Blog

Weymouth POTA Rove

Written on Monday 5 May 2025

Last week, I took the opportunity presented by good weather and lighter evenings, and activated both the Lodmoor parks in Weymouth. So far so good, but that’s not all Weymouth has to offer the POTA activator—there were still three more to go. And so, the following week… POTA on the...

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West Wight POTA Rove

Written on Monday 5 May 2025

After a long sunny week, I had an excuse to spend a day on the Isle of Wight; hiking, and of course, nerding out with radios. We took the 10am ferry from Lymington to Yarmouth, and from there I set out south along the path by the mudflats of the...

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Summer 'Preview Week' POTA Activations

Written on Friday 2 May 2025

This week in the UK has been like a preview of summer, with temperatures reaching the high 20s and constant sunshine. The urge to get outside has been strong, and of course the urge to bring some Nerd Equipment along with me. I’ve fitted in six Parks on the Air...

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POTA as Ingress

Written on Friday 25 Apr 2025

A conversation on fedi earlier today got me thinking about the idea of turning Parks on the Air into an Ingress-style game. The data is all out there—reference points with defined locations, “most recent activator” data; the POTA API itself is halfway there to the kind of server you would...

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52 Week Ham Radio Challenge Roundup: Weeks 13-16

Written on Sunday 20 Apr 2025

If you’ve read the first post in this series or are playing along yourself, you’ll be aware of the 52 Week Ham Radio Challenge. If not, hit up that link for the details! This post covers the challenges from weeks 13-16, which were: Make a QSO from an unusual location...

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POTA/WWFF Activation Report: Ballard Down

Written on Sunday 20 Apr 2025

This weekend was both POTA’s Support Your Parks Spring event and week 16 of the 52-week Ham Challenge, “Make a contact with a xOTA station”, so naturally it was time for more outdoor radio. I headed up to Ballard Down, GB-0082 for POTA and GFF-0099 for WWFF. And when I...

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POTA/BOTA Activation Report: Greenham Common

Written on Friday 11 Apr 2025

Family stuff saw me in Newbury this morning with three hours to kill and nothing planned. Obviously it was time for more outdoor radio nonsense. While Newbury and the surrounding area have a number of nice-looking parks, I settled on the only one with a cafe, its own amateur radio...

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RaDAR Rally Report, Spring 2025

Written on Sunday 6 Apr 2025

Unless this is your first time reading my blog, you probably know that I like amateur radio and hiking. I’m also a fan of poring over maps, meticulous planning, and madcap races against the clock. I spent months agonising over backpacks, eventually settling on one I could operate my radio...

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POTA Activation Report: Higher Hyde Heath

Written on Tuesday 1 Apr 2025

40 activations into my “POTA phase” and every time I head out, I still start feelling sick, and think about calling it off. I push through it of course, because you have to get out and do these things—the alternative is retreating into my ever-shrinking comfort zone until I never...

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POTA Activation Report: St Catherine's Hill

Written on Saturday 29 Mar 2025

Parks on the Air has, in recent months, turned from a hobby to more of an obsession. I spend too much time thinking about potential future activations, and often dreaming about them too. Case in point, in the early hours of Thursday morning I woke up from a dream that...

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