole antenna a test. The CHA OCF40 is a very lightweight and backpackable medium power antenna — intended for extreme portable use, such as: Parks On the Air (POTA), Summits On the Air (SOTA), and other outdoor QRP radio adventures where an effective antenna is required.
As a bonus, patrons can view the full, unedited phone contacts for this Parks on the Air activation. Visit my page on Patreon for details: https://www.patreon.com/kb9vbrantennas
I do return QSL, if you made a contact with me and would like a QSL, please send me one. Return postage not necessary, but always appreciated. As they say, KB9VBR is ‘good in the book.
Links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This does not affect the price you pay.
(February 14, 2024) In the social forums, I often see the question posed by a newer POTA enthusiast asking if anyone does any Parks on the Air activations on the 80 meter band. This is a great question, as 80 meters is excellent for getting those local and regional contacts and it often is a band that is needed if you are interested in your N1CC award. But there are certain challenges with that band and they are multiplied when you go portable.
Being at the top of the solar cycle, 80 meters is relegated to being a night time band. During the day the noise floor is just too high for the weaker signal of an activator to compete. This is often compounded by the highly compromised antennas we end up using on the lower bands. There’s a reason why 80 meter aficionados use amplifiers: it’s to overcome the limitations of band noise and antenna losses. To top all that off, many parks close in the evening hours, making it even more challenging to activate a park on that band.
With all the challenges of 80 meters, I found myself in a spot where I had the time and ability to do a late shift at a local park, Rib Mountain State Park (POTA K-1473).
Late shift for Parks on the Air purposes is defined when Zulu day (00:00) rolls over. Here in the midwest in the central time zone, we are 6 hours behind GMT, Zulu, or Universal Coordinated Time, so at 6:00 pm local time (7pm when daylight saving time begins) is the start of the new POTA day. This late evening activation period is affectionately called the Late Shift, as it happens during the evening hours and the contacts count towards the next local time day.
On February 14, Christine was flying back from a business conference and her plane was expected to arrive at 9:00pm. I could have stayed at home and snoozed on the couch before picking her up at the airport, or I could make myself useful and activate a park. Fortunately my favorite local park, Rib Mountain State Park, is only 15 minutes from the airport, so I could be out until 8:30 or so, get on the air, and make some late shift contact. I grabbed a quick dinner and traveled up the hill for a couple hours of late shift.
Setup
Being it was the evening, my plan was 40 and 80 meters, two bands I don’t operate much from the mountain and two that will have good performance after sunset. Being this is winter and the ski hill is operating, I knew that I would have some noise on the 40 meter band from the chair lifts. Checking the schedule, the hill was operating until 9:00pm. My only hope was that they wouldn’t be operating the lift on the far west side of the hill. If it was, my only recourse would be to operate digital on the 40 meter band as the chair lift noise all but blanks everything out.
Sure enough, when I got to the top of the hill, there was plenty of activity near the park entrance and the two large high speed lifts were running, but driving to the other end of the park, everything was dark. The parking area was unlit and the 3rd high speed lift was not in operation. Excellent! That meant 40 meter phone operation was on.
For My setup, I used the 213 inch whip paired with the Wolf River Coils Silver Bullet 1000 coil. I needed the extra length of the SB1000 for 80 meters, so that was the perfect choice. The longer whip meant that the coil would be somewhat efficient as I wouldn’t have to drop the collar all the way to the bottom to get a match. Sure enough, on 40 meters, I only needed about an inch or so of coil and on 80m, the collar was at about the 3/8 point, of just under half way down. I had both my window screen ground network and length of Faraday cloth (magic carpet), so I laid both down under the antenna to increase the surface area of my ground network. This was an excellent choice as the SWR on both 40 and 80 meters was under 1.5:1.
For transceiver, I put the FT-891 on the dash of the car, set the power of 50 watts, and started calling CQ on the 40 meter band.
The Activation
I was on the air 00:49 (6:49pm) and made my first contact 2 minutes later. To say that hunters weren’t looking for late shift activators is an understatement. For the next hour I averaged about 2 contacts a minute and racked up 95 contacts for the almost one hour period that I was on the air. Propagation was quite good and I easily worked stations on 40 meters that I often hear on 20 meters during the day, including a few west coast stations: California, Oregon, and Arizona.
Since the purpose of me being on the hill at night was 80 meters, and since I also had a hard deadline to keep, at 7:45pm I changed bands. At this time it has started snowing on the hill. We were expecting some rain/snow mix but the forecast said it would start after 9:00pm. Evidently it got here a little early as my ground screen and cloth was covered by a light dusting of snow. Moving the collar down to 80 meters, I got a good match, and the snow didn’t seem to affect anything. I was ready to rock and roll.
Band conditions on 80 meters was excellent that evening. My noise floor was about S2, which is amazing, and many of the hunters I got on 40 meters followed me down to 80 for another contact on that band. I operated for 40 minutes and got 26 in the log. A little slower pace than 40 meters, but expected with the shorter coverage the 80 meter band offered. By this time is was 8:30pm and my wife was expected to land in 30 minutes.
But as I mentioned, it was snowing, and that same snow delayed her flight out of Minneapolis. I now had about an extra half hour before I needed to be at the airport. There was only one reasonable thing to do, work another band. I needed 30 meters at the park for my N1CC, so I retuned the coil, hooked up the Digirig, and got 8 30 meter FT8 contacts in the log. Signals were really good on 30 m that evening and the passband was full of activity. I secured at 8:54pm. According to Flight Aware, she would arrive at 9:20, so I had just enough time to pack up, head down the hill, and get to the airport.
Conclusion
Late shift on Rib Mountain was a lot of fun. Getting down off the hill in the snow was not. By this time it was snowing pretty good, but taking things easy and the confidence of the Outback’s all wheel drive made the day. I arrived at the airport at 9:24pm and only had to wait a minimal amount of time while Chris got her luggage.
There is no camping on Rib Mountain, but the park is open until 11:00pm. Until this point I never really thought much about going up there for a late shift activation, but with the results of this one, I certainly am going to do it again. The vertical with the SB1000 coil was an excellent choice and I feel adding the second screen to the ground network made a big difference for the low bands. I will certainly do that trick again when I use the vertical on 80 and even 40 meters.
I got 129 contacts that day: 95 on 40 meters, 26 on 80 meters, and 8 on 30 meters FT8.
K-1473 Rib Mountain State Park 40 meter Late Shift Phone contacts
K-1473 Rib Mountain State Park 80 meter Late Shift Phone contacts
I head to Council Grounds State Park (POTA K-1447) to test the new Chameleon LEFS 4010 end fed half wave antenna system. The LEFS or Light Weight Antenna System is a versatile EFHW HF antenna with tuner-free operation on 40, 20, 15, and 10 meters and can be used with a tuner on 60, 30, 17, and 12 meters. This lightweight antenna is specially good for low power, or QRP, operation and is small enough to be carried in your pack for portable POTA and SOTA adventures.
We take the Gabil GRA-7350TC portable whip antenna and lightweight tripod up north with us to Madeline Island on the shore of Lake Superior (Big Bay State Park K-1439) to give it a test and see if this really is the ultimate in portable, packable, HF vertical antennas.
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Roasted Stuffed Squash Thanksgiving Bowl 1 acorn squash 1 medium onion 2 celery stalks 12 oz turkey (Oscaer Mayer carving board cuts work great) 1 package Stove Top stuffing mix 1 1/2 cup water 4 tbsp butter 1/4 cup pecans 1/4 cup dried cranberries
Slice squash in half end to end. Scoop out inside and coat with olive oil and salt. Roast in a medium heat dutch oven for about an hour or until tender.
Saute onion and celery until translucent. Slice turkey into small pieces and cook until warmed through.
Add stuffing, water (or broth), and butter. Stir until stuff has absorbed liquid.
Stir in pecans and cranberries. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Serve stuffing mix in the squash bowls.
As a bonus, patrons can view the full, unedited phone contacts for this Parks on the Air activation. Visit my page on Patreon for details: https://www.patreon.com/kb9vbrantennas
I do return QSL, if you made a contact with me and would like a QSL, please send me one. Return postage not necessary, but always appreciated. As they say, KB9VBR is ‘good in the book.
Parks on the Air and camping is a great combination and if you love both of those activities, I invite you to attend the 2nd annual Wisconsin POTA campout on October 4-6, 2024 at the Brunet Island State Park (POTA K-1442) in Cornell, WI.
What to Expect
Your hosts, Michael KB9VBR, Travis W9HDG, and Joe KD9CJX have been getting together for an autumn campout for a few years. Parks on the Air has been always been a highlight of these adventures. This year we are opening up our campout to the greater POTA community. This event will be part social activity and part Parks on the Air activation. You can activate as little or as much as you want, in whatever mode you choose. The sky is the limit. Learn new skills, see now other hams operate, and learn how to deal with interference when a bunch of hams get on the air at the same time. That’s always part of the fun. The weekend is guaranteed to be a blast.
A formalized list of events will be put together as we get closer to the date, but you can expect the following:
Friday evening social campfire
POTA 101 class for new activators
Saturday POTA activations, group and individual
Saturday evening pot luck dinner (bring a dish to pass)
and much much more
Camp the entire weekend or just come out for the day/evening. We’d love to have you either way.
The campground is located right on the edge of Cornell and is within close proximity of the Ice Age National Scenic Trail and the Old Abe State Trail, both POTA entities. Cornell, WI is approximately 20 miles northeast of Chippewa Falls, WI and is not far from I-94 and State Hwy 29 in western Wisconsin.
Campground
Brunet Island State Park, on the Chippewa and Fisher rivers, offers more than 1,300 acres of scenic beauty and recreational opportunities. Quiet lagoons and channels are excellent for canoeing and wildlife watching. The rolling landscape in Chippewa County is a product of the most recent Ice Age. The park links to the Old Abe State Trail which runs from Cornell to Chippewa Falls.
Brunet Island State Park has two campground loops. The South Campground has 24 sites with electricity. It has a campsite accessible for people with disabilities and a shower building with flush toilets.
The North Campground has no electric service, but many of the 45 campsites are on the shoreline of the Chippewa River or its bays. Generators are NOT allowed in Brunet Island State Park.
Water will still be on this weekend and the shower house open. The park office is closed after Labor Day, so no other services will be available. Food, supplies, and firewood are available in nearby Cornell.
If you want to know what the campground and the campsite look like, Sconny Wandering has a great walkaround of this amazing campground
North Campground Loop
South Campground Loop
Important Details
Your hosts Michael, Travis, and Joe are in sites 61-63. If you are planning to camp, please reserve a site on that end of the campground loop (or anywhere else in the campground if you desire).
There is no additional charge for the event. You will need a Wisconsin State Park sticker or other admission to enter the campground.
Please note that due to the overwhelming demand for the POTA campout, there are a limited number of campsites still available for this event. All of the site east of the bay on the north loop are all POTA campers. The remaining sites in the campground are on the west side of the bay and are a mix of POTA and non POTA campers. As we get closer to the date, I imagine people will drop out and sites will become available. If you are interested on being on a waitlist, please email me via the contact form and I can notify you if I hear of a participant dropping out or a site opening up.
If you are planning to attend, Please email Michael, KB9VBR, via the contact form or kb9vbr@jpole-antenna.com. Let me know your site number if you are camping, or give me a heads up if you are coming out for the day.
There is a modern shower house with flush toilets in the campground. It should be open yet on the first weekend of October. Vault toilets are available.
This is a family friendly event. Alcohol is permitted in accordance to state park rules. We only request that you conduct yourself in an appropriate manner.
This is not a Parks on the Air sanctioned event, you are responsible for your own actions. Event hosts assume no liability.
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