Blog

52 Week Ham Radio Challenge Roundup: Weeks 1-4

Written on Monday 20 Jan 2025

A new amateur radio activity for this year that you may not be aware of is the “52 Week Ham Radio Challenge”. Coordinated via the website and via a Mastodon bot, it provides 52 challenges for 2025, approximately one a week, for players to work on alongside each other. The...

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POTA Activation Report: Avon Heath Country Park

Written on Saturday 18 Jan 2025

Most of the local POTA parks are just open areas of heathland, but for POTA’s Support Your Parks Winter event, I wanted to choose somewhere I could actually support—in this case largely by paying £5 for parking. This is Avon Heath Country Park, GB-0362. Compared to nearby Moors Valley, my...

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POTA Activation Report: Ham Common

Written on Friday 3 Jan 2025

From my regular childhood haunts, to this place—despite being in my home town, I don’t think I have ever been here before. This is Ham Common, POTA ref. GB-1302, an area of heathland with a large fishing lake and two look-out points to enjoy scenic views of Poole Harbour. And...

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POTA Activation Report: Upton Country Park

Written on Thursday 2 Jan 2025

Since I discovered that POTA had an award for activating in the first week of the new year, naturally I had to kick off 2025 by getting my nerd on in a field. January 1st was a write-off, with wind and warnings in place and a G4 solar storm lighting...

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POTA Activation Report: Moors Valley

Written on Saturday 28 Dec 2024

We are continuing working our way around local parks, nerding out on the radio in all the places we haven’t previously nerded before. This afternoon it was the turn of Moors Valley Country Park, POTA ref. GB-1724. This place is the peak of childhood days out, aged about 6-10. There’s...

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POTA Activation Report: Canford Heath

Written on Monday 23 Dec 2024

From the smallest local SSSI, to the largest! Completing the trifecta of local heathland areas that I recently asked to be added to Parks on the Air, this is Canford Heath Site of Significant Scientific Interest (GB-3623, GFF-0315). It’s one of the largest protected heathland areas in Dorset, and it’s...

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POTA Activation Report: Turbary Common

Written on Thursday 19 Dec 2024

When I realised I was leaving home with only two hours to go until sunset, should I have taken the hint? When I realised I’d forgotten the camp chair, and my activation spot would be a bramble-covered tree stump, should I have taken the hint? When the rain started blowing...

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Billy Bass Basket Case (Alt. Ver.)

Written on Wednesday 18 Dec 2024

Earlier this year, Green Day announced a number of special releases to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their album Dookie. My first reaction was, of course, “oh god what no, it’s not thirty… of fuck, please stop reminding me that I am middle-aged!” Once I got over the shock, I...

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POTA Activation Report: Talbot Heath

Written on Tuesday 17 Dec 2024

It’s another one of those limbo days, where I’m not at work but the rest of the household are out doing their normal weekday things. After so many years of family and working life, I have to remind myself that it’s actually possible to just go out and do something—no...

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POTA Activation Report: Holton Heath

Written on Saturday 16 Nov 2024

Ever since our first Brownsea Island activation I’ve been thinking of ticking off other nearby parks that are still sat unactivated. A recent update added pretty much every scrap of green space in Christchurch, but all of those were quickly snapped up. A weird outlier nearby, though, is GB-0093 Dorset...

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