w6csn’s outdoor amateur radio

Today’s outdoor amateur radio adventure was undertaken in response to my desire for more exercise and more on-the-air time. I sit for a living which makes it a challenge to move around. The more you sit, the harder it is to not sit.

Furthermore, my home antenna is still stowed away in “storm protection mode” so until I get that redeployed, portable operating is my only option.

The Presidio of San Francisco National Historic Site K-7889 is my “home park” for Parks On The Air as it is only a 20 minute walk from my QTH. As such it’s the perfect candidate for quick lunchtime activation.

It turns out this adventure was neither quick, nor a valid POTA activation, and I didn’t even have time for lunch!

I setup my station just below Inspiration Point on a grassy spot between the trail and the restoration area. The 20M EFHW was deployed over the top of a shorter, bushy tree. The antenna was not very high.

This activation was attempted QRP with the Mountaintopper putting out 5ish watts on CW.

Self-spotting was possible on my phone and I set it up to log directly with HAMRS. I had no idea what band conditions were like before heading out, I would just have to wait and see who I could work.

There weren’t a ton of signals on 20 meters and I experienced some pretty deep fades. Nevertheless, about 40 minutes of calling yielded eight contacts, some as far east as Tennessee and Indiana.

I finally had to call QRT just shy of the 10 contacts needed for a complete activation. It was getting later than I intended and I still needed to pack the station and hoof it a mile back to my QTH to resume work.

Thanks to those that hunted my little signal way out west, the log is uploaded to POTA for hunter credit.

73