When Things Go Wrong at the POTA Activation @K3JRZOnTheAir
When Things Go Wrong at the POTA Activation  @K3JRZOnTheAir
Uploaded February 2024 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
I found myself up in Pennsylvania on Saturday, February 10, 2024, and decided to go activate K-1352 Fort Washington State Park @PennsylvaniaDCNR in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania. With my FX-4CR at 5 Watts for the Parks On The Air @ParksOnTheAir (POTA) activation I wondering what 10 meters would bring me. But once I got setup and ready to start the activation, the problems started, one after another. Check out what happened in the video!

Thank you to the all of the hunters and fellow activators for the contacts!

ALL amateur radio operators world-wide need to know the DX CODE OF CONDUCT. It was meant for DX contacts, but it really applies to ALL aspects of amateur radio (DXing, contesting, POTA, SOTA, Field Day, special events, etc...). DON'T BE AN ALPHA HOTEL!
http://dx-code.com.

EQUIPMENT USED:
Radio: FX-4CR SDR HF Transceiver DIRECTLY FROM BG2FX - GET YOUR OWN AT www.bg2fx.com!
Mount: ULANZI MT-33 Flexible Mini Tripod @ulanzi
Antenna: MFJ 1610T 10M & 1620T 20M HF Sticks and Shark Antenna S-F15 Hamstick
Tuner: MAT-TUNER mAT-10 Automatic Tuner
N9SAB's 1:1 QRP Nano Dipole Balun/Choke for Common Mode Currents/Noise Reduction Gen II - bit.ly/3UEy9Zf
Case: Apache 2800 Weatherproof Protective Case (Medium)
Tri Mag Mount: MFJ 336S
Battery: Bioenno Power 12V, 4.5Ah LFP Battery
Tripod: UBeesize 64" Phone Tripod @ubeesize9784
External Microphone: DJI Mic Kit & DJI Lavalier Mic @DJI
Camera: iPhone 15 Pro Max
Logging Device: iPad Pro (Spotting, information & logging)
Logging App: HAMRS - https://hamrs.app
Tumbler: RTIC 30 oz Insulated Tumbler @RTICOutdoors
Ham Stick Bag: Lixada 55 Inch Fishing Rod Bag


Large Tool Bag, iPad Pro sleeve and various pouches from Special Operations Equipment @SOEtacticalgear (SOE) - originalsoegear.com or soetacticalgear.com

3D PRINTED QR CODE PLAQUES - EMAIL Jess N4JAH via QRZ.com

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Parks On The Air - parksontheair.com
Parks On The Air Facebook group - facebook.com/groups/parksontheair
Parks On The Air Slack group - parksontheair.slack.com
Parks On The Air spotting/stats/awards/and more site - https://pota.app

LOCATION INFO:
PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources - dcnr.pa.gov/StateParks/FindAPark/FortWashingtonStatePark/Pages/default.aspx
Fort Washington State Park on Wikipedia - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Washington_State_Park

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MUSIC COPYRIGHT 1992 - 1997 BY GANGSTER PUMP. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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CONTACT TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 - Intro
01:25 - Activate!
01:35 - KJ5BUL
02:22 - EA4TL
03:19 - N5VMN
03:37 - K4NYM
04:24 - N4CWB
04:32 - KB3WAV
04:45 - K3MTO
04:53 - N9VFR
05:11 - W8DF
06:22 - KD9PNI
07:02 - K0KLB
07:52 - W4CTY
08:16 - K9XN
08:52 - ND4Y
09:16 - Recap/Outro

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I am not affiliated administratively with the Parks On The Air organization, but a happy participant in the POTA program.

Q: What is Parks On The Air?
A: Parks On The Air (or POTA) for international portable amateur radio (ham radio) operations that promote emergency awareness and communications from national/federal and state/provincial level parks.

There are activators and there are hunters. Activators go into POTA approved parks, set up their amateur radio equipment and call CQ (CQ is an invitation for any amateur radio operators listening on that frequency to respond and make contact). Hunters will contact the activators and upon a successful contact, the activator puts the hunter into their logs that will be uploaded to calling area representatives who will then upload those logs to the POTA system. Hunters do not need to upload any logs.

Q: What are the Parks On The Air rules?
A: The rules for Parks On The Air can be found at parksontheair.com/rules .

Q: What are the Parks On The Air frequencies?
A: Any frequency that an amateur radio operator has permission to legally use in their country based upon their level of license. Repeaters cannot be used. More info can be found at parksontheair.com/faq .

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K3JRZ |

When Things Go Wrong at the POTA Activation

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