Hamlin Marsh again, and the difference is the second park and the round number. The marsh is US-9066. It also sits in the Erie Canal Corridor, US-6532, the historical strip that follows the canal across central New York. The canal is in its 200th year. He watched the club activate the day before and stayed off the radio on purpose. Ten contacts here finishes a kilo on the corridor. This is also the first park he ever activated. He had hunted, asked for ride-alongs, and been told to just go. He went.
The Truck, Halfway to Winter
The mobile station is in a hybrid state. The ATAS is on the side door, same as usual. Next week it moves to the passenger-side hood, as soon as the mount arrives on Tuesday. Starlink is in the truck as backup internet. An EcoFlow is the power. The 891 is on the floor in the center. The other day it was on the seat, because someone was riding with him. It is going under the back seat, with the 2730A for UHF and VHF, so winter is not an excuse to stay home. The laptop is on its mount. He still has to power it. A DC-to-DC converter is coming, so the truck charges the battery while it runs. He does not trust solar alone in central New York.
While the laptop boots, the radio is already hearing FT8, because that is the last mode he used. Today is mostly digital. He will be in and out. He looks up Hamlin Marsh because he cannot remember the number. Last activation: November of last year. The designator is US-9066, Hamlin Marsh Wildlife Management Area. It is up the road from the house. He has been chasing other parks. The first activation was October 6 of last year. Almost a year. He was within a few hundred of this kilo at the start of summer, and then life. No videos all summer. He was working. The hobby is not cheap, and it is still the part he likes.
He spots himself on the corridor, not the marsh. The bicentennial week has a lot of stations in that park, and hunters are looking for US-6532. The mode on the spot is FT8. A couple of numbers he reads off the phone, before he has the screen square, do not match the park he already named, so the spot he settles on is the corridor.
Ten Contacts, Then the Clock
WSJT-X is up. A little Grid Tracker, because he wants the roster. His log is empty. He needs 10. He has not turned monitoring on. He can hear the band and cannot see it. Then he can. He parks on a clear slice, checks that he likes an odd frequency, waits another cycle, and enables transmit. The first answer is a partial. The clock shows it went out at second 46, not a full cycle. He says it usually takes two or three CQs before anyone comes back. The roster is blank until he switches back to the live band and modes. Someone is already in. That station is number one of the ten. He pauses the camera. There is no phone mount. This stop was not the plan. He was supposed to meet friends at a different park. He woke up and drove to the marsh instead.
Contact number two is where he admits the first one dragged. He did not sync the clock. The app does it at boot, and the phone hotspot was off. Starlink was not connected. No internet, no time. The laptop does not hold time. Every activation he resets it. Once that is fixed, the contacts move. Five is halfway. Nine is the last of the old mode. He switches to FT4, still 20 meters, and calls for the thousandth.
Two calls. Three. He thinks he might sit at 999. Arizona is on the screen, a POTA station. Belgium. Poland. He does not think he has waited this long for an answer, and he blames the camera. Then one decodes, and another is behind it. Number 1,000 is N4VUG. He stops chasing a rate and hunts. KF0TTB is a park-to-park. It completes. That is 1,001. A couple of the morning contacts were park-to-park too. He recognizes the calls when they show up again. An Arizona park he already worked is not the one on the screen. He hunts the one that comes back, and that contact lands. The logger drops one. The laptop does this when too much is open. He imports the WSJT-X log, filters the duplicates, and uploads.
The view out the windshield is the sun over the trees. Not hot, not cold. He says not to take a year the way he did. Six or seven months was available. A month, if he had done almost nothing else.
What the Corridor Actually Is
Hamlin Marsh is a trail through a marsh. The kilo is the corridor. He describes it as Buffalo to Albany, with Syracuse about in the middle, about 175 miles to the canal park in each direction, about 350 across. At Albany it turns. Older canal branches run down to a couple of lakes, so the park is not only east-west. A city park or a county park that would not be POTA on its own becomes POTA if it is public and inside the corridor. In New York, he says, a spot is easy to find.
The award is not on the profile yet. Then it is. Erie Canal Corridor National Heritage Area, KE2DFQ, 1,000, activator. He goes home for chores, and maybe to mount the radios under the back seat.
Transcript
He is at Hamlin Marsh, and he knows people have seen an activation here. This time it is a twofer. The marsh, and the Erie Canal Corridor, which runs through a lot of central and upstate New York. It is the historic corridor along the canal, and the canal is in its 200th year. He was with the club yesterday, watching them activate, and he stayed off the air on purpose. Today matters more. Hamlin Marsh is the first park he ever activated. He hunted for a long time, asked to ride along, and got told to just go. He is 10 contacts from a kilo on the corridor.
The truck is halfway to a winter setup. The ATAS is on the side door. Next week it goes on the passenger-side hood, when the mount arrives Tuesday. Starlink is the internet backup. An EcoFlow is the power. The 891 is on the floor. It was on the seat when he had a passenger. It will go under the back seat with the 2730A. The laptop is on the mount and still needs power. A DC-to-DC converter is coming so the running truck charges the battery. He does not trust solar alone in central New York.
The laptop boots. The radio is hearing FT8 because that is what he left it on. Today is mostly digital. He names US-6532, the corridor, and has to look up the marsh. Last time here was November of last year. US-9066, Hamlin Marsh Wildlife Management Area. It is up the road. He has been activating other parks. The first time was October 6 of last year. Almost a year. He was a few hundred contacts from this award at the start of summer. Then work. No videos all summer. He spots the corridor rather than the marsh, FT8, because of the bicentennial. Hunters are looking for that park. A couple of digits he reads before the phone is square do not match. The spot he sends is the corridor.
WSJT-X, a little Grid Tracker for the roster, and the log. He needs 10. Monitoring is off. He turns it on, finds a clear spot, likes an odd frequency, checks another cycle, and transmits. The first answer is a partial, out at second 46 instead of a full cycle. He says two or three CQs is normal before anyone answers. The roster is blank until he goes back to the live band. Someone has already called. That is number one of the ten. He pauses. No phone mount. He was supposed to meet friends at another park and changed his mind this morning.
Number two is where he confesses. He did not sync the clock. The app syncs at boot, the hotspot was off, Starlink was not connected, and the laptop keeps bad time. He resets it every activation. After that, five is halfway and nine is close. He switches to FT4, still 20 meters, and calls for the thousandth. Two calls, three, and he thinks he might stop at 999. Arizona, Belgium, and Poland are on the screen. He has not waited this long for an answer. Then one completes, and another is behind it. N4VUG is 1,000.
He hunts. KF0TTB is park to park and becomes 1,001. A couple of the morning contacts were park-to-park. An Arizona station he already worked is not the one he is looking at. He hunts the one that comes back. The logger misses one. He imports the WSJT-X log, filters duplicates, and uploads. The laptop overloads. Outside, the sun is over the trees. Not too hot, not too cold. He says not to take a year. Six or seven months, or a month if you give it the time. He could have.
The marsh is a trail through a marsh. The award is the corridor, Buffalo to Albany, Syracuse about in the middle. He lands on about 175 miles each way, about 350 across. At Albany it turns. Canal branches run to a couple of lakes, north and south as well as across the state. Ordinary city and county parks inside it become POTA because they are public. The profile catches up. Erie Canal Corridor National Heritage Area, KE2DFQ, 1,000, activator. He goes home to do chores and maybe mount the radios.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why this park, this day?
The day before, he watched his club activate and did not get on the air. Hamlin Marsh is the first park he ever activated. People had told him to stop waiting and just go. He woke up planning a different park with friends, had no phone mount, and drove to the marsh anyway. He was 10 contacts short of a kilo on the Erie Canal Corridor, and the canal was in its 200th year. He spotted US-6532, FT8, instead of US-9066, so hunters looking for the bicentennial would see him.
What was the station?
ATAS on the side door, 891 on the floor, EcoFlow, a laptop on a mount, Starlink in the truck and not connected at the start. The 2730A is waiting to live under the back seat with the 891. Next week the ATAS moves to the passenger-side hood if the mount shows up Tuesday. Solar is not enough in central New York, so a DC-to-DC converter is on the way to charge from the truck. He ran WSJT-X, some Grid Tracker, and a logger. The laptop loses time. Every activation he has to set the clock. This time there was no internet at boot, so the first contact took extra cycles until he noticed.
Who was number 1,000?
N4VUG, after he had switched to FT4 on 20 meters and sat through several unanswered calls. He was at nine of the ten and thought he might stick at 999. Arizona, Belgium, and Poland were on the screen while he waited. He did not pick the station in advance. A partial earlier in the morning had ended at second 46 instead of a full cycle. KF0TTB was the park-to-park he hunted right after, and that one completed as 1,001. Another contact did not land in the logger. He imports the WSJT-X log, drops the duplicates, and uploads. The laptop overloads when too much is open.
How long did the kilo take him?
Almost a year from the first activation at this marsh, October 6 the year before. He was a few hundred contacts away at the start of summer and then did not play. No videos all summer. He says six or seven months was realistic, or a month if he had treated it as the only thing he did. He tells people not to copy the year. From Syracuse he calls the corridor about 175 miles to Buffalo and 175 to Albany. It also runs with the old canal branches, north and south, which is why ordinary public parks inside it become POTA.