I drove down to San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge on October 8, 2026 to activate my sixth POTA park.
I made 73 QSOs on all bands from 20M through 10M. That was the most QSOs for any of my previous activations. It was pure luck to have stopped at such a significant number. All contacts were made using FT8.
My most notable contacts were with 3D2USU (Fiji) and FW1P (Wallis and Fortuna Islands), both in the Pacific.
I used my Yaesu FT-991A HF transceiver with an end fed longwire. Power output was typically about 40 watts.
I always try to learn a thing or two with each activation. Before leaving this morning I reset my laptop’s clock with an Internet server. Because of this, when I arrived on site my time deltas for FT8 were within an acceptable range. I didn’t have to listen to WWV and reset the clock at a location with no wifi.
This was the first time out with new bungee cords that I first saw at last month’s Valley of the Moon Amateur Radio Club (VOMARC) picnic. The ball and bungee setup of the cords made fastening the pushup pole to a fence post quick and easy. Thanks to Don (KO6DXF) for giving me the idea.