With just two more trips left, our camping season is quickly winding down. For our penultimate camping trip, we spent a beautiful Fall weekend in Gifford Pinchot State Park (POTA K-1356, WWFF KFF-1356) in south-central Pennsylvania.
We arrived Friday afternoon, and it didn’t take us long to get things set up. So, my next task was to get my antenna set up. I tried several times to drive my Jackite pole ground mount in, but the ground was just too hard. I ended up strapping the pole to a steel lantern post.
Leary about having my antenna wire so close to the metal pole, I took care to make sure the wire stayed at least two inches away from it. I used some extra straps and lightweight bungee cords to make sure the wire stayed in place.
This weekend was a busy one for ham radio. The SKCC WES contest, the Pennsylvania QSO Party, and a couple of others were all going on. I opted to do some casual operating in the SKCC contest.
My daughter lives about 30 minutes away from the Park, so she brought my grand-kids down for a visit. So, I spent Saturday afternoon hanging out with the kids. Along with hotdogs cooked over the campfire, the kids enjoyed making s’mores.
I still found time for the contest. I operated on 40M during daylight hours and 80M at night and early in the morning. There was enough WES activity on those bands, so I never ventured up to 20M.
The metal lantern pole didn’t seem to affect my 29-foot vertical wire at all. Running 5 watts, I was getting some strong spots on the Reverse Beacon Network on 40M. Even with a compromise antenna on 80M, I was able to work stations from Canada to Georgia and several stations in Indiana and Illinois.
I finished out the trip with an even 30 SKCC QSOs in my log. I didn’t do a formal Parks on the Air activation this weekend, but I submitted my log to both POTA and WWFF.
All in all, it was a great weekend. I enjoy camping in the Fall, with the cooler temperatures and the beautiful Fall colors. We have one last trip with the camper before it’s time to get it ready for storage over the Winter.
73, Craig WB3GCK
WB3GCK QRP Amateur Radio 
I had to re-read this once, because here in WA we have Gifford Pinchot National Forest. I thought you’d made a trip out west for a moment!
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Nope. It was only a 2.5 hour trip. 🙂
Gifford Pinchot served two terms as Governor of Pennsylvania, hence the state park bearing his name. He was also the first head of the US Forest Service. So, a national forest named for him is also fitting. (I had to Google this! 😁)
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Next summer, you go camping at the state park, I’ll go camping at the national forest, and we’ll try to have a QSO!
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Deal!
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You had me going for a minute also, Craig. Gifford Pinchot was a very interesting individual, and Ken Burns mentioned him at some length, in a couple of his documentaries on the National Parks. Sounds like an great trip, and you even had extended family along to share the campfire with. We’ve had good weather in MN, but cool weather is on the way! 73, KE0GZT, Mike EN34iw
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The same way I do my , GP antenna ….easy and usefully
73 de 9a2ki ico
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