{"id":12069,"date":"2018-11-21T12:29:09","date_gmt":"2018-11-21T17:29:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gars.org\/gars\/?p=12069"},"modified":"2018-11-21T12:41:21","modified_gmt":"2018-11-21T17:41:21","slug":"beginners-corner-november-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gars.org\/gars\/beginners-corner-november-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"Beginner\u2019s Corner November 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

Parks on the Air, Part II<\/strong><\/h2>\n

   Last time we discussed the Parks on the Air (POTA) Program. Since I wrote that column, several items of note crossed my mind.<\/span><\/p>\n

   First, when you activate a site, any site with any of the \u201cOn the Air\u201d programs, keep a logbook. You will be entering the log information into thee POTA or other site in order to get credit for it. Record the call signs of the stations contacted, the time and frequency and the quality of the signal.  It is customary to say, \u201cYou are five-nine.\u201d  That means that the signal strength of the station you talked to was a \u201cfive\u201d meaning a strong signal. (Signal strength is from 1 to 5 with five being the strongest.) The \u201cnine\u201d rates the intelligibility of the signal was perfect, 100% copy.  (1 means barely readable. The scale goes up to 9, which means the signal received was perfectly readable.)  When giving a reception report, be perfectly honest. If the signal is weak and barely readable, a \u201ctwo-three\u201d might be in order. When dealing with a VHF or UHF signal that is some distance away, that may be an honest report.<\/span><\/p>\n

   Here is an example of a 20-meter park activation: https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=qQsWxv6pCi0<\/a>. The video shows just how easy it is to activate a park.<\/span> You must have a minimum of 10 contacts (QSOs) to activate a park.<\/span><\/p>\n

Always get permission to activate any site.<\/span><\/p>\n

   The Chattahoochee River shows as one designation, K-0662. There are several sites with this designation. GARS activated the site at Johns Creek.  It was a lot of fun. If you go there, there is now a $5.00 entrance fee. Check with the ranger before activation. They have several rules, and each Chattahoochee National Recreation Area site may have different ones.<\/span><\/p>\n

   The author has visited Brasstown Bald recently. One of the rangers said that numerous hams have activated the National Park.  Some have had external antennas. Some have just used a handheld with a whip antenna. It was foggy the day we went, but it is an easy site to activate. You do not need permission in advance, but you might check the weather report before you go. Brasstown Bald is a site just waiting to be activated. There is plenty room to set up antennas. If you ask, you can get permission to drive to the summit. You can set up a nice external antenna there if you wish.<\/span><\/p>\n

   With the sun being at solar minimum, having a general or extra class license can get you on the air. 20 meters has not been so good lately. The 6-meter band is called the \u201cmagic band\u201d because two phenomena called \u201csporadic e\u201d and \u201ctropospheric scatter\u201d will allow this band (as well as 10 and 2 meters) signals to go much farther than they normally would. Prediction of these two events is not easy to do. Look up these phenomena on the internet or ask at your club if there is anyone familiar with these. There are clubs that specialize in chasing DX (distant stations) on the VHF and UHF, as well as the 6 and <\/span><\/p>\n

10-meter bands.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Parks on the Air lists over 150 sites just in Georgia alone.  One trying to activate all the sites in Georgia will have a lot of travel and a lot of activating to do. <\/span><\/p>\n

Great hunting! <\/span><\/p>\n

David,   KJ4CMY<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Parks on the Air, Part II    Last time we discussed the Parks on the Air (POTA) Program. Since I wrote that column, several items of note crossed my mind.    First, when you activate a site, any site with any of the \u201cOn the Air\u201d programs, keep a logbook. You will be entering the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[17,18],"class_list":["post-12069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-beginners-corner","tag-beginners-corner","tag-newbie"],"yoast_head":"\nBeginner\u2019s Corner November 2018 - Gwinnett Amateur Radio Society<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gars.org\/gars\/beginners-corner-november-2018\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Beginner\u2019s Corner November 2018 - Gwinnett Amateur Radio Society\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Parks on the Air, Part II    Last time we discussed the Parks on the Air (POTA) Program. 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