The day before Hamfest, we joined bunch of other hams, including some of our favorite Youtubers, at Monte Sano near the campground. Great food and some many really cool people. What a wonderful community.

We activated next to the pavilion. It was so neat getting to activate where instead of wondering what the people might be thinking, to know that they love radio just as much as you do! It was very special treat to meet Isaiah, the incredible 13 year old CW champ and getting to be Anna’s first CW contact. What a blast!

A special thank you to Kyle ‪@AA0Z‬ , Jason ‪@HamRadio2‬ , JoeBrett‪@K5YVY‬ , along with JoeBrett and Jason's wives for all the work they put into cooking and everything else. Thank you ‪@hamradiotube‬ for letting us borrow your ground spike that pairs perfectly with the POTA20 mast.

It was a super special treat to be recognized in the wild from our channel by Bryan W1WC and KM4QNA Anna. On the way to Hamfest, Becky suggested we hand out one of the keys that she built to someone if they recognized us. When Bryan introduced himself, he even knew Rose the POTA dog. Not only did we give him a key, but he and Anna used it moments later to contact us in this video using a dummy load, because we were so close. How cool!

📍 WHERE ARE WE:
Monte Sano State Park
https://www.alapark.com/parks/monte-s...
https://maps.app.goo.gl/uPCTdtHbYQbSo...

POTA Information : US-1048
https://pota.app/#/park/US-1048
SOTA Information : W4A/HR-002
https://www.sotadata.org.uk/en/summit…

⚙️ OUR GEAR (featured in this video):
RIG : QCX mini: https://qrp-labs.com/qcxmini.html
Power : 5 Watts
Becky’s Key: CWMorse Straight Key: https://cwmorse.us/products/purple-ca...
Antenna: Xtenna EFHW using the POTA20 mast
Silicon Cable Cord Ties:
https://a.co/d/0dEZ2Rri

✔️SUBSCRIBE TO OUR CHANNELS:
Ham Radio Duo
   / @hamradioduo  
Home is Where Your Honey Is - RV Camping adventures
   / @homeiswhereyourhoneyis  

🌍 Our Website
https://www.hamradioduo.com

✔️OTHER YOUTUBE CHANNELS / CW FRIENDS YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT
W4EMB Ed es AA4SB Shantel
   / @w4emb  
KQ3Q : Lidi
   / @kq3q  
KI7QCF : Forrest
   / @utahforrest  
W2AEA : Alan
   / @w2aew  
AA0Z : Kyle
   / @aa0z  
KE0VIM : Mike
   / @travelinham  
N4CCB : QRP School
   / @qrpschool  
K6ARK : Adam
   / @k6ark  

Polo by Ham2k (the awesome mobile app for doing POTA, SOTA, and WWFFF logging):
https://polo.ham2k.com/


🍿WATCH NEXT:
K8MRD POTA20 Mast | A First Look and Comparison
   • K8MRD POTA20 Mast | A First Look and ...  
$3 dollar paddle | Our favorite POTA/SOTA CW 3D paddle by Adam - K6ARK | build by Becky
   • $3 dollar paddle | Our favorite POTA/...  
Becky’s new CW Paddle and EFHW: Will they POTA? QRP? N4BKY & N4FFF
   • Becky’s new CW Paddle and EFHW: Will ...  
Costal Dunes Lake CW POTA | Becky Activates QRP with a Straight Key
   • Costal Dunes Lake CW POTA | Becky Act...  
Beach POTA CW Activation | Topsail Hill Preserve State Park, FL | Saltwater Propagation is no joke!
   • Beach POTA CW Activation | Topsail Hi...  
N4BKY - Becky's first SOTA activation! Straight key CW fun!
   • N4BKY - Becky's first SOTA activation...  


❓WHO ARE WE?
We're Michael & Becky, also known as N4FFF and N4BKY. We're an adventure couple who also loves CW (morse code) and radio stuff. We are both trying to get better at CW so having two of us there trying to copy really helps us figure most of it out! We love adventures and this is another way for us to get out there and have fun together.

If you catch one of us on the air most likely we are both at the ready. We like to hunt POTA's and each make contact so don't be surprised if you hear from us both.

Please email us or leave a comment if you watch along and make contact with us someday. We'd love to hear from you!

73,
Michael and Becky
N4FFF / N4BKY

Operator Call Sign: N4BKY
Park Reference: US-1048
Start Time (UTC): 2024-08-16 19:26:07
End Time (UTC): 2024-08-16 20:16:53
Duration: 0:50:46
Time to Activate: 0:47:03
Number of Contacts Made: 12
Number of States: 8


Top 5 Contacts by Distance
--------------------------
N1DM - MA - 972 miles
WA2FBN - NY - 938 miles
N9QU - TX - 861 miles
K7MOA - TX - 798 miles
NK2C - NY - 796 miles

Summary of Contacts per Band
----------------------------
Contacts on 20m: 12

Hunters
------------
K7MOA, KEITH T, TX
K5DGR, DIRK G, TX
KB3AAY, RONALD D, MD
N4IN, DAVID E, KY
N1DM, DOMENIC M, MA
W1WC, Brian, AL
KM4QNA, Anna O, AL
NK2C, Jeryl K, NY
KG8CO, BRIAN J, MI
N9QU, Leo F, TX
WA2FBN, KENNETH D, NY
N1XV, JULIA G, NJ

#hamradio #qrp #pota #morsecode #cw #qrz #sota #rv #rvlife #adventure #camping #travel #travelcouple #hamfest #huntsville #montesano