K-1588 Patapsco Valley State Park

I only had a few hours to get out on Memorial Day. On my way back from BWI airport, I decided to stop over at the Hollofield Area of Patapsco Valley State Park. This was both a hiking and POTA excursion, so I started off on the trail. The park was busy given the holiday, but once I got away from the camping and picnicking areas, it got quiet quickly.

On the map (I use OsmAnd on the iPhone) I noticed a Chestnut Hill, so I figured that might be a useful area to setup at. When I arrived, there was a bench right there, about 50 meters from the radio tower, so I was happy.

That is, until I broke my telescopic whip for my Wolf River Coils Take It Along (TIA) antenna. While I was extending it, one of the segments pulled out the copper mating clip. The clip went flying somewhere, and was not to be found. I was able to get the antenna setup, but with a shorter whip.

The WRC TIA was the wrong antenna for this activation. There were trees perfect for throwing a wire up. I think my go-to in the future will be the ZM-2 ATU with some random wire and a throw line.

I got the rest of the gear setup and attempted to power on the TX-500. No joy. For a brief moment, I thought I had killed the radio somehow, but then I noticed the Powerpole connector.

I had used the 30A Powerpole contacts which are designed for 12 AWG wire. The power cable for the TX-500 uses 14 AWG wire, so the crimp, while having a good electrical connection, did not have a solid physical one. I likely will redo this again with the 30A contacts (I don’t have any smaller ones) and solder in addition to the crimp.

Once I jammed the ground lead back into the connector, the radio powered up without incident. I called CQ on 17m for ten minutes or so, but no bites. I did confirm I was being received via RBN.

I called on 146.52 on the HT, just to see if anyone might have been in the park and K3TAZ responded quickly from Finksburg, Maryland in Carroll County. Fred was running an 11 element yagi and was getting me off the side of his beam. Amazing how well it worked from a densely wooded area from a 5 watt HT. I guess the Signal Stick is a decent antenna! (Granted, K3TAZ was doing all the work.)

I then switched over to 40m and made contact with Dan WD4DAN in Georgia and N1XV, Julia, in New Jersey. I packed it up shortly after.

So, it didn’t count for points, but it was still worth it.