Park: Pocahontas State Park
POTA Designation: US-1312
Location: Chesterfield, VA
I brought a few radios with me on this trip, partly because they are small enough that they don’t take up too much room in the vehicle and are lightweight, and partly because one of them is brand new to me and another one has been rarely used in the field. My favorite go-to radio, the Elecraft KX3 came along as well as the new-to-me KX2. I recently put together an Emtech ZM-2 z-match kit so, now that I can provide a good match for the QRP-Labs QMX, I brought that radio along as well. For antennas, I brought the usual assortment of end-fed wires, but also my Wolf River Coils Silver Bullet Take-It-Along which performed great during our last camping trip a few months earlier. I had considered bringing my Buddipole Deluxe, but after visiting the park to scout out our campsite on our way back from our last camping trip I didn’t think I’d have room for it.
We arrived at our campsite around 4pm or so and after unloading the vehicle and setting things up, I managed to get a single QSO in the logbook before the UTC day changed. I was torn whether to upload it as a POTA contact or not since it would appear as a failed activation, but decided that is not fair to the other station and so went ahead and uploaded it along with all the others that I ended up making in spurts over the weekend.
I started my radio fun with the Elecraft KX2, Wolf River Coils Silver Bullet, and a sheet of faraday cloth as a ground plane for the antenna. I’ve seen some YouTubers using the “magic carpet” with good results, but had not tried it out myself until a friend suggested that I do. I don’t think I’ll use counterpoise wires on this antenna system anymore. Yes, the faraday cloth worked that well!
I had every intention of cycling through my radios over the course of the weekend–a different radio for each day of our stay. However, I liked the KX2 so much that I ended up sticking with it for the entire time we were at the campsite. I was hoping that I’d get to run the QMX and my newly built ZM-2 matchbox at least for a little while to get some airtime with it and learn how to finesse the ZM-2 for optimal antenna matching. I really don’t have a lot of experience with the QMX even though I’ve had it for over a year. I’ll just have to fix that issue in another outing.
As our camping trips are camping first, POTA second, I only operated a few times for about an hour or so at a time. I ended up working almost completely on 40 meters. I made a handful of contacts on 20 meters on one of the days we were at the park. 40 meters is such a fun and active band all day long and is one that I don’t get to work from my house, so being able to operate on it when I get a chance is always welcomed.
The Elecraft KX2 was being powered by a 3Ah Bioenno Lithium Iron Phosphate battery pack which, at full charge, was allowing the KX2 to put out 12 Watts of power. As the battery capacity dropped, the max Watts output fell to 10 Watts. I had another LiFePO4 battery in my KX3 kit that was fully charged, but didn’t figure the extra 2 Watts that it could have given me was worth putting it into service.
One activity that my wife and I have really enjoyed this year has been kayaking. Pocahontas State Park provides access to Swift Creek Lake which is roughly 2.5 miles in length and is a little over 100 yards or so wide at its widest sections.. It was a great area to do some paddling and we spent around 5 hours on the water in our kayaks enjoying it all.
73,
Matthew, K2MAS
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