Author: n4mqu

K-0632 Monongahela National Forest

Amateur Radio, POTA

Plaque for Rick Newman

This page is dedicated to my friend Rick Newman.  The trip to activate this park was made by two of his mutual friends W4JE and me in order to look at the bench erected at Green Bank Telescope in his honor. Rick lost his battle with cancer but his memory is not forgotten.

W4JE & N4MQU

This was one of my first activation attempts without a more experienced activator with me.  Unfortunately I miscounted the number of contacts and when I got home it was only 9 contacts. Double check your log. Also write down the log information or record your activity before or as you make contact. I would like to thank my friend W4JE Andrew Clegg.  He convinced me it was ok to operate our station in the Radio Quiet Zone.  He is a Radio Engineer and has some kind of credentials in Radio Astronomy.  


K-2751 Raven Rock State Park

Amateur Radio, POTA

This was a planned two night camping trip but the rain cut it short. This was a joint activation between KE4NKY and N4MQU.  This was our second activation together see K-1321 My First POTA Activation  

N4MQU & KE4NKY

Our contacts

 

KE4NKY did not do all the cooking.

N4MQU

Campground notes:  Great campground. Clean restrooms. Power available.Online reservations available. Easy to change camping dates for weather. 

 

Be sure to leave your site as clean as possible.
Thanks for reading.

K-1321 My First POTA Activation

Amateur Radio, POTA

I recently became involved with Parks on the air (POTA).  I had always tried to answer someone when I heard them call parks on the air so when we started planning the camping trip and a friend wanted to activate the Staunton River State Park, I finally activated my membership in September.  I was surpised to find I had 26 contacts that is the reason for the awards close together.

  1. Silver Hunter 9/13/2021
  2. Bronze Hunter 9/13/2021
  3. Gold Hunter 9/13/2021
  4. Platinum Hunter 9/19/21
  5. Diamond Hunter 9/25/21
  6. Saphire Hunter 10/9/21

I activated my first park along with KE4NKY and had a blast.  It just happened to be a Internatinal Dark Sky site that goes along with my other hobby astronomy.  To say I had no idea what was happening would by an understatement.

The nice thing about POTA is that you can combine camping and your amateur radio hobby together.

 

Campground notes:  Great campground. Clean restrooms. Power available.Online reservations available. Easy to change camping dates for weather, etc.

K-3854 #7 20220521

Amateur Radio, POTA

 

My friend K4HNT indicated to me an interest in joining me in activating his first park.  We chose a hot day in May.  We were successful. I initially put my Chameleon antenna on top of the car.

Antenna on top car.

N4MQU, K4HNT

Our contacts

Searching for frequency

Deep in the parking lot

K-1299 My First Solo Activation Weekend

Amateur Radio, POTA

 

 

N4MQU at K-1299

This is a recap of my first solo activation weekend at K-1299 First Landing State Park in Virginia Beach, VA. This park happens to be near my hometown of Norfolk, VA. The trip was first planned as a camping POTA (amateur radio) weekend but turned out to be a family, camping, POTA weekend.  See The article   It was planned with a record two week lead time.  

First chance I had to operate came on Saturday.  I set up my Vertical antenna.  My first goal is to make 1 contact. My second goal is to make 10 contacts and activate the park.

Saturday 4/30

Sunday contacts 

After the family left I started a fire. Just a little hint if there is a build up of ashes clear it out.


I started operating at 7:00 PM ET  thinking  the late shift started. I found out it didn’t start until 8:00 PM. So I was able to get the Saturday, Sunday and Monday activated because in UTC time changes to the next day at 8:00 PM. Does anyone else get confused about UTC? 
Some of my amateur friends get over a 100 contacts. I was satisfied to just activating a park.

Sunday 5/1/

Monday at this time it started getting dark and I should have had my lantern with me.  I was able to hold my frequency and tell me fans to excuse me while I retrieved my lantern.

A new neighbor from the campground came by and asked to borrow a can opener. I was able to provide him one. He said he was from Virginia Beach and was there just for the night. I explained what I was doing but didn’t get any reaction. Sometimes I have a nice conversation with visitors and sometimes I don’t.  It seems funny the campground was crowded Saturday but by Sunday it had cleared out. Really nice and quiet. I guess one of the benefits of being retired I can camp during the week. 

Monday 5/2

I completed my activation and reflected my weekend around the campfire.

The next morning after a nice sleep I packed up the gear and attempted to get into K-8203 Cape Henry National Memorial. It is just down the street and it is inside a military base.  The officer told me the memorial was not open and I would have to come back at 10. I had about 30 minutes and hadn’t had breakfast and stopped at McDonald’s. I went back to the base and was told the memorial was not opened until 11. I asked is the schedule posted and he said the base is in a fluid situation and in order to get in I would need an escort.  Maybe next time I can get someone with the proper credentials and get in. The park had only been activated 10 times. I see why.  When I was growing up my father worked at the shipyard and he could get into any base with his credentials.  The good ole days.

After that I decided to go to K-0560 Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge. This was my old site my astronomy club had used for our night time observing. By this time it had gotten hot and I was not prepared with water and still had a 3 hour drive home. I did enjoy seeing my old hang out. I chose to come at another time. Thanks for reading.

Campground notes:  Great campground. Clean restrooms. Power available.Online reservations available. Easy to change camping dates for weather, etc.    

For activities with my family that weekend Family, Camping, and Amateur Radio. 
Thanks for reading.  

 

Family, Camping, and Amateur Radio

Amateur Radio, Camping, Family

Had a great weekend near my birthplace Norfolk, VA. I knew it as Seashore State Park but it is now known as First Landing State Park. My amateur radio Parks on the Air (POTA) knows it as K-1299. See my article on thatAfter arriving I was able to set up my tent in 30 minutes record time for me.

This weekend was planned and booked in a couple of weeks after finding out my nephew and his son wanted to camp. In the old days you had to take your chances by just showing up. Now we have on line reservations. That was a nice change. The early weather forecast was great for camping.

My nephew and his son showed up and set up their tent we had easy to make dinner of sandwiches. 
We took a walk to the beach. Sorry for the blurry photos.

After a nights sleep and breakfast of Poptarts and lunch Davin Jr got to eat his first MRE.

After lunch we all took a ride to my nephew’s home to pick up his dog Roxy.  We decided to go out to dinner at a nice dinner at a local Italian restaurant. Earlier I had discovered I had forgotten the hotdogs and potato salad at home.  In addition Davin gave me a nice tour of Ocean View and told me about all the changes over the years.  I am concerned they are not allowing for low income housing (lol). After the great dinner we went back to pick up Roxy and went back to camping.  

 

 

Davin, Jr, Davin and Roxy

Roxy survived her first night camping. I was surprised at Roxy’s reaction every time her dad or son left she showed a lot of anxiety. By the end of the day she was showing that when I had to leave.  

Sunday Davin and Jr took down the tent and packed to return to an afternoon of baseball. I joined them after I was promised a ride back to camp. My sister Darlene also joined us so it made it a family event.

Jr is #36

Davin Jr’s turn video

The day ended with the family going out to another nice restaurant and Norfolk and headed I got a ride back to the campsite.  My sister visited the campsite and reminisced about the times we were at Seashore State Park.  
I have to admit I really enjoyed being called Uncle Mark.

For recap of the rest of my weekend see K-1299 My First Solo Activation Weekend

Continue reading →

Burnt Offering

God, Jesus

I am listening to the Old Testament. Trying to listen to it for a minimum of 15 minutes.  I was in numbers today.  I was wondering if a burnt offering is available to those of us who has accepted Jesus as our savior?  No. We don’t need a burnt offering.  Jesus died on the cross for our sins.