It had been a while since I’ve done a POTA activation, so I did a spur-of-the-moment activation today. Valley Forge National Historical Park (POTA K-0761) seemed like an appropriate park to activate for the 4th of July weekend.
The weatherman was forecasting temperatures in the upper 90s today, so I headed straight for my favorite shady parking spot. Unfortunately, someone was already parked there. I headed off to a remote corner of the parking lot away from the picnics. There wasn’t any shade there, so I operated inside the truck. At least I would be out of the direct sunlight. I put my 19-ft vertical on the back of my truck and set up my KX3 in the cab.
Before I had even spotted myself, I got a response to my first CQ on 40M. After that, the QSOs came steadily. It only took about 15 minutes to get my requisite ten contacts. I divided the rest of my time between 40M, 20M, and 30M.
Even with all of the windows open, it got pretty hot inside the truck. I also noticed my KX3 was getting pretty warm, so I decided to wrap things up and head home. After an hour or so, I had 31 contacts logged, including one park-to-park QSO.
I hope all of my U.S. friends had a happy and safe 4th of July holiday weekend.
73, Craig WB3GCK
WB3GCK QRP Amateur Radio 