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Posted: 5/25/2024 12:13:46 PM EST
[#1]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By jerrwhy01: I’m headed to Japan in October and I’m taking my TX-500 with the intent of doing a couple of activations; already applied for my Japanese call sign. Looking at the Parks On The Air website there are a quite a number of parks in the places that we’re going to visit that have already been activated. Cool! Hope you post up some info when the time comes, so folks here can work you. |
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Posted: 5/25/2024 12:27:01 PM EST
[#2]
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Posted: 5/26/2024 10:18:07 AM EST
[Last Edit: WillieTangoFox]
[#3]
About to walk into EDIT and setup. Will be ssb, probably 10 thru 15m
QRT |
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VA, USA
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Posted: 6/1/2024 1:37:51 PM EST
[#4]
Currently at US-4391 DN21, will be heading to US-6091 Bonneville Salt Flats
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Posted: 6/1/2024 3:46:57 PM EST
[#5]
I think I just missed you.
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Posted: 6/4/2024 9:35:40 PM EST
[#6]
Would you all say that POTA is gaining in popularity, or declining? I know it's a work day, and I do not have a good sample set. But it seems to me that the summer evening activations last year were a lot more frequent that what I'm seeing this year. Again, I haven't been on the radio much, but I just checked the spots for SSB, any band in HAMRS and there were only 2 activations.
This time of the evening (8:20 local time) last year there were usually 10 or more activations on many days throughout the summer. Weekends were very busy. |
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Posted: 6/4/2024 9:41:46 PM EST
[Last Edit: WillieTangoFox]
[#7]
The HF bands were much more consistent last year. The bands have been unstable the last few months. I think that has been a big part of it.
I dont have an opinion on if it is gaining / declining……. Havent seen any clear indication. I am for sure seeing more DX parks being activated and spotted, I really wanted to get Romania today but could never hear him. |
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USA
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Posted: 6/5/2024 6:34:07 AM EST
[#8]
IMO the bands have been kind of weird the last few months. Definitely not the propagation we saw in the spring and fall.
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Posted: 6/5/2024 7:26:14 AM EST
[#9]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Jambalaya: Would you all say that POTA is gaining in popularity, or declining? I know it's a work day, and I do not have a good sample set. But it seems to me that the summer evening activations last year were a lot more frequent that what I'm seeing this year. Again, I haven't been on the radio much, but I just checked the spots for SSB, any band in HAMRS and there were only 2 activations. This time of the evening (8:20 local time) last year there were usually 10 or more activations on many days throughout the summer. Weekends were very busy. Covid hit at exactly the right time to play on the remote work thing. But, the remote work thing is being walked back by lots of folks. Both individuals who've discovered they actually 'liked' going to the office and companies who've discovered there are huge management style changes needed to properly manage a remote workforce, and aren't yet prepared to make those changes. |
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Posted: 6/5/2024 8:38:14 AM EST
[Last Edit: ManiacRat]
[#10]
It might just be settling in to a plateau. Kids take up most of my time and free time for me is spent playing with guns versus radio. So I don't do POTA much.
It's still fun. But I'd rather do other things most of the time. Hell I've been considering removing my mobile station and selling it all. |
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Posted: 6/5/2024 9:51:31 AM EST
[#11]
That does bring up another POTA topic.
I did not know so many people just use a mobile setup in their car to do POTA. I guess this might be because I first heard about SOTA and watched some videos on that……. I like walking into where I do radio and walking back out, but I also have a lot of free time relative to most people I know, |
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MS, USA
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Posted: 6/5/2024 10:01:44 AM EST
[#12]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Shootindave: That does bring up another POTA topic. I did not know so many people just use a mobile setup in their car to do POTA. I guess this might be because I first heard about SOTA and watched some videos on that . I like walking into where I do radio and walking back out, but I also have a lot of free time relative to most people I know, |
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Posted: 6/5/2024 10:43:15 AM EST
[#13]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Shootindave: That does bring up another POTA topic. I did not know so many people just use a mobile setup in their car to do POTA. I guess this might be because I first heard about SOTA and watched some videos on that……. I like walking into where I do radio and walking back out, but I also have a lot of free time relative to most people I know, walking in and going portable with the 891 is more fun ….but as the wife and I worked towards 100 different parks, travel time increased it’s convenient to operate mobile when you have a long drive back home ….or when it’s raining or mosquitoes are everywhere |
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Posted: 6/5/2024 10:45:51 AM EST
[#14]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By 4HShooter: Most of my activations these days are mobile setups, quick in and out. Unless I'm camping which is a few times a year, Including this weekend. I'll be at US-4526 at 4200' for the vhf contest but will have a 80-10ocfd in the air for vhf downtimes Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By 4HShooter: Originally Posted By Shootindave: That does bring up another POTA topic. I did not know so many people just use a mobile setup in their car to do POTA. I guess this might be because I first heard about SOTA and watched some videos on that . I like walking into where I do radio and walking back out, but I also have a lot of free time relative to most people I know, I really like VHF simplex stuff portable. I found a nice place near me and have got some good distance from my tape measure yagi on a pole. In the flat lands, our options are limited for super cool stuff. |
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Posted: 6/5/2024 10:47:51 AM EST
[#15]
propagation probably plays a big part.
I normally operate /m to/from work, and I used to typically get at least 5 parks on the way in on my 20min commute Lately I've been lucky with bagging 1, I've heard plenty of others, but they're too weak to reliably copy.. or I just hear the hunters. I heard a CA station last night on the way home, I tried but there were a lot of hunters on, and about 1/2 way home I lost him in the noise. |
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Posted: 6/5/2024 12:19:00 PM EST
[Last Edit: ManiacRat]
[#16]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Shootindave: That does bring up another POTA topic. I did not know so many people just use a mobile setup in their car to do POTA. I guess this might be because I first heard about SOTA and watched some videos on that . I like walking into where I do radio and walking back out, but I also have a lot of free time relative to most people I know, I much prefer portable and even hiking to a nice spot. But it's just too damn much unless I am already there camping. |
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Posted: 6/5/2024 3:36:43 PM EST
[#17]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Shootindave: That does bring up another POTA topic. I did not know so many people just use a mobile setup in their car to do POTA. I guess this might be because I first heard about SOTA and watched some videos on that . I like walking into where I do radio and walking back out, but I also have a lot of free time relative to most people I know, For me, I installed a mobile station specifically for POTA so I could do quick and dirty drive-up activations whenever I get the time. Plus it enables activations in uncomfortable weather. |
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Posted: 6/5/2024 3:46:49 PM EST
[Last Edit: WillieTangoFox]
[#18]
Are you guys just leaving the car running so the radio doesnt drain your starter battery or are you hooking up to a secondary battery source while parked?
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Posted: 6/5/2024 4:19:59 PM EST
[#19]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Shootindave: Are you guys just leaving the car running so the radio doesnt drain your starter battery or are you hooking up to a secondary battery source while parked? I have always hooked up a secondary LiFePo4 battery. Click/click using anderson powerpoles. |
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Posted: 6/5/2024 4:24:13 PM EST
[#20]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Shootindave: Are you guys just leaving the car running so the radio doesnt drain your starter battery or are you hooking up to a secondary battery source while parked? I just keep an eye on the voltage and keep a jump starter pack in the vehicle in case I draw down the battery too far. I operate engine off. I do have a LiFePO4 power supply I can use if I think it will be a long activation. |
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Posted: 6/5/2024 4:30:24 PM EST
[Last Edit: Colt653]
[#21]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Shootindave: Are you guys just leaving the car running so the radio doesnt drain your starter battery or are you hooking up to a secondary battery source while parked? i leave it running air conditioning also 4cylinder camry goes forever on a tank of gas |
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Posted: 6/5/2024 4:33:43 PM EST
[Last Edit: Jambalaya]
[#22]
Kind of another topic, park-to-park only activations.
I have done a couple like this where I get the required 10 contacts just hunting park to park. But this only really is convenient when you have an internet connection so you can see the spots. I was at Canyonlands NP a couple of weekends ago but had no 5G connection and I hadn't looked up the park number beforehand. So I just left and went to Dead Horse Point state park because they have 5G at the visitor center and activated from the parking lot.  ETA I hadn't brought my paper log so without the spots I would have had to fill in HAMRS manually and it would have been tedious. |
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Posted: 6/5/2024 6:02:28 PM EST
[#23]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Colt653: i leave it running air conditioning also 4cylinder camry goes forever on a tank of gas Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Colt653: Originally Posted By Shootindave: Are you guys just leaving the car running so the radio doesnt drain your starter battery or are you hooking up to a secondary battery source while parked? i leave it running air conditioning also 4cylinder camry goes forever on a tank of gas Yeah, 5.3L in a Chevy Silverado not so much. |
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Posted: 6/5/2024 7:17:12 PM EST
[#24]
I keep my truck running. It doesn't use that much while idling and I'm only there for an hour or so anyway.
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Posted: 6/6/2024 2:37:48 PM EST
[#25]
For y'all with permanent in-vehicle setups, a larger sized lifepo4 battery with a victron orion smart DC-DC charger is an extremely handy setup. I won't go so far as to say it's a game changer, but the peace of mind knowing you won't discharge your starting battery whilst in the middle of nowhere is hard to beat.
https://www.victronenergy.com/dc-dc-converters/orion-tr-smart So you don't have to click on the link: The smart DC-DC converter senses when your vehicle battery is charging and activates the charging circuit for the lithium 'house' (in this case transceiver) battery. If the vehicle is running, it's active and charging. If the vehicle is off, it's deactivated. I use this setup for Starlink after coming way way too close to stranding myself. |
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Posted: 6/6/2024 10:57:28 PM EST
[#26]
Just looking at my awards page on POTA. I am one contact away from getting a "repeat offender hunter" at park US-2996 Cedar Hills State Park in TX with 19 QSOs.
Perhaps ironically, the next park I have on the repeat offender list is in Canada with 11 QSOs.
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Posted: 7/4/2024 4:37:11 PM EST
[Last Edit: Jambalaya]
[#27]
So I took a long ATV ride way, way far away from civilization this morning to see if the road was good enough for my jeep. I planned to be the first to activate US-5847. It has been sitting there for a couple of years unactivated. Anyhow I got within a couple of miles of the park boundary and the road was in great shape this year, but 2 people had beat me to it in May of this year.
I'm very disappointed because I had my eye on that park for a long time. Dangit! There is another one I might have to go grab this Saturday before someone else does. |
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Posted: 7/14/2024 10:04:43 PM EST
[#28]
I’m heading out, should be on 20m in 30 min.
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Posted: 7/15/2024 9:33:43 AM EST
[#29]
the bands have been terrible lately, maybe one park in two days on average...
 I hope things turn around quickly for my US-0023 activation next month |
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Posted: 7/15/2024 10:34:00 AM EST
[Last Edit: tyrex13]
[#30]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By RED_5: the bands have been terrible lately, maybe one park in two days on average... I hope things turn around quickly for my US-0023 activation next month They are bad during the day. Pretty great at night. I was on for a couple hours and got 44 from about 0330-0530z. |
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Posted: 7/15/2024 11:24:54 AM EST
[#31]
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Posted: 7/15/2024 11:28:28 AM EST
[Last Edit: WillieTangoFox]
[#32]
Interesting you got Europe but not Japan. Were you blocked to the west by terrain?
I still need AK and SD on pota |
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Posted: 7/15/2024 11:38:05 AM EST
[Last Edit: tyrex13]
[#33]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Shootindave: Interesting you got Europe but not Japan. Were you blocked to the west by terrain? I still need AK and SD on pota I actually did have a rock wall and mountain behind me to the west. I worked some guy in Ohio last night and Alaska was the last one he needed. |
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Posted: 7/22/2024 6:30:54 PM EST
[Last Edit: WillieTangoFox]
[#34]
6479 around 7:15p central
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Posted: 8/22/2024 2:20:25 PM EST
[#35]
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Posted: 8/28/2024 1:00:24 PM EST
[#36]
any of you POTA gurus know how to create a separate logbook in QRZ and/or LoTW so I can properly identify/give credit
for the special parks I just activated.... I want IOTA, US Islands, County types to get their due. (way different QTHs than my normal) I already uploaded the files to POTA, so at least those contacts will get credit. |
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Posted: 8/28/2024 3:39:40 PM EST
[#37]
LoTW allows you to setup different QTH locations to select from prior to direct log upload.
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Posted: 8/29/2024 8:15:14 AM EST
[#38]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By WillieTangoFox: LoTW allows you to setup different QTH locations to select from prior to direct log upload. ahh, okay... UL to LoTW first.. I've been uploading to QRZ (easiest(~)) then syncing LoTW.. Looks like I've got it sorted. Thanks 
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Posted: 8/29/2024 10:52:31 AM EST
[#39]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By RED_5: ahh, okay... UL to LoTW first.. I've been uploading to QRZ (easiest(~)) then syncing LoTW.. Looks like I've got it sorted. Thanks Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By RED_5: Originally Posted By WillieTangoFox: LoTW allows you to setup different QTH locations to select from prior to direct log upload. ahh, okay... UL to LoTW first.. I've been uploading to QRZ (easiest(~)) then syncing LoTW.. Looks like I've got it sorted. Thanks Yup, thats why I pay for QRZ membership…… easy log transfer. But you have to start on the LoTW side to fix the grid square issue as far as I can tell with their QTH setup options on the opening screen. I actually need to set that back up on my new laptop. I broke my old radioing laptop by letting morning dew get all up in it camping. Lol. I need a hardcase for my new laptop for camping. |
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TX, USA
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Posted: 9/3/2024 8:42:13 PM EST
[Last Edit: flhtc79086]
[#40]
I set up at a local city park with my Xiegu G90 and my JPC-12 antenna and hunted some POTA activations on 20M...
 
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Posted: 9/4/2024 8:19:58 AM EST
[#41]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By flhtc79086: I set up at a local city park with my Xiegu G90 and my JPC-12 antenna and hunted some POTA activations on 20M... https://i.postimg.cc/dQmhcC5R/forum-001.jpg https://i.postimg.cc/dt0ZRBYH/09-03-2024.jpg Nice. a G90 with a WRC SOTA antenna is how I got started with POTA. it's a great little radio, too bad their support is virtually non-existent |
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Posted: 9/14/2024 7:37:48 AM EST
[#42]
I’m in it now.
My Japanese call sign came in. I’m officially: JL1CDS. In about 3 1/2 weeks I’ll hopefully be activating a few parks in Japan starting with Hakone. |
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OH, USA
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Posted: 9/14/2024 7:55:18 AM EST
[#43]
Got a Venue Pro 11 w/ detachable keyboard last week.
It's currently running Win10 Pro. Bought another SSD for the thing and have a 256GB SD card coming for additional storage. Going to swap SSDs, load Mint onto it then install all the ham software I use. Aim is to get it working with a Digicom4 and my 703+. A LiPo battery for rig power and the whole works will easily fit into a Targus laptop nag. Radio and PC should be good for several hours activation time. |
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Posted: 9/14/2024 8:27:41 AM EST
[#44]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By jerrwhy01: I’m in it now. My Japanese call sign came in. I’m officially: JL1CDS. In about 3 1/2 weeks I’ll hopefully be activating a few parks in Japan starting with Hakone. Sweet. It would be interesting to see if you could get VHF/UHF simplex contacts in English. I see a lot of spots for 2m and higher. |
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Posted: 9/14/2024 10:25:31 AM EST
[#45]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By WillieTangoFox: Sweet. It would be interesting to see if you could get VHF/UHF simplex contacts in English. I see a lot of spots for 2m and higher. I’m planning on bringing my TX-500 for primarily for FT8, and some SSB. I might dabble in CW but honestly my CW skills leave a lot to be desired at this point. I’m also bringing my FT5DR for VHF/UHF simplex which should be very interesting. N6ARA did a write up on QRPer a few months ago and he made a few contacts on voice but they were so confused they thought he was sending out a distress signal, so naturally I have to give it a try now. Looking at their band plan as well as Repeater Book it looks like they do a lot more on 70cm than 2m. My plan is to lug around the TX-500 to a few places during our trip and try to activate during lunch. However, I’ll have the FT5DR in my bag at all times, APRS should be interesting. |
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Posted: 9/14/2024 10:38:18 AM EST
[#46]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By jerrwhy01: I’m in it now. My Japanese call sign came in. I’m officially: JL1CDS. In about 3 1/2 weeks I’ll hopefully be activating a few parks in Japan starting with Hakone. 
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Posted: 9/14/2024 10:40:20 AM EST
[#47]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By AnalogKid:.....load Mint onto it then install all the ham software I use. ... @AnalogKid What software are you using with MINT ? I recently installed ver.22 on a desktop, and have been playing Linux again. |
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OH, USA
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Posted: 9/14/2024 10:47:28 AM EST
[#48]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Colt653: @AnalogKid What software are you using with MINT ? I recently installed ver.22 on a desktop, and have been playing Linux again. flrig, fldigi, wsjtx and wfview (in Server mode) are the main programs I use. YaDD 1.7.1 works nicely under WINE with an R-75. So does a program called FT980CAT (for when I'm playing with that radio). And GRLevel3 runs better on this platform than it does on my Win10 boxes. I'd have to dig out my N1MM license and try an install of it. Haven't played with that or HRD in years. |
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Posted: 9/14/2024 10:50:35 AM EST
[#49]
Another option is “Andy’s Ham Radio Linux” which is a prepackaged install. For people just dipping their toes in Linux, it is a good starting point that troubleshoots some issues up front.
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Posted: 9/14/2024 12:02:54 PM EST
[#50]
I used to run FLDIGI in UBUNTU years ago, but kinda gave up on it all, and went Windows/HRD I've been playing with MINT again, it really makes windows seem so fucking BLOATED |
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