My First POTA Rove
2023-07-25 I don't know if my past 7 day trip was an official "rove" but it was a 1400 mile round trip from my home in SE Wisconsin to the middle of Kansas and back with four activations along the way. The activations were one in MO and three in KS. One new experience was activating with no cell service in one location in Kansas. I did note the state of the hunter but most of the other fields in HAMRS were blank! That was different.
Most of my 200+ previous activations have been in several parks near to my home so I'm very familiar with them. These four were in totally new locations far from home so I had no idea what I was getting into. But in each case I was able to find suitable locations quickly, set up, activate, break down and get back on the road in under an hour, several in about a half hour. The fewest contacts was 14 with two having 18 and one 22 contacts. In each case I could have gotten more but we were on a non-POTA mission to reach and return from a family reunion 700 miles from home, POTA was definitely a side mission! All contacts were CW on 20 meters as I figured that'd give me that most bang for my time. Most distant was Porto Rico. Closest was one contact in the same town I was in!
Part of the reason for my quick deployment was my rig/antenna. The radio was my ic705 with a 4.5aH Bioenno battery to enable 10 watts. The antenna was a recently acquired GRA-7350TC 102" vertical with four ten ft radials. I can't say enough good things about it. I had a WRC mini tripod with 12" legs and a DIY 12" ground spike, both of which I used. I preferred the ground spike but a couple places the ground was very dry and very hard, like rock. I had an Elecraft T1 autotuner but never used it as the antenna is very easy to set to resonance.
My feedline was a 25' rg316 coax and the antenna was usually only about ten feet away. I love the N6ARA TinyPaddle which must have been designed just for the ic705. It plugged directly into the radio and was perfectly positioned for me on the right hand side of the radio. Not all radios would accommodate it that well.
Finally, the radio, antenna, coax, battery, really everything fit into a small canvas tool bag I got at Menards, a local "hardware" store. So one bag was all I needed to take to the activation location. I even had an armless canvas chair with a repurposed "chalk board" for my lap so when one site, just a gravel parking lot, had no picnic table, it was only slightly more complicated to get on the air.
After this experience, I'll have no hesitation to head to "any park" to do an activation. I am so thankful for all those who contacted me making the "rove" successful from all points of view! K0BXB
Most of my 200+ previous activations have been in several parks near to my home so I'm very familiar with them. These four were in totally new locations far from home so I had no idea what I was getting into. But in each case I was able to find suitable locations quickly, set up, activate, break down and get back on the road in under an hour, several in about a half hour. The fewest contacts was 14 with two having 18 and one 22 contacts. In each case I could have gotten more but we were on a non-POTA mission to reach and return from a family reunion 700 miles from home, POTA was definitely a side mission! All contacts were CW on 20 meters as I figured that'd give me that most bang for my time. Most distant was Porto Rico. Closest was one contact in the same town I was in!
Part of the reason for my quick deployment was my rig/antenna. The radio was my ic705 with a 4.5aH Bioenno battery to enable 10 watts. The antenna was a recently acquired GRA-7350TC 102" vertical with four ten ft radials. I can't say enough good things about it. I had a WRC mini tripod with 12" legs and a DIY 12" ground spike, both of which I used. I preferred the ground spike but a couple places the ground was very dry and very hard, like rock. I had an Elecraft T1 autotuner but never used it as the antenna is very easy to set to resonance.
My feedline was a 25' rg316 coax and the antenna was usually only about ten feet away. I love the N6ARA TinyPaddle which must have been designed just for the ic705. It plugged directly into the radio and was perfectly positioned for me on the right hand side of the radio. Not all radios would accommodate it that well.
Finally, the radio, antenna, coax, battery, really everything fit into a small canvas tool bag I got at Menards, a local "hardware" store. So one bag was all I needed to take to the activation location. I even had an armless canvas chair with a repurposed "chalk board" for my lap so when one site, just a gravel parking lot, had no picnic table, it was only slightly more complicated to get on the air.
After this experience, I'll have no hesitation to head to "any park" to do an activation. I am so thankful for all those who contacted me making the "rove" successful from all points of view! K0BXB