Park #51 NC K-2741 Lake Waccamaw State Park
It took over an hour just to get 11 contacts. I met a friend half way to pickup a new tuner. It will be nice just to push a button to tune up. I know a nicer situation will be perfect swr but sometimes the trees make that difficult. Glad to get the 51 park activated. As a bonus I actually saw wildlife a slivering snake and an eagle flying right above me. Unmistakable.
It was a tough day for me to activate the park but I got it done with 12. I got my 12 with the MFJ-1984MP ENDFED 1/2 Wave 40-10M modified but decided to try the MFJ Short HF Mobile Ham-tenna no contacts at all with that but it was worth a try. Thanks to the hunters and p2p de n4mqu
NC K-8010 McKinney Lake State Fish Hatchery #27
To my CW veterans how do you handle those pileups? It was slow getting started but ended up to be a good day for me with 21 SSB and 4 CW contacts I used my MFJ-1984MP ENDFED 1/2 Wave 40-10M modified and CW Morse Blue Micro Morse Code Key W/ Aluminum Base. I was pumped after my 4th CW contact but when it seemed like 6 or 7 (maybe it was only 2)stations were coming at once I didn’t know how to handle it. Thanks for the p2p and hunters. De n4mqu. 
K-2888 Cheraw State Park
28 miles from home This made my 50th unique park activation and my 1000th p2p contact. This is my 3rd South Carolina Park. It was a nice day at the park. Thanks to all the hunters and p2p. 21 contacts 2 on 15, 1 on 17, 2 on 40 and 15 on 20. Looking at the map to extend my park activation list I’ll have to do some driving that may be possible. But I have 5 parks I can easily get to on a regular basis.
Park restrictions: As I was leaving on of the rangers said not to use the trees to support the antenna, they are concerned about antenna wire getting caught in trees. I did not know this when I checked in they didn’t give me any restrictions.
NC K-6848 President James K. Polk State Historic Site
74 miles from home 149 activations I put it in Waze and it routed me on a toll road oh well it’s a bit far for me but glad I did it.
I arrived and walked thru the museum. I mentioned that I was an amateur radio operator and he said we can operate from there but just don’t use the trees for the antenna. 🙁 I was prepared. I had my MFJ Short HF Mobile Ham-tenna. I made 26 contacts on 40, 17, 15 and 20. Thanks to the hunters and p2p.
This one is 48 miles from home It was a nice morning for activating a park. It wasn’t roo hot. I used MFJ Short HF Mobile Ham-tenna tried 10, 17, 15, 20, 40 but only successful on 20 and 40. Check your radio settings if you are not making contacts. I called for 10 minutes before realizing I had the split function on. I made 20 contacts. Thanks to the hunters and p2p.
Tripp Owens N4NTO and I have been friends over 40 years. He helped me increase my code speed to 13 wpm to where I could get my General ticket back in the day. Last year I helped him get started in POTA the QSL card is from a simplex contact in 1987 several years after I got my general. This is a case of the student exceeding the teacher in activations and QSOs. Link to our first activation https://n4mqu.com/k-6956-1/
My first solo 2 fer activation NC K-6931 and K-8226
It’s funny how the heat didn’t bother me after I got busy making contacts on 20. After the Sandhills Amateur Radio club meeting. We had a wonderful breakfast meeting at the Parkton Grill. Highly recommended if you are in the area. I decided to activate my first solo two for activation K-6931 and K-8226. I used my MFJ Short HF Mobile Ham-tenna. I started on 40 made 8 contacts that means 16 contacts for a 2 fer. I tried 10 then I went to 20 and had much better results. I made a total of 28 contacts. I appreciate the hunters and p2p.
K-6947 #24
That was tough this yesterday morning ended up on 17 and 40 MFJ Short HF Mobile Ham-tenna. I guess heat affects me since I got the park incorrect when I spotted. NC K-6947. Thanks to the hunters and p2p.
My original thought was to use my 17 meter MFJ Short HF Mobile Ham-tenna I received for a birthday gift. I tried answering a couple of CQs and called on SSB but no joy today. I then used my MFJ-1984MP ENDFED 1/2 Wave 40-10M modified it was tough putting that up I guess I was affected by the heat. I was able to make 2 CW and 14 SSB contacts. I read something about activators activating a park every day. I applaud all that do. I try to do something in POTA every day but I may miss that. Thanks for the hunters and p2p. And I had to buy a newspaper for the article about working the 4 h campers from K-6947 Wednesday.
