Another Successful POTA activation in Washington Crossing State Park (NJ) on Sunday, June 1st

We had lots of fun conducting a successful POTA activation in Washington Crossing State Park (NJ) on Sunday, June 1st as we switched to the rain date for the Parks On The Air activation that was originally scheduled for Saturday.

For those who came out to play radio in the park or just to observe, THANKS!! We were rewarded with excellent terrestrial weather (Sunny with a high of about 70°F), however we were challenged by a solar storm which seriously muted daytime radio propagation on the HF bands and generated some exaggerated QSB swings, sometimes even within individual transmissions!

Nevertheless, thanks to skillful and determined operating technique along with our installing an OCF dipole at height (about 50′ above ground in the trees), we managed to complete 110 contacts across 26 different states, a real achievement under the circumstances! Kudos to seven different operators each of whom earned a successful park activation, and of course we also earned a successful park activation for our club station W2ZQ, as we all operated under that station call sign.

Of the 110 completed contacts, 20 were “Park-to-Park”, spanning 14 different parks in eight states. We made contacts on seven different bands (four different HF bands – and thanks to the VHF/UHF equipment Tobi brought, 12 VHF/UHF contacts were made within the park on 3 bands using her HTs). 91 contacts were HF SSB, 7 were HF CW, and 12 contacts were VHF/UHF FM.

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All 110 contacts were processed and accepted by the POTA organization.

Again, thanks to all and 73,

Bob KB3BB

_{Photos by Bob K3EDP}