{"id":21416,"date":"2016-09-19T07:18:19","date_gmt":"2016-09-19T11:18:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=21416"},"modified":"2016-09-19T07:18:19","modified_gmt":"2016-09-19T11:18:19","slug":"npota-photos-from-weekend-two-fer-activation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/09\/npota-photos-from-weekend-two-fer-activation\/","title":{"rendered":"NPOTA: Photos from weekend “two-fer” activation"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"npota-tr10-pk01-qrp-encampmentview\"

As seen from the Overmountain Victory Trail: The Revolutionary War encampment at the Museum of North Carolina Minerals.<\/p><\/div>\n

As I mentioned in a previous post<\/a>, what I love about the National Parks On The Air<\/a> program is that it combines two of my favorite things: national parks and ham radio. My family visits national parks regularly, so it’s easy\u00a0for me to pack a small radio, do a quick NPOTA activation all while incorporating non-radio activities that the family loves.<\/p>\n

\"npota-tr10-pk01-qrp-2\"<\/p>\n

On Saturday, I activated both the Blue Ridge Parkway (PK01)<\/a> and Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail (TR10)<\/a>–a “two-fer” activation.<\/p>\n

Normally, I would set up my station somewhere close to the\u00a0Museum of North Carolina Minerals<\/a> which is situated at the junction of these two National Park entities.\u00a0Saturday, however, was a special event at the museum: a Revolutionary War Encampment.<\/p>\n

Blue Ridge Natural Heritage<\/a> describes the annual event:<\/p>\n

The Museum is located at Gillespie Gap, an important stop for Revolutionary War fighters on their way to the Battle of Kings Mountain. Each September the Museum hosts an encampment of re-enactors who assume the role of the Overmountain Men, primarily Scots-Irish settlers from Eastern Tennessee and Western North Carolina who came “over the mountains” and ultimately defeated the left wing of Cornwallis’ army at Kings Mountain, South Carolina. Many historians mark this victory as the turning point in the Southern Campaign of the Revolutionary War.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"npota-tr10-pk01-qrp-encampment2\" \"npota-tr10-pk01-qrp-encampment\"<\/p>\n

My family loves living history events.<\/p>\n

Radio time!<\/h2>\n

The Park Ranger kindly gave me permission to do the NPOTA activation, but not at the museum itself. \u00a0She was\u00a0trying to keep the site set in the Revolutionary War period–a ham radio operator using a portable transceiver doesn’t exactly fit that description. Instead, around 15:30 UTC, I hiked up the Overmountain Victory Trail in search of an operation site near the Blue Ridge Parkway\u00a0road.<\/p>\n

\"npota-tr10-pk01-qrp-overmountain-trail-head\"<\/p>\n

The trailhead was a little rough and overgrown. I\u00a0didn’t have to\u00a0trail-blaze, but I did have to wade through a lot of weeds with my gear and my canine companion, Hazel, on leash. It’s times like this I truly appreciate such a compact, lightweight, and packable station<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"npota-tr10-pk01-qrp-trail-messy\"

Can you find the trail in this photo?<\/p><\/div>\n

Once we entered the woods, though, the trail improved. I found a fantastic spot to operate between the museum and the parkway.<\/p>\n

\"npota-tr10-pk01-qrp-7\"<\/p>\n

Hazel the dog is a welcome companion does a wonderful job keeping my site free of black bears. She’s patient, too. I typically tie her leash to a small stake or tree next to me and she promptly takes a nap. Here she is admiring my new REI Camping Stool:<\/p>\n

\"npota-tr10-pk01-qrp-rei-trail-stool\"<\/p>\n

\"npota-tr10-pk01-qrp-antenna\"

You can see part of the EFT Trail-Friendly antenna hanging in this photo.<\/p><\/div>\n

Setup was quick. I managed to raise the EFT Trail-Friendly antenna in record time.\u00a0I connected the antenna to the Elecraft KX2<\/a> and was on the air, calling CQ on 20 meters in a matter of minutes.\u00a0\"npota-tr10-pk01-qrp-elecraft-kx2-clipboard\"In the space of 15-20 minutes, I only managed to work a few stations on the 20 meter band even though I had been spotted several times on the DX Cluster.\"npota-tr10-pk01-qrp-elecraft-kx2-logs\"<\/p>\n

I moved to the 40 meter band and logged contacts quickly, however.<\/p>\n

\"npota-tr10-pk01-qrp-hazel-and-station\"

My full station and my ferocious guard dog, Hazel.<\/p><\/div>\n

Hazel, as I mentioned, is a great companion that’s sweet to everyone she meets. She’s happy to hang with me even if I’m just sitting there operating radio for an hour. She’s quiet and doesn’t bark unless she notices a true disturbance.<\/p>\n

Still, Hazel does get bored. After I had logged about 20 stations, I heard her gnawing on something. I turned around and discovered that she found\u00a0the reel of fishing line I use to hang my antennas.<\/p>\n

\"npota-tr10-pk01-qrp-4\"<\/p>\n

\"npota-tr10-pk01-qrp-fishing-line-hazel\"

Note to self: next time pack Hazel a bone.<\/p><\/div>\n

She didn’t even look apologetic or guilty! Oh well…fishing line is pretty cheap to replace and I’m sure she assumed\u00a0it was a chew toy I had placed there for her.<\/p>\n

All in all, it was a very successful activation. In less than one hour, I put 22 stations in the log. The weather was perfect and the whole family had a blast.<\/p>\n

\"npota-tr10-pk01-qrp-1\"

A photo\u00a0I took prior to watching\u00a0a reenactment of the Battle of King’s Mountain.<\/p><\/div>\n

What a wonderful day to play radio, take in our national parks and re-live some of our history!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As I mentioned in a previous post, what I love about the National Parks On The Air program is that it combines two of my favorite things: national parks and ham radio. My family visits national parks regularly, so it’s easy\u00a0for me to pack a small radio, do a quick NPOTA activation all while incorporating […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[545,3,3196],"tags":[5436,5098,2034,5083,5084,5089,5088,5478,1303],"class_list":["post-21416","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ham-radio","category-news","category-portable-radio","tag-blue-ridge-parkway","tag-eft-trail-friendly-antenna","tag-elecraft","tag-elecraft-kx2","tag-kx2","tag-national-parks-on-the-air","tag-npota","tag-overmountain-victory-trail","tag-qrp"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-5zq","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":21360,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/09\/national-parks-on-the-air-activating-two-sites-simultaneously-today\/","url_meta":{"origin":21416,"position":0},"title":"National Parks On The Air: Activating two sites simultaneously today","author":"Thomas","date":"September 17, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Today, I plan to\u00a0activate both the Blue Ridge Parkway (PK01) and Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail (TR10) two-fer for the National Parks on the Air (NPOTA). I should go on the air sometime\u00a0between 16:00-17:00 UTC (12:00-13:00 EDT), weather permitting. I'll plan to start on the 20 meter band (14286 kHz)\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ham Radio"","block_context":{"text":"Ham Radio","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/ham-radio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"I'll hike to the point where the Overmountain Victory Trail meets the Blue Ridge Parkway.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/overMountainTrail.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/overMountainTrail.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/overMountainTrail.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/overMountainTrail.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":21271,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/09\/a-quick-recap-of-yesterdays-carl-sandburg-home-npota-activation\/","url_meta":{"origin":21416,"position":1},"title":"A quick recap of yesterday’s Carl Sandburg Home NPOTA activation","author":"Thomas","date":"September 9, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday, I fit in yet another activation of the Carl Sandburg Home (NS01) for the ARRL National Parks on the Air. You might recall, I activated the same site last Sunday. Second time's a charm! Since I had already scoped out the site and the trail where I operated last\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ham Radio"","block_context":{"text":"Ham Radio","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/ham-radio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"img_20160908_172739245_hdr","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IMG_20160908_172739245_HDR-1024x576.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IMG_20160908_172739245_HDR-1024x576.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IMG_20160908_172739245_HDR-1024x576.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":21260,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/09\/npota-activating-the-carl-sandburg-home-ns07-today\/","url_meta":{"origin":21416,"position":2},"title":"NPOTA: Activating the Carl Sandburg Home (NS07) today","author":"Thomas","date":"September 8, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"This afternoon (September 8), I should have a chance to activate the Carl Sandburg Home again for the ARRL National Parks on the Air program. You might recall, I activated the site Sunday as well. I'll plan to use the Elecraft KX2 and EFT TRail-Friendly antenna combo once again. I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ham Radio"","block_context":{"text":"Ham Radio","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/ham-radio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Elecraft Kx2 ON Clipboard","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Elecraft-Kx2-ON-Clipboard.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Elecraft-Kx2-ON-Clipboard.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Elecraft-Kx2-ON-Clipboard.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Elecraft-Kx2-ON-Clipboard.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":21537,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/09\/npota-activations-this-morning\/","url_meta":{"origin":21416,"position":3},"title":"NPOTA Activations this morning!","author":"Thomas","date":"September 25, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"If you're around the radio this morning (Sunday, Sep 25), and you'd like to make some NPOTA contacts, note that I plan activate: Great Smoky Mountains\u00a0(NP26) &\u00a0Appalachian National Scenic Trail\u00a0(TR01) starting around 13:30 UTC (9:30 EDT), Great Smoky Mountains\u00a0(NP26) &\u00a0Blue Ridge Parkway\u00a0(PK01) starting around 15:00 UTC (11:00 EDT) and hopefully\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ham Radio"","block_context":{"text":"Ham Radio","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/ham-radio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"elecraft-kx2-appalachaintrail-npota-tr01","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Elecraft-KX2-AppalachainTrail-NPOTA-TR01.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":21563,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/09\/recap-of-great-smoky-mountains-npota-activations\/","url_meta":{"origin":21416,"position":4},"title":"Recap of Great Smoky Mountains NPOTA activations","author":"Thomas","date":"September 29, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week, I attended the W4DXCC convention in Sevierville, Tennessee. The road trip afforded me several opportunities to make NPOTA activations through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I took my field kit which included the Elecraft KX2, QRP Ranger battery pack (not pictured), and EFT Trail-Friendly antenna. Thursday, September\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ham Radio"","block_context":{"text":"Ham Radio","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/ham-radio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"gsmnp-map","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/GSMNP-Map.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/GSMNP-Map.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/GSMNP-Map.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/GSMNP-Map.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":21191,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/09\/labor-day-fun-a-hamfest-an-npota-activation-and-a-new-elecraft-kx2-qrp-kit\/","url_meta":{"origin":21416,"position":5},"title":"Labor Day Fun: A hamfest, an NPOTA activation–and a new Elecraft KX2 QRP kit","author":"Thomas","date":"September 5, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I've enjoyed\u00a0an especially \"radio-active\" Labor Day weekend. \u00a0Here's hoping you did, too. On Saturday I headed out the door\u00a0at\u00a04:15 AM to meet\u00a0my buddy Vlado (N3CZ), the inimitable radio doctor; we\u00a0aimed our headlights through the morning mist to the Shelby Hamfest. Though it took quite a bit more coffee to keep\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ham Radio"","block_context":{"text":"Ham Radio","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/ham-radio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"NS07-Carl-Sandburg-Home","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/NS07-Carl-Sandburg-Home.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/NS07-Carl-Sandburg-Home.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/NS07-Carl-Sandburg-Home.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/NS07-Carl-Sandburg-Home.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21416","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21416"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21416\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}