WA3LTJ

I had a remarkably successful POTA operation at the LBJ Memorial Grove (on Lady Bird Johnson Park, an island in the Potomac river near National Airport). It was my first operation designed to tolerate cold and rain. The good: The Grove is a great site. Clear propagation path in almost all directions. Constant pile-up. Worked 401 QSOs (about 1.5/min over 3.5 hours) The SotaBeams inverted V worked great in the rain. 20 m was a bit up and down, but I got mostly S9 or better reports. I worked Alaska off the edge of the dipole. There is a bathroom not far from the Grove. I was the first successful QSO for a new ham in Indiana. Always a thrill. The bad: You can only access the Grove driving south on GW Memorial Parkway. The first sign to the Grove takes you to the footbridge across Boundary Channel near the Pentagon. That is no good if your equipment is in the car. Continue on the Parkway to the Marina and turn right there. Getting from the wrong parking lot to the Marina is a heroic task. It was heroic getting out of the Grove because I did it on the 2nd busiest flying day of the year. Reagan National had cars lined up on the Parkway in both directions. I had to pass both directions to get back to Maryland. Ugh! Operating: I operated from inside the car. The FTdx10 was on the driver's seat. I sat in the passenger's seat with the laptop on my lap. The 30 Ah LiFePO4 battery had no problem with 100W for 3.5 hours. The laptop battery was just about done after that time.

I had to look up SJRA. Fun POTA event. I did not watch the video, but it is nice to see POTA options outside the DC area. Many years ago there used to a VHF antenna measuring contest in Pennsylvania, I think. Do you get an opportunity to measure the gain of the new beam? Nice to see 220 activity.

Have you considered a 33 foot flag pole?

Let me know next time you head to Delaware. Recently, I have been spending most of my time on 20m. That is not a good band for MD to DE. My loop can do a reasonable job on 40m, but is much more efficient on 20m. Last weekend I stuck with it for about 3.5 hours and made over 220 contacts. The 30 AH battery makes a difference for long activations. At 100W, I get a few Europeans calling in. I have Alaska, but not Delaware! I have been activating different parks in the DC area. In DC I run 8W. The parks in MD and VA I run the 100W rig. Here is another thing I need help with. The islands of the Potomac river are a park. Anyone got a boat for my 100W station? Scott, I don't do anything like your videos of activations. I have a few still pictures, but I am just not a videographer like you!

Great story. Great photos.

This is called a charge controller. It is most commonly in use for solar chargers. I won't embarrass myself by giving you some bad practical advice. Others on this board (or on the Elmer's section) can give you good advice.

Washington, DC area hams who want an easy POTA activation site: try Wolf Trap park on the weekend when it is quiet at the park. I did that today. I was able to park need the picnic tables and it was a 3 minute walk to the wash rooms. I worked 67 QSOs on 20 and 40 m with 100W and my home brew loop antenna. A local ham came by to say "hi" during his morning run. In addition, the park ranger turned out to be a ham! It was great fun.

Congratulations on your 44 QSOs from the cape. Sounds like fun. It would be a 3.5 hour drive for me. Not too bad.

I was pleased with the effectiveness of 5 W on 40 meters. I found a shady spot and wedged my inverted V dipole between two trees to limit the amount of foot traffic going past the guy and antenna wires. The northern extent was Barrie, Ontario. To the south I worked TN, and NC. The western limit was Ohio. I was happy to get DE, RI, and CT. The total was 35 QSOs.

Sad to hear. It was an icon and a source of my cool things in its day.

Perhaps many urban Americans who are used to being around diversity are not off-put by young people who look and dress in such a way that you simply cannot guess the gender. But, unless you are already comfortable with this cultural group, these younger people may be awkward to get used to, or even talk to. I suspect the young people in my workplace watch to see if I know how to interact with them. My work email signature lists my preferred pronouns. That is a start. But, the real problem comes trying to attract from diverse backgrounds when your flagship publication oozes of older white male culture. It makes ham radio appear antiquated, and perhaps irrelevant.

Jim, I have already done some research looking at who to contact at the Theater. The plan is for two of us to go, but more is merrier. I suspect I can manage SWR, although RF on the case of the radio and into the microphone are yet more potential problems so far from resonance. I would rather not run 100W with people in the area and the added weight of bigger batteries. I would like a bit more elegant solution with enough efficiency to more readily make QSO's and lower the power. I suspect the roof is precious and is also considered a safety risk. However, there might be something like an attic.

As it turns out, the U.S. Military is having the exact same issues with recruitment as ham radio. They have started several recruitment campaigns aimed at specific "groups", like African-American and LGBT. They have also recognized that the current ranks need a culture change (my words) to accept and incorporate diverse members of the armed forces. Here is just a sample: https://www.navy.mil/Press-Office/Testimony/display-testimony/Article/3345511/senate-armed-services-committee-holds-hearing-on-us-military-recruiting-challen/

I am planning a POTA activation at Ford's Theater (511 Tenth Street NW, Washington D.C.). This is truly an urban site with tall buildings. There are no grass areas, just sidewalk in front of the building. Sidewalk traffic is slowest Sunday mornings. SSB is the preferred mode to allow bystanders/spectators an opportunity to eavesdrop. Questions: what type of antenna? how much power? what band? My thoughts so far. POTA does not allow (land-based) repeaters, so UHF and VHF are not good options. It seems that NVIS would be the propagation mode of choice. It might be an interesting challenge to string a wire dipole 5 to 15 ft off the ground that is not too long for the available space and does not interfere with foot traffic. I read that 50W is plenty for NVIS, but to some degree that depends upon ground and building wall losses. If I am close to a building, is it NVIS anymore? According to the Australian Space Weather Forecasting center site foF2 map (https://www.sws.bom.gov.au/HF_Systems/6/5), MUF for NVIS is below 7 MHz until around 10am. I cannot imagine setting up a full length 80 m dipole. Does a shortened 80 m dipole work for NVIS, or is the efficiency too low? I hope to get some ideas on how to get a signal out the urban hole. What about RF exposure to passersby? Do I only transmit when no pedestrians are around?

W3TDH I appreciate the dilemma of how to pursue your interests. I like the promise to victims for rescue. While any port in a storm, we are still more comforted by rescuers who appear to come from our own culture.