Blog

The Casual Outdoor Radio Kit, plus a Return to Hengistbury Head

Written on Tuesday 20 May 2025

Sometimes, outdoor radio is about long self-supported hikes with big rucksacks and madcap races against time. Sometimes it’s about places you’ll likely never visit again, where failure isn’t an option. Sometimes you just need to bring the power, whether for popular activations where many people will want to call, times...

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Activation Report: Purbeck POTA Rove

Written on Thursday 15 May 2025

Last weekend I finally achieved something I’d have thought impossible six months ago: A POTA activation (of GB-4120 Forest of Bere West Walk and GB-4061 Meon Valley Trail) that was so uneventful, it became the first one I didn’t bother to write about. However I’m pleased to say that only...

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52 Week Ham Radio Challenge Roundup: Weeks 17-20

Written on Sunday 11 May 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 17-20, which were: Which VHF/UHF repeater is closest to your...

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Activation Report: Weymouth POTA Rove

Written on Wednesday 7 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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Activation Report: 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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