Blog Archive — Page 2

Activation Report: The Road to Hurst Castle

Written on Monday 13 Apr 2026

A couple of months ago, I mopped up five parks from Christchurch to Milford-on-Sea in the Coast Road Rove. Today I followed much the same route, extending the start into Bournemouth and the end all the way, at last, to Hurst Castle. It’s been a long time coming. GB-1725 Hurst...

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RaDAR Rally Report, Spring 2026

Written on Sunday 5 Apr 2026

Last year was my RaDAR Rally debut, with eight pre-planned spots and tight timing down to a couple of minutes across the four-hour run. If anything it was a little too well-planned. So this year I decided to head to a new park I’d never been to before, hike around,...

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POTA/WWFF Activation Report: Prescombe Down

Written on Sunday 29 Mar 2026

The organisers of the big amateur radio stations can offer a lot of useful advice about contesting. It’s important to have a comfortable chair, they say, as well as good headphones and a quiet environment. A steady supply of tea and suitable facilities are essential too of course. So with...

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POTA Activation Report: Troublefield and Ramsdown Forest

Written on Sunday 15 Mar 2026

I took a last drag from my cheap cigarette, and sighed. I shoulda’ known that dame was trouble, from the moment the marker appeared on the POTA map. Trouble Field by name, Trouble Field by nature, as my pa used to say. With hindsight, that was weirdly specific. The main...

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POTA Activation Report: Tadnoll & Winfrith Heath

Written on Monday 2 Mar 2026

A number of my upcoming activations, like the obligatory trip to Afton Marsh to complete the local parks, or the extremely ill-advised attempt to summit El Teide, are going to involve getting on the radio with equipment limited in size and weight. To that end, my friend F4LUB sent me...

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POTA Activation Report: The Coast Road Rove

Written on Thursday 19 Feb 2026

One last day of being home alone with nothing to do. I could have spent the day relaxing, maybe making progress on projects or doing housework. But there’s always that other project; the “let’s do all the POTA parks within 20 miles of home” project that I foolishly set myself....

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POTA/WCA Activation Report: Steamer Point and Highcliffe Beach

Written on Tuesday 17 Feb 2026

Another trip home for my logging assistant meant another portable radio trip this morning, this time two POTA parks adjacent to WCA G-00148 Highcliffe Castle. The two parks are GB-4052 Steamer Point Nature Reserve and GB-1726 Highcliffe to Milford Cliffs SSSI. Now technically, these two do overlap: However, the overlap...

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A "New Parks Alert" Script

Written on Sunday 8 Feb 2026

Some idiot set himself a challenge in 2026 to activate every POTA park within 20 miles of home. That’s great, except that when January 1st rolled around I had 14 left to do—and now, a month and four activations later, I have… 23 left. Unlike SOTA, with its relatively constant...

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145 Alive at Fontmell Down

Written on Saturday 7 Feb 2026

This year, the 145 Alive activity is joined by its side project, “More on 144”—extending the normal FM-only activity to SSB on the lower part of the 2m band as well. One of my Radio New Year’s Resolutions was a POTA activation entirely on VHF, plus I still needed to...

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Planning the 25-Park Rove

Written on Friday 30 Jan 2026

As I discussed in my end-of-year radio wrap-up, I’ve got a bunch of plans for POTA roves over the coming year, such as the 10 parks/10 miles/10 hours rove on foot, and my first 15-park rove. The 15-park rove will hopefully cover every park in the Purbecks in a day-long...

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