The day started early and although the San Francisco fog was in and thick, I thought it would be fun to try to get some Early Shift activator contacts from the Presidio of SF K-7889 into my POTA stats.
The Mountaintopper radio kit was already packed and ready to go. But at the last moment I decided to throw in the QCX-Mini and Bencher BY-1 paddles as well. When I know there will a picnic table available I like to bring the BY-1. The heavy base and really light action make for comfortable one handed sending.
“It doesn’t have to be fun to be fun.” – Adam K6ARK
This outing was an urban POTA activation example of this saying. Nothing about the activation was fun; it was cold, wet, windy and the sun has been acting up so propagation was not very good. But getting 10 contacts in these conditions with most of the day still ahead was satisfying. And, yes, “fun.”
I started on 20 meters and worked a few stations. Then the band faded out, so I dropped down to 30 meters in search of more. Nothing there. How about 40 meters? Nope, nothing there either.
The tripod vertical is a very compromised antenna on the longer wavelengths, even with longer radials added and the loading coil bringing the match to 1-to-1, so it’s not surprising that I got no bites on 30 and 40.
The drizzle had become so intense that I would have to stop every now and then and dry out the paddle contacts with a piece of paper, otherwise the the key would start sending on its own!
When the battery for the MTR-4B got down to 11 volts I retired the radio and pulled out the 20M QCX-Mini with a freshly charged Bioenno 3AH LiFePo. I plugged away until I had my 10 contacts. There was no way I was leaving without a complete activation!
I logged number 10 just as my travel mug ran out of hot tea. That was close! I packed it all up and headed for home where I set about drying all the equipment from the moist morning activation.
After some good breakfast, I started to feel that longing you get when you are finished with a POTA activation but still have a whole day ahead of you.
My XYL said I should go out and do another one. You didn’t have to tell me twice! With spousal blessing, I packed up the FT-818, Spiderbeam 7 meter fiberglass mast, and 20 meter EFHW. With propagation the way it was, I needed a resonant antenna if I was going to be running low power.
For the second game of this double header, I very much wanted to get out of the fog and into some sunshine and warmth. Also, I wanted to activate a new one for me because I’m pushing for 20 unique park activations. And, being a Saturday, finding a park without a ton of people would be a challenge.
San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge met all these criteria, so off I went to activate K-0212, a 25 mile drive north from my home QTH.
There was only one other car in the gravel lot about a quarter mile south of where Lakeville Highway intersects Highway 37.
I imagine most people that come here hike out on the Sears Point trail to enjoy the natural beauty of the protected wetlands. However there is an observation bench just on the other side of a low wooden fence.
I felt okay about hogging the bench since there was no one else about and the fence made a convenient place to strap the mast.
Propagation conditions were still not great. I heard lots of signals when I first turned on the radio but the 20 meter band would come and go with some long, deep fades. However, when it was up, I could make good distances but with fairly weak reports and plenty of QSB.
I had two and a half hours to complete the activation, so there wasn’t much concern for not getting it done. Really I was just out enjoying the warm sunshine, peace & quiet, and wide open space, I just happened to be working 20 meter QRP CW at the same time.
In the end, I logged 21 QSOs including six Park-to-Park contacts. Just as I was winding down a black pickup truck pulled into the lot. Turns out this was Robert KW6OWL, who had come to activate K-0212 on FT8.
We made a P2P on 2M FM and had a nice conversation while he was setting up and I was tearing down. This was the first time I’ve ever encountered another Amateur while out activating a park. Nice to meet you OM!
Post script – over the course of these two activations I managed to use all three of my QRP radios (not counting the Rockmites):
- Yaesu FT-818
- QRP Labs QCX-Mini (20 meters)
- LNR MTR-4B
w6csn’s outdoor amateur radio 
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