Medicine Bow National Forest – POTA

We made this area our work week area. It is nice and secluded away from pretty much everything. We only had one vehicle drive by the whole week we were there. While Gayla was doing her video presentation I setup HF radio outside and activated the POTA park US-4403. I had 154 total unique contacts. It was a beautiful day to be outside in Wyoming. I used the 44 foot line wire to the 9:1 Read More …

Activation of Starvation Lake – Duchesne, Utah

I was ready to be done driving for the day so we went to Juniper Point Campground at Fred Hayes at Starvation Lake State Park. I cooked up some steak and boiled some eggs for some deviled eggs later this weekend. This place is also a POTA park (US-3092 – Fred Hayes at Starvation State Park) for amateur radio. I activated it with 33 unique contacts and 35 contacts total on FT8. I was the Read More …

Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest POTA US-4499

We stayed at Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest for a quick overnight stop when heading south from Glacier National Park. I put a 9:1 UNUN to a 72 foot random wire in a tree with my throw weight and activated POTA Park US-4499 with 22 total contacts on FT-8. I even made contact with my brother back in SW Missouri on the 20m band. Not too bad for only running 10 watts for the whole activation.

Activation of Glacier National Park US-0028

We can not just go to Glacier National Park and not activate it. We stayed one night at Bowman Lake which is a very touristy place that is off the beaten path. This place did not have any cellular service or Starlink internet service. I did end up using the GPS dongle to synchronize my FT8 clock on the computer. The antenna of choice is the 26 gauge 44 foot long wire on the 27 Read More …

FT8 on ICOM IC-706

I have been wanting to try FT8 on my ICOM IC-706 for quite some time. Recently my brother finally got his ticket and is a General Class. He also purchased a Yeasu FT-450 as his first HF rig. In the past I have done a few digital modes such as PSK31, SSTV, and some RTTY! But for the life of me I could not get FT8 to work with my ICOM IC-706. My brother did Read More …