My first POTA activation, at Tugaloo State Park
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- QSOs
- 55
- Grid squares
- 46
- Furthest, JH87
- 7,273 mi
- Bands
- 6
This was my first Parks on the Air activation: a weekend of camping at Tugaloo State Park on Lake Hartwell, in the northeast corner of Georgia, with the radio set up on the campsite picnic table and a solar panel keeping the battery topped up.
I worked 55 stations over two evenings, all FT8. Most of the contacts came on 30 meters, with a run on 15 meters that reached Europe. The two longest contacts were a station in Japan on 12 meters and one in Angola on 15 meters, both more than 6,700 miles away.
It was enough to make the activation count with room to spare. POTA needs 10 QSOs from the park in one UTC day, and both days cleared that.
POTA credited 55 QSOs (Sep 17: 31, Sep 18: 24).




Who I worked
- 40m (4)
- 30m (30)
- 20m (3)
- 17m (1)
- 15m (15)
- 12m (2)
Each line runs from the activation to the center of the other station's grid square, so it shows the direction and distance, not an exact location. One contact has no grid square in the log, so it isn't shown.
Log summary
| Band | FT8 | First | Last |
|---|---|---|---|
| 40m | 4 | Sep 17 03:05 | Sep 17 03:13 |
| 30m | 30 | Sep 17 02:16 | Sep 18 02:17 |
| 20m | 3 | Sep 17 01:20 | Sep 17 01:56 |
| 17m | 1 | Sep 17 18:12 | Sep 17 18:12 |
| 15m | 15 | Sep 17 18:30 | Sep 17 20:54 |
| 12m | 2 | Sep 17 21:17 | Sep 17 21:22 |
Times are UTC. Callsigns are left out on purpose; the full log is on POTA, SOTA, QRZ, and LoTW.