Parks On The Air - A Winter Adventure and Radio

For over 15 years, I've been dispersed camping in the same location. In this area, dispersed camping is allowed only after Labor Day and before Memorial Day. While winter camping isn't my favorite form of camping, dispersed camping is. I've always liked finding my own place in the woods and setting up camp. Unfortunately, in the southern portion of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, there are very few public lands that allow dispersed camping. I loaded my radio gear into my truck and parked where I always do.

The walk to "my" spot is a short trek along a small river winding through the State Game Area. I always pause at the one opening that offers a clear view of the water; everywhere else, the sightline is choked by thick brush and timber. Though most of the river remained locked in ice, a group of swans had found a patch of open water to claim as their own.

I arrived to find my spot as undisturbed as it has been for the past fifteen years. Some leftover firewood from my last visit was still there, processed and ready to go. I hung up my pack and started the familiar routine of setting up to activate the park.

Sending CW (Morse code) in sub-freezing temperatures is no easy feat, and my shivering hands needed all the help they could get. Naturally, the first order of business was to get a fire going.

For this activation, my antenna of choice was a 29' EFRW with a custom 17' counterpoise I’d built myself. The rest of the kit consisted of 25' of RG316 coax, a Ham Radio Supply QRP RFI Choke, my Elecraft KH1, and a CW Morse SP-4 paddle. After checking the bands, both 20 and 30 meters looked promising, so I opted to start on 30. US-6615 Allegan State Game Land was officially about to go on the air.

Once the 30-meter band eventually ran dry, I hopped over to 20 meters to round out the session. After logging thirty-three contacts, I was thrilled with the results, but could feel the cold finally starting to settle in. It was time to pull the plug on the radio gear and move on to the next part of the day.

I managed to get a better shot of the swans on my way back out—a peaceful end to a productive adventure. Despite the freezing temperatures, it was worth the trek to get US-6615 on the air. Thanks for following along on this winter adventure, and I hope your own radio and CW goals for the season are going well!

 

Parks On The Air - The Adventure Begins Again And Continues

Recently, I took a break from playing radio, but now that the weather might finally be breaking here in Michigan, I have the itch again. Additionally, I thought I would start blogging about my activities. For now, I'm mainly blogging for myself, but I will share it with anyone in the radio community who might be interested. It has been since May of 2025 since I last touched a radio, so I decided to restart the adventure in a safe place.

I really enjoy POTA, and I feel comfortable activating parks, but to be safe, I activated a park (US-1511 Kal-Haven Trail State Park) that I know well. In addition, I knew it would provide an easy setup and take-down.

To further boost my confidence, I ran with my trusty Yaesu FT-891 and the Chameleon Antennas CHA LEFS 40 - 10 meter. I decided to run CW only and never went above 30 watts (so QRP+). I learned that my CW sending was atrocious after such a long break, but the hunters were great, and I'm confident I got all the calls correctly logged. I activated the park three (3) times in six days for a total of 129 contacts. I picked up the Dominican Republic on one of the days, and that was a nice highlight.

And after that, I was ready for some real radio.😀 In my career, my typical daily routine has recently changed, and I find myself in my office almost every weekday now. And what happens to be across the street from the office? Yup, a POTA park - US-6688  Gourdneck State Game Land. I decided that activating a park while on my lunch break sounded like a great idea. 

I really do enjoy QRP, and for a quick, easy setup, you can't beat the Elecraft KH1. I picked my PackTenna 29' 9:1 EFRW (no counterpoise) as the antenna to see what I could accomplish. I hooked the EFRW to the tip section of the mast and raised the mast until the unun was hanging straight down. In addition, I used a KF8ASE Ham Radio Supply choke between the feedline and the radio. I had to reach over my head to attach the cable to the feedpoint, so I'd guess the mast was ~ 37' up. Twenty-five minutes later, I had 17 contacts across two bands (30 and 40 meters) and back to work I went.

,

My next plan for an adventure is to do some dispersed winter camping this upcoming weekend. The KH1 can run 40/30/20/17/15, so I decided to purchase a K6ARK 49:1 EFWH kit and build a linked EFHW (K8MRD style) that would be resonant on all of the bands of the KH1. The kit is assembled, but now I need to add the wire and balance each band. More to come . . .