The 2016 ARRL National Parks On The Air event was awesome. I was not close to many National Park Sites. However, Gulf Islands National Seashore SS08 was nearby. I activated SS08 eight times as N4KGL. Bob KK4DIV, Mike AI4NS and I activated SS08 as N4P at the Biodiversity Festival. We had a booth at the festival where we did a real-time propagation experiment and got lots of young people on air. Beyond that, I made a day trip to the Jimmy Carter High School in Plains, Georgia. I also stopped by the Natchez Trail on a trip to Nashville, and activated the Santa Fe Trail on a trip to Kansas.
I was able to do all three RaDAR Challenge Events April, July and November. A new portable operating activity started this year called the Second Saturday Sprint which is April through October. It gives you credit for anyone you work. That fits in with RaDAR style ops nicely. I did Field Day with the Panama City ARC as usual.
I got the Elecraft KX2. Now I use it for all my portable ops. I like the small size, light weight, up to 10 watts, internal battery, and internal tuner. That is hard to beat. I found I could attach a whip and counterpoise and operate it as a hand-help for pedestrian mobile. Even 40 meter contacts are possible with the whip.
I started learning how to use the amateur satellites for portable operating. So now I include a satellite pass on most outings. It is a different mindset for the radios. I have used several. The most recent is the Kenwood TH-D72A which is capable of full duplex. It is also very capable doing APRS with an internal GPS.
Another new discovery was the World Wide Fauna and Flora Program which has a National Program called KFF. I have done some activations already. It is going to encourage me to visit all the State Parks here in Northwest Florida. It applies to National and State Parks. This can be the replacement for National Parks On The Air.
Linda and I enjoyed Micky KE8ASK and John W8JER on their visit in during the winter. We also met up with them at the Huntsville Hamfest also along with Craig NM4T at the Monte Sano gathering. I gave a talk on NPOTA at the hamfest.
With respect to the blog and YouTube I now use the GoPro Session to document my outings. I learned that I can't talk that well but that's me. Of course, Suzy has been my companion on most outings. She will draw a crowd and cons them for belly rubs. She definitely gets RaDAR and is leading the way between stops. I actually know she is the star of this blog and pulls in the hits.
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