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Kaw River State Park

Fri, 25 Nov 2022 23:44:00 +0000

25 November 2022

A Quick Outing

I had a few things to take care of before heading back home to Illinois, but also had some time this morning to sneak in a quick park activation. On the map this seemed a lot further away but once I got to the location I realized it was a spot that I had passed hundreds of times growing up and never knew it was there. This is one of the things I love about portable ops, it really helps me find cool places that I wouldn’t of otherwise gone. Some of them right under my nose for years.

Perry State Park

Thu, 24 Nov 2022 20:44:00 +0000

24 November 2022

POTA K-2347

WWFF KFF-2347

Park

Perry State Park or just Perry Lake as I’ve always known it, is between Topeka and Lawrence. It gets pretty busy in the summer time with its beaches, but is very open in the winter time. Like all state parks in Kansas (except Kaw River State Park) there is a small fee for parking.

Clinton State Park Kansas

Wed, 23 Nov 2022 20:44:00 +0000

23 November 2022

POTA K-2332

WWFF KFF-2332

A Small Hike

I started this one off with a small hike because I wanted to activate on top of Sanders Hill Mound that overlooks the lake.

When I got to the top I found a very nice park bench that would be perfect for setting up at. It was unfortunately for me occupied by a couple having a very deep conversation. Not one to break up a lovers rendezvous I decided to continue down the trail to see if I could find another prime spot.

Reifsnider State Forest

Mon, 21 Nov 2022 18:06:00 +0000

21 November 2022

K-4840 Reifsnider State Forest

New Key

This was a short trip to Kansas to visit my mom for Thanksgiving, but I still stopped to hit a park on the way. Just before I left I also got in the new “SP4 POTA/SOTA CW Morse Magnetic Iambic Double Paddle - Designed By N0SA” and sold by CWMorse.us.

Jordan Lake

Wed, 16 Nov 2022 06:44:00 +0000

16 November 2022

POTA K-3844

WWFF K-3844

North Carolina

Not my first activation in North Carolina and probably not the last. Jordan Lake is an easy drive from the Raleigh area, and a nice chance to get outside on this trip. My wife tagged along with her cousin and one of her kids. I guess everyone was pretty tired because they had planned on going on a hike but all ended up falling asleep on the beach. The cousin came over and checked out what I was doing, and I felt bad because it’s still pretty hard for me to dit and dah while holding on a conversation. In the end I think everyone had a good time and we got out of there before the sun went down.

Roan Mountain

Sat, 12 Nov 2022 18:03:00 +0000

12 November 2022

Roan High Knob W4T/SU-005

Grassy Ridge Bald W4C/EM-001

K-2972 Roan Mountain State Park

K-4525 Cherokee National Forest

K-4510 Pisgah National Forest

K-6936 Pisgah State Game Land

K-4556 Appalachian Trail National Scenic Trail

So Many References

First things first, you can activate a lot of references in a very small space. I did not do that. The Roan Mountain area contains several peaks and parks. Some overlap and some don’t. The ridge itself splits Tennessee and North Carolina. If you hike to Roan High Knob you’ll probably start at Carvers Gap and follow the Appalachian Trail up to the peak. The trail switches back between TN and NC several times.

Horseshoe Lake

Mon, 07 Nov 2022 23:13:00 +0000

7 November 2022

K-0998 Horseshoe Lake State Park

New Radio New Park

Wow wow wow! Today really lined up to be a fun day in the park. I put in my order for a KX2 while deployed on the 4th of July and it finally came in today four months later. I pulled it out of the box and immediately hooked up the battery to the charger. I wasn’t sure if I was going to have time to hit a park before sunset, but the battery only took a couple of hours to charge the first time. That gave me just enough time to skim the manual and get some basic settings plugged in.

KX2 Shipping Times

Mon, 07 Nov 2022 20:43:22 +0000

Might be a bit of a delay

I ordered my KX2 on 4 July 2022 and received it on 7 November 2022. That’s a hair over 4 months or 18 weeks. Elecraft has a Shipping Status Page which gives you an estimate. As I’m writing this it says 12-16 weeks. I did find mine as the fully loaded shack in the box version with the AX1 and the the smaller CS40 case as well.