I woke Saturday morning with the urge to make a quick raid across the Red River to steal some parks – unexplored territory and parks I’ve never activated.  A recovering Oklahoman himself, there’s no better guide and interpreter than W5DRT, Dave Turner.  He knows the country and speaks the language.

With a quick “You wanna?” text answered by a “Hell Yeah!” text, me, Dave, and my POTA Pup Pepper met then headed north, across the border into the Territories. 

If you have time, check out the video.

Loadout:

• Yaesu FT-891
• Bioenno 20ah LiPo battery
• 40-10 EFHW with Sparkplug transformer
• BaMaKey TP-III Paddles

Activation:

US-6378 Texoma Washita Arm Wildlife Management Area. 

Traversing the sandy roads of the WMA in Dave’s Prairie Schooner, we found a little pullout with good antenna trees, parked, got a wire up, and sent QC from the tailgate.  We operated in series – sharing the FT-891 – me collecting a quick CW activation then transitioning to SSB for Dave’s activation.  Propagation was good, the noise was quiet, and QSOs came quickly.

One item of note:  Poison Oak.  Lots of it in our little pull out.  While it didn’t seem to be everywhere in the WMA, where we stopped to operate it was laid in like ground cover in the landscaping in front of a bank. 

We were careful to steer clear of the evil but Pepper clomped around unconcerned.  Being impossible to not give her a pat, we’ll have to see if she transferred any oils to me during the adventure.

US-6378 Texoma Washita Arm Wildlife Management Area was the original goal for the day.  But texting with WC5CW James in the background while Dave worked his dozen SSB QSOs, I learned there was a new park nearby. What started as a quick “in and out” became something more.

US-11641 Tishomingo National Fish Hatchery. 

An easy drive, an easy find, and right off the road.  The hatchery itself looked closed with the gate to the “offices” locked tight.  The gates to the fish ponds were open however, and free of “Posted” signs and purple poles. We wound into the property and found a good antenna tree.  Parking in the shade, we set up the station on a portable table, got the wire up about 30 feet and got to business.  The good propagation held, and with little QRN.

I was a little concerned we might meet some QRM from any “water moving” pumps and motors used to manage the ponds, but it was delightfully quiet.  Thanks, Hatchery Dudes.

Again, working in series, I made a quick activation with CW then set the rig to SSB for Dave’s activation.  By this time of morning, it was becoming obvious there were contests going on – the SSB portion of 20 meters was busy and crowded.  There was at least one “Not Texas” QSO Party going on, maybe more.  Dave hunted using the Spots page but was challenged to find “clean air” to call CQ POTA.  Cool and calm as always, her got ‘er done.

Since we were up here anyway, we found another park.

US-0491 Tishomingo National Wildlife Refuge

Dave drove to a pavilion at the end of the road leading in.  The covered picnic tables were bordered by tall trees, and it was easy to get a wire up that conveniently put the feed point in range of my 50 feet of RG-8X.

Again, operating in series, we kicked off with me activating CW then Dave getting his with SSB.  While I’d activated the park before, the pavilion was a pleasant surprise.  Clean with good tables – I recommend it for radio ops.

Just wrapping up, I noticed a YouTube celebrity, W4EMB Ed Bennett, spotted on 20 meters and got him in my log.  Thanks Ed.

Summary:

We had a great time with great company. QRN was low, QSB was steady, and propagation was hopping.  We wanted for nothing – the rig performed, and the antenna trees were plentiful.  The easy rapport between Dave and I turned a one-park raid into three.  Thanks, Dave!

As Always,

TNX ES 73
KA5TXN
DitWit