Thanksgiving, rain, and a truck pointed at Lake Ontario. He left the driveway at 7 a.m. hoping for 12 to 15 parks. The bands were quiet, and he figured most people were with family. He finished at 10 parks, back around 4 p.m., and called the day nine hours.
The Truck Station
He stayed in the vehicle. Laptop, radio, power, and the antenna on the side of the truck. After the first park, the gear stayed in the seat, powered up, and he did not transmit while he drove. At the next lot he set the antenna and marked himself active.
The antenna is an ATAS on the back door, up high, paired with the 891. On a rainy day he pushes a button, it changes bands, and it tunes. He left it up from park 1 on. The roads were open, without low wires or limbs, except one dirt road through the woods that worried him. He had driven that park with the antenna up about a week earlier.
The first two parks were FT8 on 20 meters. At park 3 the bands looked busier, so he switched to FT4. Same idea as FT8, faster.
The laptop could not carry the stack. WSJT-X, Grid Tracker, and the logging program together were too much, so the logger stayed closed. Grid Tracker stayed up so he could see other parks and try park-to-park contacts. Hunters called, then left the pileup before their turn, or the exchange looped until he moved onto their frequency and the report finally landed.
A park ranger followed him from lot to lot, watched from across the pavement, and never got out to ask what the radio was.
The Parks He Named
Park 1 was a lake lot in the rain. It took the longest because the whole station had to come out. It still activated. He had been worried the holiday would be a bust, and he had to work for those first 10.
Park 2 was Deer Creek Marsh, a wildlife management area with hiking trails and a parking lot off the road, still on the lake. He missed the video button and took a still. It activated.
Park 3 was a little over an hour into the day, on the same water. He was pointed roughly north. Across Lake Ontario is Canada, with western New York and Niagara Falls off along the shore. FT4, and it activated.
Parks 4 and 5 were one parking spot. Southwick Beach State Park and Lake View Wildlife Management Area overlap if you sit in the right place. The wildlife area runs for miles back down Route 3, with pull-offs and a road to a viewing area if you only want that park. Inside Southwick, the main road and a couple of trail entries also put you in the wildlife area. He had found it on the maps. About a week earlier he activated Southwick from almost the same spot, did not know the second park was there, then drove down the road and activated Lake View by itself. He was one park short of a rove that day. From this spot the second boundary was behind him, on the order of 20 feet, and within about 100 feet of both. He counted both from the one stop to save time. The view was sand, dunes, and the lake. He logged 18 and shut it off while the pileup was still growing.
Park 6 was a wildlife management area in the woods, a small lot on a trail, a pond supposed to be farther in. The gate on the woods road was open because a crew was logging. A logging truck and a pile of trees sat behind him. Four contacts in, the battery pack could not hold 40 watts. The radio turned on and off. He killed the audio in the truck so a talk radio show would not sit under the video. He could not find the cable that charges the pack from the cigarette lighter. Two small packs were in the truck. He checked, and they were 12-volt, 10 amp-hour, not 15. One went to the radio. It had been running the laptop. The other tried to charge the big pack. He got back on, worked the stations who had already called, called CQ again, and closed the park at 14. One regular hunter popped up as he was shutting down. He could only remember the call as “aha,” with some A’s, some H’s, and a 4 he was not sure about. He had already worked that station at other parks and left the contact on the table.
He was about an hour and a half to two hours from home. One more spot on the route was a little south of where he had started, a state boat launch. Other launches on that stretch are not parks. If the batteries held, a couple of his usual parks were on the way home. The day had already told him that an all-day rove needs more power.
The Battery, Then the Drive Home
The big pack came off Facebook Marketplace for about $80. He said the same kind of pack was about $300 on Amazon. It is 280 watt-hours. He did not know how many cycles the seller had put on it. It had been through a few activations and only two charges in a couple of months. This would be the third. He owns a Harbor Freight foldable panel, 100 watts, in a bag. The sky was rain and overcast, and he was not sitting still long enough to deploy it. Flexible panels were planned for the back of the truck, not on it yet.
Park 7 was that boat launch, about 5 miles past park 1, with a lot, a view of the lake, and an inlet he could not cross without going back to the highway. The rain had eased. The radio started cutting out again as the last contacts went in the log. The pack he was using to charge the big battery was now the one that was flat. Seven parks. The two stops he could still hit on the way home were both twofers that share one corridor park. A four-park spot on the other side of Syracuse would have pushed the day toward 15, and he did not have the battery for it.
At that boat launch the call he had been mangling came back. He spelled it alpha alpha, five, hotel. The digit was a 5, not the 4 he thought he had seen. That station had been hunting him all morning.
Parks 8 and 9 were the twofer. He dropped the radio to 25 watts instead of 40. The battery held. Twelve contacts. He called them done.
Park 10 is about 10 minutes from the house, and it is the first park he ever activated. He had only been activating for a short time, not a full two months. If the last of the battery died, the plan was to go home, charge one pack, and come back before midnight UTC. There were still hours left in the UTC day. He also noticed he had been in photo mode for part of the morning, so some of the stops never made it to video.
It activated. He was not going to taste-test the battery to see what was left. Ten parks. Parks 8 and 9 share a corridor, and that corridor counts once in a day, so he did not add it again on top of those two. The earlier twofer, Southwick and Lake View, he counted as two parks because he could have split them. He had driven past the other Lake View pull-offs on purpose.
None of the logs were big. A lot of parks were 10 or 11 contacts. He said he would put the list of all 10, with the counts, on screen. The repeat hunters were the point. He called out that same station again, the one he spells alpha alpha, five, hotel, and still thinks of as “aha” when it hits the screen. He had missed it at one park and worked it at several others.
Driving was what wore him out. A 15-park day was still sitting there: one spot that is several parks at once, plus others nearby. He was tired, and so were the batteries. He left it.
Transcript
He is at the last park of the day. If it activates, it is park 10, and it is the first park he ever activated. He left the driveway at 7 a.m. It is 4 p.m. He calls it nine hours. The question is whether 10 parks happened. The batteries were the problem. He drained a battery pack, two 10 amp-hour batteries, and another recharge of the pack off one of those 10 amp-hour batteries, because he could not find the cigarette-lighter plug. He thinks the cable might have been in a case in the truck the whole time.
The day starts as Thanksgiving, cold and rainy. He is hoping for 12 to 15 parks and does not trust it. The bands look dead. People are with family. He is in the vehicle at park 1, laptop going, radio and power on, antenna on the side of the truck, a lake in front of a wet windshield. Another contact completes. Park 1 is done.
Park 2 has more activity. He had been early at the first one. He calls CQ after losing a couple of park-to-park tries in pileups. The sign through the rain says Deer Creek Marsh, a wildlife management area, hiking trails, a decent lot off the road, on the lake. He hits the still-photo button instead of record. Park 2 activates anyway.
Park 3 is a little over an hour in. The first stop took longer because everything had to be built. After that the station stays in the seat, on, and he does not transmit between parks. The ATAS on the back door is why the rainy day works. One button, the 891 changes bands, the antenna tunes. It has been up since park 1, mounted high. The roads are clear of low wire and limbs. A dirt road through the woods is coming, and that one worries him, though he drove it with the antenna up about a week ago. The water is Lake Ontario, across upstate and western New York toward Niagara Falls, Canada on the far shore. He is pointed roughly north.
At park 3 he leaves FT8. The first two parks were FT8 on 20 meters. FT4 is the same thing, quicker, and the band looks more populated. Four contacts into it, he already feels traction. Park 3 activates.
Parks 4 and 5 are a twofer if you sit in the right spots. Southwick Beach State Park and Lake View Wildlife Management Area. Behind the beach camping area, the wildlife area runs for miles back down Route 3, with pull-offs and a road to a viewing area. On the main road into Southwick, a couple of trailheads also enter the wildlife area. He confirmed it on the maps. About a week earlier he activated almost this same spot, did not know the second park was there, then drove down and activated Lake View separately. He was one park short of a rove that day. The view is the same foggy lake. A park ranger who has been following him sits across the lot again and does not come over. He is keeping a tally so he knows when he has 10, 11, 12. This park has a real queue. He is done begging for contacts the way he was at park 1.
The laptop is the weak piece. It cannot run WSJT-X, Grid Tracker, and the logging program at once, so the logger stays closed and Grid Tracker stays open for park-to-park. People call, then disappear before their turn. Toward the end of the last park the exchanges started looping, report after report, nobody completing. He slides onto their frequency and gets the acknowledgement. Parks 4 and 5 are sand, dunes, and the lake, and they are done at 18 contacts. He cuts it off because it will not stop. Different morning than park 1.
Park 6 has no view. It is a wildlife management area, deep on a trail, a pond supposed to be back in. A road that is usually gated is open. He may drive it after the activation. It is open because they are logging. A logging truck and a pile of trees sit behind him. Contacts start, and then the battery pack trips. Four contacts in, it cannot hold the 40 watts the radio wants. The radio flips on and off. He kills the talk-radio audio in the truck. He cannot find the cigarette-lighter cable that also charges the pack. Two extra packs are in the truck. He thinks 10 amp-hour, maybe 15, then checks: 12-volt, 10 amp-hour. One, which had been charging the laptop, goes to the radio. The other tries to feed the big pack. He still needs that cable at home. He thinks it is on the desk.
He gets six parks. Park 6 closes at 14 once he is back up. He works back through the stations who had called, then calls CQ again. One regular, the station he can only remember as “aha,” appears as he is closing. Some A’s, some H’s, maybe a 4. He has already worked him at a few parks today and should have stayed for one more. He will be back. He did not get as far north as he wanted. He is an hour and a half or two from home and starts back. One boat launch a little south of the start is a state site, which is odd because other launches on the strip are not parks. If the power holds, a couple of regular parks are on the way home. Six parks he is sure of.
The test is the power. An all-day rove needs more of it. The pack was a Facebook Marketplace buy, about $80, against about $300 on Amazon. 280 watt-hours. He does not know the cycle history. It has lasted multiple trips. Two charges in a couple of months, and this will be the third. He has Harbor Freight foldable panels, 100 watts, in a bag. No sun, rain, and he is not sitting still long enough to put them out. Flexible panels are going on the back of the truck later. The truck cap is turning the bed into the big go box. He points at another video for that and moves on.
Park 7 is the boat launch, about 5 miles down from park 1. Parking, the lake, an inlet he cannot cross without going back out to the highway. Less rain than the morning. The sky and the water blend. It activates, and the radio starts cutting out again because that battery is done. One more pack had been charging the big one. Seven parks. The two stops on the way home are twofers that share one corridor park. A four-fer on the other side of Syracuse would put him near 15. He knows he does not have the battery for 15.
The “aha” call shows up about two contacts into park 7. He gets a clean look. Not a 4. A 5. He spells it alpha alpha, five, hotel.
Parks 8 and 9 are done. He dropped to 25 watts instead of 40. The battery held. Twelve contacts. One park left and the 10-park rove is real. The last one is 10 minutes from the house. If the battery dies, he can go home, charge, and come back before midnight UTC. He also realizes the camera was in photo mode for part of the day, so some footage is just pictures.
The last park is the first one he ever activated. He has been activating for a short time, not a full two months. Left at 7 a.m., and it is 3:53 p.m., which he rounds to 4. Nine hours. Same battery story: the pack, two 10 amp-hour batteries, another recharge off one of them, the lighter cable still missing, maybe in a case in the truck. It activates. He is not licking the battery to see what is left. Ten parks. The park he is on and the one before it, 8 and 9, share a corridor. He does not count that corridor twice. It is one park for the day. The other twofer he could have split. Last week he was at both. They touch, and one of them is a long run of parking spots he drove past. For time, he used the same spot as last week, when he was within about 100 feet of both and probably under 20 feet from the second boundary.
A lot of the nine hours was driving. The cluster took time to reach. After that, parks were about 15 minutes apart, some about 2, and some meant a drive all the way to the lake and back. More parks sat north of there. The battery trouble turned him toward home, where he could still pick up parks near the house. The counts were not big. A lot of parks were 10 or 11. He says the list of all 10, with the contact counts, will be on screen. He was after the number of parks. He thanks the repeat hunters, and that station again. He missed it at one park, at shutdown, and worked it at several others. The way he says the call is alpha alpha, five, hotel. On the screen he still reads it as “aha.”
He is tired from the driving. A 15-park day was available, including one spot that is several parks at once, if he and the batteries had anything left. They do not. He asks anyone who has done a multi-park rove to say how it went, how long it took, and whether any twofers, threefers, or fourfers were in it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many parks, and how long did it take?
Ten parks in about nine hours. He left the driveway at 7 a.m. and was back at the last park around 4 p.m. He had hoped for 12 to 15. Most of the time was driving. Some parks were about 15 minutes apart, some about 2, and a few meant driving all the way in to the lake and back out.
Which parks did he name?
Park 2 was Deer Creek Marsh. Parks 4 and 5 were one stop that counted as Southwick Beach State Park and Lake View Wildlife Management Area. Park 7 was a boat launch about 5 miles from the first park. Park 10 was the first park he had ever activated, about 10 minutes from the house. He said a list of all 10 would be on screen. He also said parks 8 and 9 share a corridor, and that corridor only counts once in a day.
What failed?
The battery pack. At park 6, four contacts in, it could not hold the 40 watts the radio was asking for, and the radio flipped on and off. He could not find the cigarette-lighter charge cable. He moved the radio to one 10 amp-hour pack and used the other to try to charge the big pack. Later he dropped to 25 watts. The laptop could not run WSJT-X, Grid Tracker, and the logging program together, so he left the logger closed. Part of the day was shot in photo mode, so some video is missing.
What were the contact counts he gave?
Parks 4 and 5 together were 18, and he cut it off while people were still calling. Park 6 closed at 14 after the battery came back. Parks 8 and 9 were 12, at 25 watts. He said a lot of the others were 10 or 11. He was counting parks, not trying to build big logs. A station he kept reading as "aha" hunted him at several parks. When it came back he spelled it alpha alpha, five, hotel, and said the digit was a 5, not the 4 he had been remembering. He missed that station at one park because he was already shutting down.