I picked a local state park about 45 minutes from home that I knew would be mostly empty on a cold February weekday. The temperature was hovering around 28 degrees, but I figured that would just make it more authentic, right? Famous last words.
The Setup
My portable kit is pretty basic - a 20-watt QRP transceiver, a 29-foot end-fed half wave antenna, and a small 7Ah sealed lead acid battery. I also brought along a folding table, a camp chair, and what I thought was adequate cold weather gear. The antenna support was going to be a 20-foot telescoping fiberglass pole that I'd been wanting to test out.
Getting to the park was easy enough, and I found a nice spot near the picnic area with some trees for antenna support. That's when reality started setting in. First lesson learned: those little plastic clips that come with telescoping poles? They don't work so well when your fingers are numb from the cold. I spent about 15 minutes fumbling around trying to get the sections locked in place while wearing gloves.
The antenna went up easier than expected once I got the pole situation sorted out. I tied off one end to a picnic table and used the pole to get the other end up about 18 feet. Not perfect, but it looked reasonable. The counterpoise wires just laid on the frozen ground.
First Contact Jitters
Once everything was connected and I'd done a quick SWR check (thankfully it was under 2:1 across 20 meters), it was time to try making some contacts. I tuned around 20 meters looking for a good frequency and found a quiet spot around 14.255. Then came the moment of truth - calling CQ for the first time in the field.
"CQ Parks on the Air, CQ POTA" felt strange coming out of my mouth, but within about 30 seconds I had my first response. A station from Tennessee came back to me with a solid 5-7 signal report. I was so excited I nearly fumbled the exchange, but managed to get his info logged properly. One down, nine to go for a valid activation.
The next hour was a blur of contacts. I worked stations from all over the east coast and even got a few from the midwest. The little QRP rig was performing better than I expected, and most stations were giving me solid copy reports. I was starting to feel pretty confident about this whole POTA thing.
When Things Go Sideways
About 90 minutes in, just as I was working my 12th contact, disaster struck. A gust of wind caught the antenna pole and sent it crashing down. The antenna wire got tangled in some nearby bushes, and I could see one of the connector crimps had pulled loose.
This is where being prepared really matters, and honestly, I wasn't as ready as I thought. I had brought a small toolkit, but trying to re-crimp a PL-259 connector in near-freezing weather with numb fingers turned out to be way harder than doing it comfortably at my home workbench.
It took me about 20 minutes to get everything sorted out and the antenna back up. During that time, I learned another valuable lesson: bring backup connectors and maybe even a backup antenna. Several stations had been calling me when the antenna went down, and I felt bad about just disappearing from the frequency.
Wrapping Up
Despite the antenna mishap, I managed to log 18 contacts total before packing up. My hands were getting too cold to write legibly in my logbook, and the battery was starting to show signs of the cold affecting its capacity. The voltage had dropped from 12.8 to about 11.9 volts, and I could tell the transmitter wasn't quite as punchy as it had been earlier.
The drive home gave me plenty of time to think about what went well and what I'd do differently next time. The QRP transceiver performed great, and the end-fed antenna worked better than I expected for being so close to the ground. But I definitely need to invest in better cold weather gear and maybe bring some hand warmers.
Lessons for Next Time
First, dress warmer than you think you need to. What feels comfortable for a quick walk to the mailbox gets pretty miserable after sitting still for two hours. I'm thinking about getting one of those propane heaters that ice fishermen use.
Second, have backup plans for everything. Extra connectors, maybe a simple wire dipole as a backup antenna, and definitely more than one way to support the antenna. I'm considering getting some of those heavy-duty tent stakes to guy the pole down better.
Third, practice the setup at home first. I thought I knew my equipment pretty well, but there's something about being in the field that makes everything take longer than expected. Next time I'll time myself setting up in the backyard a few times before heading out.
Finally, invest in a better logging system. Writing in a paper logbook with cold fingers was not ideal. I'm thinking about trying one of the phone apps that can handle POTA logging, or at least getting a clipboard and some pre-printed log sheets.
All in all, it was a great experience despite the challenges. There's something really satisfying about making contacts from a park bench in the middle of nowhere with just a small radio and some wire. I'm already planning my next activation for a warmer day!
Anyone else have stories from their first POTA activation? I'd love to hear about other people's learning experiences in the comments.
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