I haven’t had much time for ham radio this week, but I squeezed in a quick activation this morning. Not only did I get in some much-needed radio time, but I finally achieved a POTA Kilo award at one of my favorite local parks.
The park in question is Norristown Farm State Park (US-4363, KFF-4363). According to the POTA website, I needed 36 more QSOs for a Kilo award at this park, so I was hoping the bands would be in good enough shape to get there. I set up my Elecraft KH1 and 12-foot base-loaded whip and got busy.
On the air, there was some fading, but overall the bands weren’t too bad. The 40M band was the most productive for me, with 20M a close second. I made some contacts on 17M and 15M, but they were few and far between. I was amazed at the number of hunters out there early on a Friday morning. After an hour and 15 minutes, I had made 40 contacts—enough for the Kilo award with a few to spare.
As I mentioned, I didn’t make too many contacts on 17M and 15M, but I did work some DX. On 17M, I worked Germany, France, and Denmark. Stations in Mexico and France hunted me on 15M. While not DX, a special shout-out goes to N4NR in Florida who worked me on 20M, 17M, and 15M this morning.
While making a thousand contacts at a park isn’t a big deal for most activators, I was happy to finally get there after 32 activations at this park. I’m close to a Kilo award at another of my local parks, so I’m hoping to finish that one off in the next week or so.
72, Craig WB3GCK
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