Today, I activated not one, but two Parks on the Air locations here on Long Island: Belmont Lake State Park (US-2013) and Bethpage State Park (US-2014).
I ran 20 watts from my Xiegu G90 into a vertical from Wolf River Coils, operating on 20 meters using both SSB and FT8. This was my first POTA activation — and I even got a bonus park in the same day!
The bands were decent, and I made a mix of casual QSOs and park-to-park contacts. After wrapping up at the first park, I packed up and drove to the next location, where I was able to squeeze in even more before calling it a day.
Activation Summary
| Park | SSB | FT8 | Total QSOs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Belmont Lake State Park (K-2013) | 6 | 16 | 22 |
| Bethpage State Park (K-2014) | 1 | 26 | 27 |
Park-to-Park Highlights:
- KE2NJ – Palisades Interstate State Park (US-8319)
- N0JMP – Mistletoe State Park (US-2191)
- KI5YYO – Kil-So-Quah State Recreation Area (US-5683)
- KJ5GNR – Palmetto Island State Park (US-2372)
- N5QMF – Lake Fausse Pointe State Park (US-2370)
- KM1GRY – Wolf Creek National Fish Hatchery (US-10099)
- 8P6PE – Golden Square Freedom Park (BB-0019)
It felt amazing to finally be on the activator side of things. This was the perfect way to kick off my summer goal of activating all 40 parks in my county — and I couldn’t be happier with how the first day went.
73, Daniel // W2DIY