Nestled beside the bridge on the north side of the Golden Gate is Fort Baker, a former military post that is now home to museums, yacht clubs and the U.S. Coast Guard.

Getting on the air from Cavallo Point at Fort Baker is one of my favorite ways to activate the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (US-0647) for Parks On The Air.

For more on operating from Fort Baker, please let me refer you to the following blog post from November 2023:

Fort Baker On The Air

The rest of this posting is simply pictures from today’s activation. Enjoy.

73 de W6CSN

Back in May of 2023 I visited San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge (US-0212). At the time, I was escaping the cold and drizzly weather in San Francisco as described in this earlier blog post.

There aren’t facilities here to support large groups so I was pretty confident that the place would be overlooked by the Labor Day celebrating masses.

I was quite surprised when I arrived, finding what was a lush grassy field in Spring took on a desert look now in late Summer.

The photo above is from my springtime visit a year ago, while the photo below is from today, taken from roughly the same viewpoint.

The grasses are dried up and plowed under. This land is protected under the Sonoma Land trust, so while it may be under agriculture it will never be developed.

Not really excited about eating lunch and activating in front of a dry, dusty field of dirt we followed the Bay Trail for a short way, across the S.M.A.R.T. train right of way and up to the levee that overlooks San Pablo Bay.

The levee features some informational signs, a kayak launch, and importantly, several benches placed there for city folk that come out to the country to activate POTA.

I started out just using the whip on the KH1, but after hunting W5MTN in Arizona and getting a pretty weak signal report I concluded that a little more antenna was in order.

Not being in the mood to put up anything more elaborate, I bungeed a tenkara rod to the adjacent bench and ran up the Polystealth wire I use with my 20 meter EFHW.

I didn’t bring the 64:1 transformer and instead attached the wire to a BNC binding post. The internal tuner on the KH1 handled this just fine with a 1.7 to 1 SWR match. Good enough.

I don’t really know what propagation conditions were like today, but the activation was strictly a western states affair with QSOs mainly from the Pacific Northwest. Although there was cluster of Southern California contacts, which is unusual for me on 20 meters.

The main takeaway is that this particular location has a whole different character depending on what time year you visit.

73 de W6CSN

After all of the families and tourists decided to call it a day, it was time to head out to The Presidio of San Francisco (US-7889) for a little bit of POTA fun with the Elecraft KH1.

I parked on Lincoln boulevard across the street from the National cemetery. Here, an old pre-WWI gun battery has been uncovered and restored to “Battery Bluff Park” with green grass, nice picnic tables, and beautiful vistas of the Bay and Golden Gate.

The place was deserted, giving me a choice of operating positions. Taking one of the small square tables, I set up the Elecraft KH1 using the Tufteln right-angle adapter to hold up the 4 ft long whip antenna.

With such a short antenna and coming off some challenging solar conditions, my expectations for this activation were pretty low. I might struggle to get QSOs and maybe from only from across the Western states. I was fully prepared to come out again early the next morning if I failed to gather the 10 contacts needed before dark.

Despite persistent attempts, the ionosphere continues to defy my attempts to predict its behavior. Not only was the POTA activation complete in under an hour, I worked some east coast stations that were LOUD!

AD8J came back to my call on 20 meters with a signal that was so strong that I assumed he was a local, like line of sight local. When I asked for his QTH, he responded with “NC.” John was clear across the country in Asheville, North Carolina!

Karen in Virginia, Eric in New Hampshire, and Michael in Pennsylvania all had FB signals this evening, although QSB created limited windows of opportunity for these cross country contacts.

With 11 QSOs in the log, it was time to wrap this pleasant evening POTA activation with the KH1. Just a couple of minutes to pack up and I was on my way.

73 de W6CSN

The final day of driving on our recent western states road trip found us waking up in Winnemucca, Nevada. Growing weary from days on the road but refreshed after a night’s sleep we once again pulled onto I-80 West.

Up to this point I had never activated a POTA reference in the state of Nevada, even though it’s the closest other state to me at my home QTH of San Francisco.

About 50 miles west of Winnemucca is Rye Patch SRA (US-4444). I had my eye on this park as potential operating spot since I would reach it still fairly early in the day and it was not far off the highway. Rye Patch Reservoir is an 11 mile long man-made lake that runs parallel to interstate 80 and is held back by a dam at its southern end.

We got to the turn off and despite my desire to put the hammer down and get home, I thought to just have a look around to see what Rye Patch SRA looked like.

Naturally, once inside the park there is very little chance that I am not going to attempt an activation. At 10 in the morning, the high desert had already warmed into the 80s and I wanted to keep this operation on the quick side, if possible. These facts called for an in-car operation with the air conditioner running to try keep both the humans and the radio as cool as possible.

From the road I spied a parking area where a lone tree provided a patch of shade. It was in a bit of a bowl, but better that than roasting in the full sun up on the desert plateau.

I used the Yaesu FT-818 this time, perched on the center console in an attempt to keep it cooler. Turns out it would have been easier to use the KH1 in this situation but I didn’t feel like taking the time to switch radios.

About halfway through the hour of operating needed to get to 10 contacts for a valid POTA activation I was visited by the park rangers who’d obviously taken notice of the out-of-state plates and big antenna on the car. They were friendly enough and mentioned they’ve seen other ham operators at the park in the past.

I was just glad that I had paid the day use fee at the self-serve kiosk prior to my activation. Not to say that I had even remotely considered not paying! I fully encourage supporting our parks so that we continue to have access to this great public resource.

With 10 QSOs in the log, we furled the station, rolled up all the windows and put the A/C on high before jumping back on I-80 for the drive through Reno, over the Sierras and back to our home in San Francisco.

This is the conclusion of this short series of brief field reports on outdoor amateur radio on this western states road trip. Six new to me POTA references activated from five new states with a total of 65 QRP CW QSOs.

73 de W6CSN

This trip across Utah was on the return leg of our western states road trip that took us as far east as Colorado. Our first time in Utah, several days earlier, followed a route further north in the Logan area through the Cache Valley.

On this return leg, we spent the night in Salt Lake City and got started driving again around mid-morning. Back on I-80, we spotted the sign for Great Salt Lake State Park (US-3075) and my XYL requested we stop and have a look.

I already had Utah in the bag with my earlier activation of Bud Phelps WMA in Logan and didn’t really intend to collect another park in the state. But we’d paid the park entrance fee and it seemed silly to not at least attempt an activation. When am I going to be back at the Great Salt Lake?

After looking around a bit at the lake, which we found to be generally underwhelming, I grabbed the KH1 and setup up on a picnic table with a Tufteln right-angle adapter holding up the 4 foot whip. The counterpoise was simply tossed out toward the lake.

With deteriorating propagation conditions and a very short antenna, it took more than an hour to gather up the 10 QSOs needed for a complete activation. The last several contacts came from hunting other POTA/SOTA ops.

With the activation complete and the discomfort of the hot weather around the lake, we hopped back into the air conditioned car to continue our westward journey home.

73 de W6CSN

On our first trip across Wyoming a few days before, we did not stop for POTA because we had places to be and a lot of driving to get there. Nevertheless I had noted several potential historic sites that I could activate if I had the time and energy.

Our return trip was on a more relaxed schedule, although we still wanted to make it across Wyoming to Salt Lake City by the end of the day. On the outskirts of Laramie is Wyoming Territorial Prison Historic Site (US-6122).

Hmmm…. a prison? Like the activation at the “Massacre Site” in Idaho, not really the vibe I was hoping for. But, the site was close to I-80 and had been activated many times, encouraging signs that this could be an easy win.

I paid the entrance fee and asked the person at the desk if I could setup a low profile ham radio station at the group picnic area just next to the warden’s residence. She said this would be fine.

For this activation I again paired the KH1 with the GRA-7350T antenna, but this time used the GRA-GNT micro tripod kit with telescoping extension to raise the antenna feed point a couple of feet off the ground.

With “Ok” cell service here, I spotted myself on POTA and began calling CQ. The conditions were such that I was able to collect the needed 10 QSOs in about 20 minutes on the air. KG5WAW called right at the end for number 11.

With Wyoming activated, I quickly stowed the radio gear and took a quick tour of the prison and grounds before hitting the road again.

73 de W6CSN

If you are a ham or SWL of a certain age, you can probably recite from subconscious memory the twice hourly message on WWV that ends with the station address of “two thousand east county road fifty eight, Fort Collins, Colorado, eight oh five two four.”

Well, here I was in Fort Collins but unfortunately didn’t have the opportunity to visit WWV. However, POTA was definitely in the cards as other members of the family were interested visiting Lory State Park (US-1228) which I intended to activate.

Just the day before, the Fort Collins area was beset with a line of thunderstorms that were the most intense that I’d ever experienced. For the locals it was probably just an ordinary Tuesday but for a Coastal Californian this storm was remarkable.

Anyway, afternoon thunderstorms were still in the forecast as I headed out on this POTA activation. And sure enough, as soon as I got out of the car I heard rumbles of thunder coming from the mountains. Being inexperienced with the local weather, I elected to not go waving long poles with wires attached when I could hear thunder in the neighborhood.

We decided to wait a while and see what happened with the weather. It wasn’t raining so we went for a short walk down the East Valley Trail, making sure to stay away from ridge lines or high points. After a half hour or so the skies brightened and it was clear the lightning activity had moved well to our east. This was the activation opportunity I was waiting for, although I was still a bit uneasy at the thought of “a bolt from the blue.”

It was perhaps in this felt sense of urgency that I failed to take a single picture of the radio or antenna setup for this activation. But you can get the idea if you just picture in your mind the KH1 being keyed with a CW Morse paddle and feeding the GRA-7350T on a car-top magnetic mount.

Thankfully this was another activation that completed in less than 20 minutes and I wasted no time taking down the antenna as the sky was beginning to darken with clouds once again.

Sure enough, just as we headed into the visitor center, fat raindrops began smacking the ground around us and thunder rumbled once again.

Upon returning home I received this Radiogram from Tim, WW8L regarding the activation. Thanks Tim!

Until the next one,

73 de W6CSN

This is the first in a short series of brief field reports on POTA activations while on a weeklong roadtrip through several states in the western U.S.

The trip would follow Interstate 80 from San Francisco, over the Sierras, through Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming to Fort Collins Colorado. And back, mostly retracing the same route.

The first occasion of outdoor amateur radio activity came on day three, a layover day spent in Logan, Utah about an hour north of Salt Lake City.

It was early and the family was sleeping in, enjoying a break from driving. Not far from our hotel was the Bud Phelps Wildlife Management Area, POTA reference US-11044. This location looked promising so I looked up the WMA on my phone’s navigation app and quietly slipped out.

Now, I am not sure if my phone didn’t know exactly where we were going or if Utah’s WMAs lack signage or other identifying infrastructure, but after driving the proscribed route, I found myself at the end of a dirt road surrounded by cows and sheep. There was no visible indication that this was, in fact, Bud Phelps WMA but my phone announced “You have arrived,” so who was I to argue?

I fired up the FT-818 using an MFJ-1979 stainless steel telescoping whip antenna on a mag-mount base on the car’s roof. In this configuration the antenna presents a slightly higher SWR, but nothing the 818 can’t handle so I didn’t bother trying to improve the match.

I made a couple of contacts on 17 meters before extending the antenna fully and completing the activation on the 20 meter band.

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Later the same day, after picnicking in and checking out natural beauty of Logan Canyon, I took advantage of some free time to make the short drive up into Idaho. If I could find a place to activate the Pioneer National Historic Byway (US-10420) then I could bag another state, even though Idaho wasn’t part of our planned travel route.

Driving the Scenic Byway, the first obvious stop we came to was the site commemorating the “Bear River Massacre” – not exactly the POTA vibe I was hoping for, but it was over 90°F outside and I wanted to try to complete the activation before 00 UTC rolled around.

I deployed the Gabil GRA-7350T vertical, again on the rooftop magmount and plugged in the Elecraft KH1. The black enclosure of the Yaesu FT-818 would absolutely burn up sitting on the dash in the direct sun.

It was hot enough that I kept the car running to provide air conditioning so that us pale San Franciscans wouldn’t expire in the Idaho summer heat.

Thankfully, the QSOs poured in pretty easily and the activation was complete in less than 20 minutes, a rare occurrence with the unstable solar conditions we’ve seen recently.

Two new “parks” and two new states in the activators log made for a successful first day of outdoor amateur radio on this road trip. Next stop on the POTA tour is Colorado.

73 de W6CSN

Angel Island State Park sits in San Francisco Bay, separated from the town of Tiburon by a ten minute ferry ride across Raccoon Strait. The island is also accessible by ferry from San Francisco’s waterfront.

Nearly all of the island is part of the State Park, so you can activate for POTA US-1123 from almost anywhere. However, if you want to also try for the SOTA activation from Mt. Livermore W6/CC-075 then you’ll need to hike up to the top of the island, by way of either of two trails.

My first activation of this summit and park combo took place two years ago, just before this blog begins. In that effort we used the recommended route of North Ridge trail up and Sunset trail down. This time my hiking buddy wanted the potentially spectacular Golden Gate views on the hike up so we did the route in reverse.

Sunset trail begins at the top of the access road that connects the perimeter road with the park HQ at the Ayala Cove area.

The trail follows a series of long switchbacks and is, in places, quite narrow with thorny vegetation overhanging the trail and parts of the trail collapsed on the downhill side.

However, as the “Sunset” name implies, there are occasional vistas that reveal the Golden Gate, Sausalito, and the western waters of the Bay.

After climbing out of the oak tree covered canyon the vegetation becomes more grassy and sparse. A short while later you come to an intersection with a steep, unnamed trail that takes you up into the activation zone and the summit.

A short section of this summit trail is so dense with shrubbery that you could fairly call it bushwhacking. And, if you have collapsible mast strapped to your pack, you will undoubtedly get hung up a few times before emerging onto the first of several concrete platforms that once served the operation of the Nike missile defense system stationed on the island in the 1950s.

The concrete pads now sport picnic tables and conveniently situated fence posts. We chose the first picnic area we encountered because it was available and I’d successfully operated from here before.

This site can be chilly as it’s exposed to the west winds coming from the Pacific. It turns out that just a short walk over the summit crest is another spot that’s protected from the breeze, about 20 degrees warmer, and gives a clear radio view to the east.

The fence posts offer a convenient spot to use bungee cords to attach the carbon Tenkara style fishing rod supporting one end of my 20 meter EFHW. On the other end I routed a length of RG-316 from the Sparkplug 64:1 transformer to the Elecraft KH1 set out on the picnic table.

Last time we came here I packed an FT-818, external battery, fiberglass mast, and various station accessories, which was all very heavy. When planning for this outing I considered using just the KH1 with built in whip antenna to save pack weight, but decided on a wire antenna to give me the best chance at completing the activations in the limited time available.

Turning on the radio I discovered what must have been a high speed telegraphy contest on 20 meters. The band was wall-to-wall with rapid fire Morse QSOs. That was no place for a QRPer hoping to be heard doing POTA/SOTA, so I scuttled up to the relative peace of 17 meters, one of the contest-free WARC bands.

Using the Sotmāt SMS service I put a spot out for the SOTA activation and with the activation scheduled ahead of time the RBN caused a POTA spot to post for US-1123.

Calling CQ SOTA yielded eight QSOs in the first 20 minutes before 17 meters dried up. Another 20 minutes spent down on 14.069 MHz netted another four contacts calling CQ POTA.

Our goal was to catch the 3:20pm boat back to Tiburon, so we could not dawdle on the summit all day. Our route back down to Ayala Cove took us via the North Ridge Trail, which is wider and in much better condition than Sunset Trail.

Coming off North Ridge at the perimeter road, a prominent sign points the direction to the ferry dock.

The last section of trail has you descending a steep part of the island via a series of steps worked into the hillside.

After resting a bit and enjoying some cold refreshment from the snack bar we boarded the ferry for the return trip to Tiburon.

73 de W6CSN

Most of the canyons between the Pacific and Skyline Drive in San Mateo county are private land or regional open space.

However, if you head up Higgins Canyon Road, past several farms you will come to Burleigh Murray Ranch State Park, POTA reference US-7376.

This park, acquired by the State of California in 1983, extends from the parking area, up the coastal hills to Highway 35 and features several 19th century structures that are “maintained in a state of arrested decay.”

A sign warned of mountain lions, but I think the extensive poison oak is the greater hazard here.

I was fortunate to have a hiking buddy join me for the mile long trek up to the activation spot at a couple of picnic tables just shy of the old barn. A single table is available at the trailhead if you wanted to activate without the walking.

The road winds up a gentle slope with sturdy wooden bridges crossing over Mills Creek a couple of times along the way.

The fancy new KH1 has been getting all the love recently, so I decided to give the Mountaintopper MTR-4B a chance to activate a park. The QMX came along in case high bands were needed, and of course the KH1 was there as a backup station in case I’d forgotten any crucial piece of kit.

An 8 ounce throw weight easily lofted a length of arborist throw line with which I hoisted a 20 meter EFHW. The Spark Plug matching transformer offered an SWR of 1.1 to the MTR, and with 11.7 volts remaining the battery from the previous activation, the rig put out a solid 4 watts.

I’d forgotten how quiet a radio the Mountaintopper is. Turning it on I feared the 20 meter band was “dead” or that the coastal hills were blocking all the signals. I tuned around a bit and chased KD2KW in Texas, this told me 20m was working fine and that my 4 watts would be enough power.

I started calling CQ POTA and the RBN picked me up, causing my scheduled activation to be spotted. I know this because I started getting responses to my calls. With no cell service this far out of Half Moon Bay I was unable to access pota.app to see all the action on spots page.

About 45 minutes of calling yielded the 10 QSOs needed for a complete activation. Mapping the contacts showed that from this location 20 meters favored stations to the North and East today.

We packed up the station and began the easy “hike” back to the car, stopping occasionally to carefully snatch some sweet blackberries that were abundant along the trailsides.

73 de W6CSN

Golden Gate Park is a 1,017 acre city park separating the Richmond and Sunset neighborhoods in the western half of San Francisco. Although large and internationally known, GGP is a city park and thus does not qualify for a Parks On The Air reference. The park is a two minute walk from my Richmond District QTH, so it would be incredibly convenient if it were, in fact, a POTA park.

A few months ago, a POTA Slack channel discussion of multi-park activation opportunities in the Presidio of San Francisco National Historic Site revealed a “3-fer” that I had not recognized before. Activating from Mountain Lake would net you the Presidio US-7889, Golden Gate National Recreation Area US-0647, and de Anza National Historic Trail US-4571.

This got me thinking that if the Anza expedition traipsed north from Lake Merced to Mountain Lake, then they must have crossed what is now Golden Gate Park. And, if that were the case then there was the opportunity to do a legit POTA activation within the park.

Of course, the exact route taken by the Anza expedition through the vast sand dunes of what became known as San Francisco’s “outside lands” is unknown. But the route can be reasonably estimated. The NPS website for the Anza trail shows a historic trail corridor roughly aligned with Crossover Dr. and the Park Presidio Bypass in Golden Gate Park.

I figure anywhere within the historic trail corridor and that is public land is fair game for activating Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail US-4571.

The western portion of Strawberry Hill and Stow Lake extend into the corridor and with the hill being the high point in the park, this is where I chose to activate from.

Even though the forecast called for warm weather, at 9AM the marine influence was still holding firm, making the top of Strawberry Hill too cold to spend more than just a few minutes there.

My companion and I quickly gave up on the 409 foot “peak” and retreated down past Stow Lake to a meadow which was in the sun, protected from the west wind by Strawberry Hill, and by my reckoning, still within the historic trail corridor.

There I setup the GRA-7350T whip antenna using the ground screw and extension post which is part of the Gabil Radio GRA-GNT mini tripod mounting kit. This easily gave a match of under 1.5 to 1 with the KH1 tuner in bypass mode.

The bands were surprisingly active for a Monday morning and, being a West Coast QRP operation, it took a while to finish the activation. I could hear European DX calling on 17 meters, with the distinctive “flutter” signals get flying over the poles, but unfortunately was unable to raise any of them.

With 11 contacts in the log and one “eyeball” with Ben KG7KGE, who was also enjoying the morning in the park, I called the activation of US-4571 in Golden Gate Park a success.

A short walk later we were home for lunch and refreshment.

73 de W6CSN

Bletchley Park

Most readers of this blog are probably familiar with Bletchley Park and the significance of this place in breaking the codes used by the axis military forces during the second world war.

The electromechanical systems developed and used here to aid the codebreakers in their daily work led directly to the electronic digital computers of the mid-twentieth century, and then to the modern world as we know it.

After boarding the London Northwestern Railway at Euston station, the hour long train journey took us from central London, through the suburbs, then the pastoral English countryside to the station at Bletchley, just south of Milton Keynes.

Bletchley Park is a five minute walk from the train station at Bletchley, the town of the same name. In keeping with the formerly clandestine nature of the work at Bletchley Park, there are no loud signs to welcome you, just the Union Jack flying over the nondescript visitor center in Block C.

Exiting the visitor center, any ham will quickly spot the three-element SteppIR Yagi perched atop a roof-mounted tower. Also from the tower, a folded dipole extends over the the Block B building which houses the Alan Turing museum exhibits. The other end of this antenna farm is plugged into GB3RS, the amateur radio station for the National Radio Centre of the RSGB.

The friendly and helpful staff of amateurs at the NRC played a crucial role in my hoped-for plan of activating Bletchley Park for Parks On The Air.

Surprisingly, the POTA page for GB-0507 showed only a handful of activations of this iconic location. Seeing as this is a heritage site, I sent an email to the NRC about week before my visit asking for advice on how to be a welcome guest POTA operator.

Note, the NRC is colocated on the grounds of the museum but they are not a part of Bletchley Park. The NRC is a separate organization.

Martyn G0GMB, the Director of the NRC, kindly responded to my enquiry and informed me that individual amateur radio activity is not generally permitted on the grounds of Bletchley Park due to the number of visitors they receive and concerns about RF safety. This could explain the low number of activations.

Martyn suggested I could set up in the overflow car park few minutes walk down the road from the visitor center. While not on the grounds of Bletchley Park proper, the parking lot operation would still be in the spirit of POTA and would reasonably count as a valid activation location.

When I arrived at Bletchley Park on Friday afternoon, I was met by Mervyn G4KLE who was expecting me thanks to a note left by OM G0GMB. Mervyn asked where all my equipment was and I motioned to the pack on my back.

Because my radio and antenna was a low impact, minimal footprint QRP setup, I was told that I could make use of the picnic table just out the side door of the GB3RS shack, with my antenna setup just beside it. This dead-end spot was not on any of the paths frequented by park visitors and my antenna would not be easily visible.

This was a much better arrangement than trying to activate from a car park without a car! I quickly deployed a GRA-GNT micro tripod with center spike pushed easily into the soft ground. The GRA-7350T loaded vertical and a set of short radials provided an SWR of 1.05 to 1.

I chose the QMX as a travel radio while in Britain because with it, the overall kit is very lightweight and compact. With the exception of the tripod the whole kit fits in my carry-on. The GRA-GNT antenna mounting kit has to fly in checked baggage due to several aggressive looking spikes that would certainly be flagged by airport security.

One of the display cases inside the NRC shows an original QCX radio produced by Hans Summers G0UPL, so it is only fitting for the QMX to be operated in its ancestral homeland.

I scheduled the activation for the whole day on the POTA app and thankfully the RBN connection was working well and spotted me just moments after starting to call “CQ POTA DE M/W6CSN” which was programmed into message slot #1 on the QMX.

I had no idea what to expect working a POTA activation in Great Britain and where most of the awake ham population would be European. As such I was a little surprised when the first call was from K2UPD in Kentucky, USA – and he was loud.

Throughout the hour that I was on the air there was alternating periods of sunshine and clouds with occasional light rain. The rain was nothing that couldn’t be handled by the Rite-In-The-Rain logbook and by simply closing the flap of the Maxpedition pouch that held the radio and battery.

However, needing just two more contacts for a complete activation, the skies started chucking down rain in large quantities. At this rate both the station and the operator would soon be thoroughly soaked. I hastily made an arrangement with Mervyn G4KLE where he turned the power down on GB3RS as low as it would go and I worked him both as GB3RS and then G4KLE to finish out the ten.

While that stunt may have stretched the spirit of the rules, they were valid over-the-air contacts and counted for POTA. I was simply working him line of sight off the side of his beam.

I quickly bundled all the stuff back into the GB3RS shack and tried to dry the wettest of the equipment before stowing it all back in my pack.

I can say with confidence that without the kind assistance from Martyn, Mervyn, and the whole gang at the National Radio Centre that my attempt to do a POTA activation at this important historical site would not have been successful, if it even happened at all. They really are a great bunch of guys.

If you ever visit Bletchley Park, which I highly recommend, and are thinking about doing a POTA activity it is imperative that you contact the people at the NRC ahead of time and make appropriate arrangements. GB-0507 is a sensitive and historically significant site, do not just show up with a bunch of ham radio equipment and expect that you’ll be able to operate.

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Hyde Park

A couple of days after the successful excursion to Bletchley Park, I had some time available in the morning and I had been wanting to do another POTA activation while in London. Hyde Park is smack in the center of London and is designated POTA reference GB-0401 – I figured now was good time to try to get it.

I consulted the marvel of deception that is the London Underground Map and saw that just three stops from our hotel on the Jubilee Line would take me within walking distance of Hyde Park.

Bill Bryson in his book “Notes from a Small Island” has this to say about the London Underground Map:

What a piece of perfection it is, created in 1931 by a forgotten hero named Harry Beck, an out of work draughtsman who realized that when you are underground it doesn’t matter where you are.

Alighting at Green Park station it was approximately a quarter mile walk to Hyde Park Corner. I kept going, deeper into the park, hoping to put some distance between the operating location and what I presumed would be higher RFI emanating from the modern urban environment at the edges of the park.

A park bench which backed up against an area of taller grass seemed like a good choice since it was off the main trail and I could set up the antenna in an area unlikely to be frequented by people.

After spotting myself, I again set to calling CQ POTA with my “M/” prefixed callsign. Conditions weren’t great it seemed, but I did make three contacts before the rain once again began falling in earnest.

Waiting out the rain showers was no longer an option as I was running out of time. However, since theoretically I had until 11 o’clock that night to complete the activation, I could come back later in the afternoon and try to wrap it up.

It took several hours to help my daughter to finish packing up and getting moved out of her apartment and back to our hotel, from which we’d leave early the next day for Heathrow for our flight back to San Francisco.

After an early dinner we found our way back to Hyde Park which was a much busier place now than it was at 8AM. The park bench which I had used earlier was unavailable so I found a place to set up the station at the edge of a broad field.

This time around, while there were definitely stations on the bands, they either weren’t hearing me or not in the mood to answer my QRP calls.

The week of walking all over (and under) London, the chilly afternoon weather, and sitting on the ground making no contacts finally got the better of me. After an hour of trying I decided to throw in the towel.

Z35M/P	North Macedonia	20 meters	2024-06-16 07:56
CT1GFK	Portugal	20 meters	2024-06-16 08:01
K2UPD	Kentucky, USA	20 meters	2024-06-16 08:16

The three contacts made that morning would have to do. I uploaded my log to POTA later that evening from the hotel. While not thrilled with being the first to attempt, but not complete, the activation of Hyde Park, I put a positive spin on it. All the other activators that come after me don’t have to worry about being the first to bust an activation here. Hi Hi.

Conclusion

Rain and Sun, complete and incomplete activations, these radio outings in Great Britain were a lot of fun and enabled me to tick the box next to one of this year’s ham radio goals, which was do to a POTA activation in a foreign country.

73 de M/W6CSN

The spontaneous HF radio operating enabled by the new Elecraft KH1 handheld transceiver opens up a whole new set of opportunities for the POTA activator. Combined with the sprawling Golden Gate National Recreation Area (US-0647) you could do an awful lot of POTA activations and not operate from the same spot twice.

Nestled between the San Francisco Maritime NHP and the Marina Green, Fort Mason and the land it occupies was a location of military importance from before California was a U.S. state through the second World War.

My plan today was to operate from Black Point Battery, a fortification from the time of the American Civil War, or the war between the states, if you prefer. This location is of particular interest to me because over 40 years ago I worked a summer job on an archaeology crew that unearthed this gun battery.

I remember digging and sifting a lot of dirt! We frequently found spent primers used to fire the guns, there were hundreds of them! Occasionally we’d find “live” primers which had to be treated with care. What was most exciting however is when the timbers that supported the semi-circular track on which the guns would pivot were uncovered.

While it wasn’t particularly busy, I didn’t want to setup a separate antenna atop the berm because there is a pathway there that people use to get sweeping views of San Francisco Bay. I deployed the KH1 with the supplied 4 ft. whip and Tufteln 3D printed angle adapter while sitting atop a concrete entryway to one of the old magazines.

Although I checked conditions before heading out, it seemed that propagation was really quite poor today. In a half hour of tuning and calling, I’d only managed a single QSO on 20m while 17m and 15m seemed completely dead. This was unusually quiet for a Saturday afternoon.

With only two hours of parking, if I wanted a chance at a valid activation then I needed a new plan. I descended the hill down to the the piers that served as the point of embarkation for servicemen heading into the Pacific war in the 1940s.

I found a spot behind the old firehouse that offered protection from the wind which was really blowing at this point, too windy even for a tripod vertical. However, I felt I needed longer antenna to combat the lousy propagation with my QRP signal.

I walked back to the car and retrieved a quick release mount and MFJ-1979 telescoping whip antenna. This quarter wave vertical gives a 1-to-1 match on 20 meters when fully extended. A length of ABR Industries RG-316 connected the antenna to the BNC port in the KH1. I bypassed the internal tuner and got a “perfect” match.

With this setup, and being closer to the Bay waters, I was able to make more progress towards a complete activation. A rocky outcrop at the base of Black Point blocked my view to the east and southeast, but I had a clear shot over the Bay to the north so, unsurprisingly, this is where most of the contacts came for today’s activation.

Fortunately, 30 more minutes was all that was needed to fill the log with the QSOs for a complete activation. Even though this wasn’t a purely pedestrian mobile expedition, like the Wave Organ, I probably would not have even come to this spot without the inspiration provided by the KH1.

Many thanks to the hunters and other activators that ultimately made this POTA a success. Some of the call signs in the log were familiar and some were brand new to me, this is my favorite kind of operation to work both old and new friends.

Equipment used in this activation:

• Elecraft KH1 with internal tuner and whip antenna.
• MFJ-1979 telescoping whip.
• ABR Industries RG-316, 25 feet.
• Rite In The Rain spiral notepad.
• Zebra Mechanical Pencil
• Quick Release 3/8×24 antenna mount

73 de W6CSN

You’d be forgiven for assuming all the posts on this website are either related to Parks On The Air (POTA) or Summits On The Air (SOTA) activations, but in fact, this blog is simply about “outdoor amateur radio.”

Today’s activity was just such a case of not POTA and not SOTA, just plain old outdoor radio. The driving factor was that today was Memorial Day, a day to honor the fallen, and traditionally, to spend some time outdoors, but trouble is that at my home QTH in San Francisco the skies were overcast and the temperatures expected to remain in the mid-50s. When the weather is like this, which is most of the summer, our family likes to escape to Marin or Sonoma counties to experience the warm weather that is uncommon in The City.

One of our favorite spots is Marin French Cheese Company factory and store, simply known as “The Cheese Factory” located in Hicks Valley near the Sonoma county line. Here they offer delicious cheeses made right there on-site as well as variety of picnic fixin’s to enjoy with your cheese. However, the main reason we go here is that the cheese factory offers its guests the use of their park-like grounds.

Most visitors congregate around a small pond and picnic area on the north side of the parking lot, but if you go around back, on the south side, there is a wide open grassy field dotted with full shade trees and plenty of picnic tables. Even on busy days, you practically have the place to yourself. If there are other groups, they are usually spread out enough that you still have plenty of space.

Now, about the radio activity. I’m making plans for an overseas trip later this summer and hope to have the opportunity to attempt a Parks On The Air activation while I am there. It would be very easy to bring the KH1, an entire station in a small “camera” bag. But I just got the KH1 after a six month wait for delivery and would be very upset if something were to happen to that radio while traveling abroad.

Slightly less convenient, but still quite small is the station consisting of the QMX multiband CW/Data radio, Gabil GRA-7350T base loaded vertical antenna and tripod, Talentcell Li-Ion battery back, and various connective bits. All of this can fit in my carry-on and still leave room for other travel necessities. And if something unfortunate happened to the QMX it’s not nearly such a big deal. The station could be replaced quickly and inexpensively.

I just needed to do a quick field check of the QMX station combination to verify that I can put it on the air in a park like setting, such as I am likely to encounter while traveling. The QMX is a high band model covering 20m through 10m which enables a smaller deployment footprint. I promise, there is no chance that I’ll be tossing wires into trees in a foreign park!

Previous activations have shown that when using the GRA-7350T on these high bands, especially above 14 MHz, that easier tuning is achieved when the 16 foot radials are folded back on themselves, effectively shortening the radials. Instead of folding them, I took one set of radials and cut them in half. There are two sets in this kit from when I thought I needed a lot more radials than I actually do with this antenna.

When hooking up the QMX to check the ability of the antenna to tune to a 50 ohm match with the shorter radial set, I realized that I forgot one of the power cables that connects the Talentcell to the QMX, doh!

I did have the cables needed to use the Bioenno LiFePo-4 pack with the QMX, but the battery was fully charged and supplying more than 13v, which the QMX cautioned against by flashing the battery icon to indicate the over-voltage condition. Well, shoot!

Fortunately I had another option. I brought along the KH1, because why not take the KH1 every where you go (except overseas)? With the internal autotuner bypassed, I could still test the tuning ability of the antenna system to provide a low SWR and be confident that when I use the tune mode on the QMX that I could achieve a similarly good match. I am not planning on bringing an antenna tuner.

The antenna tuned easily enough on 20m, 17m, and 15m using the KH1 as an RF source and SWR indicator. Naturally, I tried to make a few QSOs while I was proving the antenna system.

Normally when I do ham radio in the outdoors I am activating a park or summit, so I am the DX. But the cheese factory is neither a POTA park nor on a summit. I’m just a regular ham, outside, running QRP. I didn’t even have cell phone coverage out in the country, so I couldn’t look at the POTA spots page for stations to hunt. I would just have to do it the old fashioned way, by tuning around and listening.

I spent about an hour “on the air” hunting for stations calling CQ POTA or CQ SOTA. That yielded three QSOs, all on 20 meters.

W0ABE	Colorado	20 meters	20:25 utc
K7SHR	Wyoming	20 meters	21:12 utc
W6KC/VE7	British Columbia	20 meters	21:25 utc

While testing the setup on 17 meters, I didn’t hear a lot of activity but I did hear a JA working an Italian. I could copy both stations, the Italian was weak but the Japan station was pretty loud. EA3PP was calling from Spain, but QSB was enough prevent me from attempting a call. You can’t work ’em if you can’t hear ’em!

The logbook looks very different when I am not activating and don’t have access to spots info. A lot of callsigns written down, but not worked. When I work a station, the time notation becomes the indicator that I had a QSO with that callsign.

On the way back to the cold City, we stopped at Hicks Mountain Hens to pick up some freshly laid, pasture raised eggs. So I guess you could just as well title this post “Ham ‘n Eggs.” Ok, I am leaving now …

73 de W6CSN

is not always the adventure you expect. Recently I’ve been plotting a unique activation of the De Anza National Historic Trail, but that particular POTA activation is going to need a good antenna and just as importantly, time.

This day afforded a few hours in the morning for outdoor radio but not enough to retrace the steps of the De Anza expedition. Instead, I headed down to the San Francisco Bay side for a quick outdoor amateur radio session.

Since it was was a Saturday, my usual spot at Presidio East Beach was heavily impacted by weekend recreation enthusiasts, so I continued for a quarter mile to the practically empty parking lot east of the St. Francis Yacht Club.

Thence on foot past the old stone light tower and the clubhouse of the Golden Gate Yacht Club, you find yourself of the path to the end of the breakwater where a unique art installation sits.

The Wave Organ is a curious sculpture that uses tubes and cavities between old cemetery stones to channel and amplify the watery sounds of waves as the tides move in and out of the Bay.

Surrounded by saltwater at the end of this jetty, which by my reckoning is within the boundary of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (US-0647), this location was perfect for the “no impact” operation afforded by the Elecraft KH1.

My plan was to see if I could complete an activation of making 10 contacts entirely by hunting other POTA activators, perfectly reasonable given it was a weekend with no geomagnetic storms to disrupt radio propagation.

What I did not count on was that it was a contest weekend with both 20 and 15 meters wall-to-wall with rapid fire contesters. As a QRP station, finding the POTA needles in that haystack was going to be tough.

I retreated to 17 meters which should offer good daytime propagation and no contesters. There on 18 MHz, I was was able to collect five park-to-park contacts in a span of 23 minutes.

At that point I’d exhausted all of the 17m active CW stations on the POTA spots page and didn’t really have time to wait for more to show up. Therefore the “all hunting” activation strategy was abandoned and I commenced calling “CQ POTA.”

The activation was “validated” with a call from Dave, AA7EE as the 10th QSO and then completed with one more park hunted, K9DXA in US-1001. Most of the contacts were with stations east of the Rockies.

One thing I learned from earlier outings with the KH1 was to not cut the log sheets too small, as might be suggested by the lines printed on the page. Without enough paper under the top and bottom tabs of the logging tray the sheets can easily be caught and snatched away by the wind.

Leave enough margin on the logging sheets and they are easily secured in the tray, even in the face of brisk Bay breezes.

The “hunting only” activation plan didn’t quite work out but it was a great time out playing radio at scenic spot in San Francisco Bay.

While I didn’t expect to activate from the wave organ today, it turned out to be a fun adventure and an excellent spot from which to get on the air with the KH1.

73 de W6CSN

The outdoor amateur radio adventures documented in this blog so far have taken place entirely within my home state of California. Recently, I took off by car to visit family in Washington state. This wasn’t really a POTA oriented vacation trip but if I played my cards right there might be some time to activate parks in both Oregon and Washington.

Studying the POTA map, I found Row River National Recreation Trail US-10009 not far off I-5 near Cottage Grove, Oregon, about an hours drive north from where we had stopped the first night.

Row River Trail is a BLM unit maintained with help from the Army Corps of Engineers that offers miles of level recreation trail along the shores of Dorena Lake.

Row River feeds into Dorena Lake at the east end and continues past the dam at the west end of the lake.

For radio accessory management I’ve been testing out a new toolbox solution from Harbor Freight. The lid includes a clear plastic cover that snaps closed over several compartments in which you can store adapters, antenna bits, patch cords etc.

An inside tray holds coax and antenna wires, while the main box can be used for bulkier items, like spare LiFePO4 battery backs, arborist throw kit and such. The main box plastic is a little thin, which makes it a challenge to get the lid to align and snap closed properly, but then again it was 12 bucks at Harbor Freight.

It turns out I drove farther up the road past Dorena Lake than was necessary and where I ended up activating from actually had some overhead power lines cutting through the trees not far from the picnic table that had sun.

I definitely needed to keep my antenna and lines well clear of these wires and I hoped they wouldn’t be a source of noise.

I deployed a 20 meter EFHW on a Sparkplug Gear 64:1 unun, an antenna system I hadn’t used in quite a while. Although I had scheduled the activation from the hotel earlier in the morning, I used Sotamāt via the Garmin InReach Mini to make my spot certain as there was no cell service in the canyon.

The springtime morning in the Oregon countryside was bright blue with temperatures is the 70s. I can imagine it getting really toasty here in the summertime.

After about an hour, I’d logged 10 contacts needed for a complete activation. One of the challenges a QRPer faces when doing POTA midmorning on a weekday is the relative lack of hunters. You’re out playing radio while everyone else is at work!

Since we were “on the road” we didn’t linger any longer than necessary. Besides, it was well past time for my first Dutch Bros coffee of the day!

While I very much wanted to get an activation from Dash Point State Park on the shores of Puget Sound, my family and travel schedule simply did not leave enough time.

On the return trip, back in California, I again pulled off I-5, this time at Castle Creek Drive going southbound just past Dunsmuir. Castle Crags State Park US-1135 is easily accessed from this exit.

To get a little bit of elevation I drove through the park to the vista point parking area. However the crags themselves are not visible from here, you need to hike out a trail for another 1/4 mile to catch a view of them.

I wasn’t in the mood to carry my radio kit to the viewing area and since both my traveling companion and myself were a bit under the weather, I went for an expedited setup on the nearest picnic table.

Being relatively close to the highway still, I had adequate cell service so the Garmin InReach was just used as a real time clock while I logged 10 QSOs split between 15m and 20m.

Again, once the 10 contact minimum was achieved, I went QRT and we get back on the road for the final several hours drive back to home in San Francisco. I hope to get back to Washington later this summer with a better possibility of picking up a POTA activation while there.

72 de W6CSN

Mount Tamalpais is a 2,571 foot landmark situated above Marin County in California’s coastal mountain range. Known locally as Mt. Tam, the mountain has been a refuge from busy city life in San Francisco for more than a hundred years. The Coast Miwok people, who lived around the mountain prior to European settlement of the Bay region, gave the mountain its name which roughly translates to “coast mountain.”

Earlier this year, in March 2024, it was my intention to activate Mt Tamalpais State Park (US-1178), however foul weather prevented me. Today the mountain was more inviting with lots of blue skies and mountainside grasses still green from Spring rains.

Just off West Ridgecrest Boulevard there is a picnic area set on a forested hilltop that offers a little elevation and tables to set up a field radio station. Though I had a 20 meter EFHW antenna, it seems the arborist throw line didn’t make it into the kit, so those good looking trees would not be able to support my antenna today.

Plan B for the antenna was a ground mounted vertical on a tripod. Winds were fairly light, and the trees surrounding the site offered some shelter to help keep the 17 foot telescoping whip from toppling over.

I’d forgotten how difficult the vertical antenna can be to tune up over the rocky, low conductivity ground on the mountain. In fact, without an antenna analyzer I was really having a hard time getting the MFJ whip to tune up. Eventually, I switched out the whip for the Gabil GRA-7350T loaded whip vertical which gave me better control over the tuning.

Up to this point, I’d taken the QMX radio on several POTA activations conducted from my vehicle at the Presidio of San Francisco National Historic Site (US-7889) but this would be the first time it saw use in the proper out of doors environment.

Knowing that cell service can be very spotty up on Mt. Tam I scheduled the activation ahead of time on pota.app. I was beginning to think the RBN was not going to pick me up so I took advantage of Sotamat to spot the activation using the Garmin inReach service.

The QMX performed well and after about an hour of operating, the activation was complete with a total of 13 QSOs spread across 20m, 17m, 15m, and 12m. I would have moved up to give 28 Mhz a try but signals weren’t all that great and it was starting to get a little chilly.

The wooded hillsides and grassy meadows of Mt. Tam are home to deer, elusive mountain lions, soaring hawks, and even wild turkeys. The rocky outcrops of Serpentine provide ample opportunity for a multitude of lizards to warm themselves in the strengthening springtime sun.

Here a single California Poppy, the official State flower, thrives in a crevice of Serpentine, the official State rock.

Mount Tamalpais offers colorful and surprising vistas of San Francisco and the Bay Area.

Looking at reports from other activators, it appeared that the approaches to the summit of Bald Hill in Marin County were steep, steeper, and steepest. In the hopes of starting the hike with as much elevation gain as possible already behind us, I chose the route that starts at Crest Road in Fairfax.

The information sign for Bald Hill Open Space Preserve stands just past the locked gate where Crest Road becomes Crest Fire Road. There is enough space for two cars to park at the turnaround before the gate.

About a half mile from the gate you come to the spot where the Google Maps pin for is dropped for Sky Ranch Open Space Preserve. The trail system intertwines through both Sky Ranch OSP and Bald Hill OSP, and with the names of both locations sprinkled around on different bits of signage it can get a little confusing as to which preserve you are in. But it doesn’t matter much, just go “up” and you’ll find the summit.

My hiking buddy used an app on her phone to collect some stats on our ascent to the summit of Baldy. From the trailhead, where the equestrian area is, the fire road goes steeply up and over a knoll to where it joins the Worn Spring fire road.

I recommend to take the Sky Ranch trail from the trailhead. This skirts around the eastern side of the knoll and avoids the steep elevation gain, much of which you give right back on the other side. We took this trail on the return leg rather than climbing straight over the knoll again.

The fire road to the summit is a steep climb but offers enough level spots where you can take a rest, hydrate, and catch your breath while watching other much more fit people run right past on their way up the hill!

The broad summit and activation zone offers panoramic views of the northern part of the Bay Area, but nothing in the way of antenna supports, so be prepared to supply your own.

With the GRA-3750T vertical antenna and the Mountaintopper MTR-4B on 20 meters I collected 15 QSOs within 20 minutes.

The first call was from K6EL a few miles north on Loma Alta W6/NC-350. The familiar duo of W0MNA and W0ERI checked in from Kansas and WU7H and WW7D were on W7W/CW-068 in Washington state.

After securing the HF operations and a successful activation I gave 2 meters a try. A pair of QSOs on FM was enough before heading back down the hill.

From Bald Hill there are views of Mt. Tam, San Francisco, southern Marin and Bay Area, including Mt. Diablo to the southeast.

73 de W6CSN

It’s been a stormy past several days here in Northern California, but if anything, the weather only amplifies my motivation to go outside and get on the air.

Rather than do a separate writeup for each, this post is a roundup of my last four POTA activations, from Friday February 2nd through Sunday, the 4th.

Thursday and Friday had been wet, with one storm in a series moving across the Bay Area. However, by Friday evening the cold front had passed and there was a break in the rain. This was a perfect opportunity to try an after work activation at the Presidio of SF (K-7889).

I hadn’t used the QCX-Mini in a while, and this activation reminded me why. I believe what is happening is that being so close to the antenna, RF interference causes clicking while keying, nearly to the point of distraction. I need to experiment with RF chokes on the key and audio lines to see if that improves the situation.

Fed up with the RFI on the QCX-Mini, I switched over to the MTR-4B which doesn’t seem to suffer the same issue. I wrapped up the activation after netting 21 QSOs in the cold west wind.

The next bout of rain wasn’t due to arrive until later Saturday afternoon. This was a change in the forecast that subsequently altered my plan to stay in Saturday soldering on my QMX Hi-Bander project.

Initially I went to Fort Point (K-0819) in the hopes of changing it up from my usual activation park but there were just too many people there. So seeking relief from crowds, I crossed the Golden Gate Bridge and went up on the slopes of Mt. Tamalpais.

I parked at Trojan Point at an elevation of approximately 1800 feet. See this post for more views from this location. The temperature was in the mid-40s, which is cold for us coastal Californians. Besides, the winds were picking up ahead of the next storm so I operated from the comfort of my vehicle using the Gabil 7350T base loaded vertical antenna on 15m and 20m.

This activation used the FT-818 and yielded 23 contacts, including JH1MXV from northwest of Tokyo, Japan coming in fairly strong on 21 MHz.

Driving back to San Francisco takes me right through the Presidio of SF (K-7889) and noticing that it was after 00:00 UTC, I made the last second decision to divert to East Beach to see if I could work in another activation before the anticipated rain.

At my usual spot for activating this park, it took only moments to raise the MFJ-1979 20m quarter wave and do a quick deployment of the MTR-4B on the trunk of the car. The wind was picking up, but not nearly as strong as it was up on the mountain.

After seven QSOs, the skies began spitting raindrops, this was going to be close! I closed the cover of the Maxpedition pouch to protect the radio and battery while the Bencher paddles could tolerate a little bit of moisture.

I was happy to have a Rite-In-The-Rain notepad for logging, because now I was certainly writing in the rain! Three more contacts and the activation was concluded with a hunt of Jim, WB0RLJ, in K-4011.

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The next big storm blew in overnight Saturday and into Sunday morning with heavy rain and high winds. It seemed almost certain that I would not be heading out today. However by the late afternoon, the barometer, which had bottomed out at 991 millibars, started to check back up and some blue sky appeared between the cumulus clouds. The winds however were still running high.

Seeing as the rain had stopped for the moment, I quickly put together a plan for K-7889 to operate from the car with the shorter vertical antenna on a roof magmount. Driving through the Presidio of SF there was lots of debris and even detours because of downed trees.

Once down at East Beach, I got straight to work with the FT-818 on 20 meters. The winds continued to blow unabated while I worked stations from the southern plains through the Pacific northwest. About halfway through this operation, another wave of rainfall quickly moved in, as such I was happy to be in the dry and warm confines of my vehicle.

I have to put in a good word about the Gabil 7350T antenna. While it is a short vertical, it tunes easily and performs well on the higher bands. I don’t have an exact count, but this antenna has held up over many dozens of activations and in some really adverse conditions.

For this final activation of the weekend, 15 contacts was enough, including two Park-to-Park QSOs, K7EVM at Capitol State Forest K-5567 and KH6RF at Kaloko-Honokohau NHP K-0739 on the Big Island of Hawaii.