Natchez Trace Parkway NPOTA Activation

I was able to snag another activation while on a trip to Nashville with my wife. The Natchez Trace Parkway PK04 is over 300 miles long. The parkway's Northern end is in Tennessee near Nashville. As it was a stop on the way home, I planned for about an hour of operating to get ten contacts.

As time was a premium, I used a simple setup off the back of the truck. My rig was the Icom 7100 and battery in a tool box. I have added the Icom AH-4 Tuner to my box. I ran a 36 foot wire from the tuner to a 30 foot pole. I had two 25 foot wires as a counterpoise.

I operated on 20 meters. I worked as much DX as stateside including Canada, Austria, Slovenia, Mexico and the UK. I did not get spotted and that was just as well with the short time. I ended up with five SSB contacts and six CW contacts. It took an hour and a half.



We traveled about 30 miles on the parkway and it is a refreshing change from the interstate. We saw some wild turkeys along the way. Our stop was at the Garrison trail which can be used for horses. NPOTA can be catch as you can. This is my fourth activation.