Having figured out the bigger issues on the first two “shakedown” POTA outings and also now with some sense of what a POTA activation is like, I set off to IE-0029 Rostellan woods for a longer activation. I didn’t go too far, Rostellan is about a 25 minute drive from home and due the geography of Cork Harbour, as the crow flies it’s actually only about 3km from my home QTH.
Murphy’s Law was in full operation as the activation coincided with very poor propagation conditions. Nonetheless, I stuck at it for just over two and a half hours. A big thanks to everyone who took the patience to work me to give me 43 QSOs (50 POTA contacts) across 20M SSB and, for the first time CW. I had some technical issues with CW, a combination of the first time I’ve used a new keyer (yes, I did have the manual with me but misunderstood something it said) and an RFI issue, where my first CW transmissions resulted in the boot (trunk) of my car opening all on its own! All in all, good fun though and proof that even when conditions are poor, you’ll work stations with a bit of persistence.
