I didn’t intend to get on the air, I was just walking around with my radio kit in my backpack for exercise. But when I got into park K-7889 I couldn’t resist the urge to try out my new Sparkplug Gear EFHW transformer.
I raised the 20M efhw on the Spiderbeam mast and setup the radio on a fallen log. I responded to K5SJC’s CQ POTA with a p2p and worked him from park K-7889.
The temperature was on the chilly side and I was short on time so a full activation attempt will have to wait for another day.
Lessons learned:
Setting up a POTA station on a log is not ideal. Better to find one of the many available picnic tables and be a bit more comfortable.
Seems my phone was interfering with the Pico keyer. I could find no other explanation for why it stopped keying the radio. Moving the phone out from under it, solved the problem.
Take the time to trim your EFHW before deployment in a challenging spot. Using a tuner brought the SWR down, but it would be better to do without the tuner altogether.
Conclusion:
While a single QSO seems hardly notable, given that I planned to make zero QSOs and just go for a strenuous walk, I’d say making one 5W CW QSO from California to Texas exceeded expectations!
