Now champions nine years in a row operating in with multiple simultaneous transmitters in the park category under the call sign W9AV are Quent Cassen W6RI and Clint Sprott W9AV. Here is their sheltered location for this year’s contest.

Clint (W9AV) and Quent (W6RI) did our usual 3-transmitter activation in a tent on the bank of the lower Wisconsin River near Muscoda. It rained most of the day, and the tent leaked, but the bands were relatively quiet. We made 51% of our contacts on 20m, 42% on 40m, and 7% on 15m. 88% were running and 12% were S&P. 72% were SSB, 16% were CW, and 12% were FT4/8. Total QSOs were down from last year, but mults were up. Thanks to the organizers, activators, and hunters for another great event.

Clint W9AV & Quent W6RI

This is always such a fun event. The propagation was good, the “off and on” light rain was manageable, and there seemed to be a few more Wisconsin parks being activated this time. Working solo this year I was concerned my voice wouldn’t hold up for all 7 hours, so I opted to rove a few parks and hope to make up for having fewer QSOs by adding a few more park multipliers. It was a nice plan, but I grossly underestimated the 3.5 hours of lost operating time while driving and redeploying at each POTA park.

Dave KZ9V

This contest’s expectation of rain improved my scheduling adherence with a good break between the storms mid-morning allowing for easy travel and setup on-time. All this for a first QSO at 1604Z and the first six QSOs in the log providing new multipliers!

Setting up in a no-walls park shelter with a plastic cover for the gear to ward off the wind-blown mist allowed for working through the anticipated rain. With the extra time allowed by leaving on schedule I picked up a solid breakfast on the way around Middleton and toured the park construction.

All of the lakeside facilities at Governor Nelson are under renovation by Weiser Brothers so those will be a highlight for a future visit once they’re put back together with new siding and fixtures.

To handle the rain, the only antenna out from under the lakeside shelter was a 71′ random wire with 9:1 on a tabletop. Tuned with a KX3, it handled 80/40/20 exactly as desired. With 20m crowded and hoping 15m was warmed up a bit despite the zero sunspots, I also deployed my 15m 1/4l vertical except with some slope because the shelter roof it too short.

To keep things complicated, I operated 15m with my FTX-1 Field In the end, 15m net Salmon Run (WA) and RT-66 (AZ, CA) stations plus a local. The real work was 20m and 40m, as is expected. Signals on 40m were variable on the 50-100 mile QSOs, but I got plenty of Wisconsin parks in the process. Signals were consistently weak, but usable for some more points, on 80m. Plus I made enough noise to get a random QSO from a curious operator and a new multiplier on the band.

I brought my HT and threw out some calls when taking a break, but didn’t get any VHF QSOs in the process. Squelch broke a couple times without any clear signals. In the end, the HT spent most of its time turned off due to QRN from the KX3. Maybe a desktop antenna and the sub-receiver on the FTX-1 will be the play for the future?

All in all, excellent times as QRP. Enough gaps on 20m to make runs of it and no substantial lightning QRN despite the rain. Time to see how 80m at the end of summer treats us next year!

Thomas WN1C

Received a last-minute permission slip from the YL and managed three hours up on the hill at High Cliff State Park. Worked only 40/80 and for the most part remained busy. The focus of this activation was continuing to develop my beginner CW skills. Special thanks to hunters for providing their call a 2nd or 3rd time when asked.

Pat N9TG

Try 6M twice 1:45 and 3:45 50.225 SSB and FT8 ON 6M 50.313 at 1:50 and 3:50

Alan ND9D

This year I decided to try to get to an area of the state where I could both activate a new park and also have a bit of separation from other activators. Fortunately, I was able to stay at a friends’ cabin relatively nearby (and get a little fishing in between playing radios), so I only had to drive an hour to Town Corner SWA.

Like other years, the rain appeared, but this time no thunder (thankfully), so a rain jacket and pants was all the protection that I needed. My setup was an IC-705 paired with a Chinese autotuner and a 25-foot vertical whip.

As with many of my POTA activations I operated from a table folded out from my hatchback, which gave me a little protection from the rain. The bands seemed pretty good this year; I had little difficulty making contacts in general.

This year’s P2P tally of 6 was an improvement from last year’s (3); all of them were on FT modes, because I was again unable to make any voice contacts. 5 watts just isn’t enough, I guess. As always, I had fun, and thanks to the organizers for putting this event on again!

Neil K9CUF

Was cut short by the local sheriff’s end of summer bbq (and their electrically noisy generators). I did work an aeronautical mobile above North Carolina flying in his single seat experimental aircraft. Decent condx! Too short but fun!!

KC KG9JP

I had a blast as I do every time. I hope this event never stops. next year I will be better prepared. This year was mostly p2p hunting. Next year I plan to call cq in multiple parks.

Cody KD9QXL

FUN WAS HAD BY ALL! 4 stations setup in the rain, a lot of breaks were taken to visit and chat! Still managed 626 contacts after duplicates were removed. We have a good base to plan for next year.

Will W9FRG

Running 5 watts to a 53 foot sloper. Nice to work some new parks.

William K2EKM

Brian KB9TBB: After three years of participating in the WIPOTA contest as a single operator, I wanted to try my hand at multi-operator this year. We may have been guilty of overthinking and overdoing it, with a 300-foot dipole and a 150-foot dipole strung 60 feet up trees in the national forest, but we had a great time. It felt like a two-person, miniature Field Day operation. Next year: more batteries.

Collin, KE0IYN: This was my first year taking part in the WIPOTA contest, thanks to an invite from Brian KB9TBB. The planning was a lot of fun: figuring out what gear to bring, how we’d set up, and how we’d handle whatever came up. Then came the real work, five hours of setup that morning followed by seven straight hours on the radio. It was a blast and far more than I ever expected. Worth every moment, and maybe next year we can grab the top slot!

Brian KE9GGU/KB9TBB & Collin KE0IYN

Principal operator: WB9CYY Second op: KE9DLR Mike Lawson, a Technician who did 12 of these QSOs (CW on 40m) under his own callsign, including a park-to-park with KD9HTQ at US-4352. I also worked US-4352 via W9WRC while operating at WB9CYY. (How many Technicians do you know who can do 12 wpm CW? While studying for his General, Mike decided it would be more fun to do a detour and learn CW.)

Don WB9CYY

Our first club activation included some showers early on then clearing, then showers, then clear and so on… We had 6 separate operators at the event and even some youth participation which was a lot of fun as well. Some new ops in the bunch too. Good times and looking at next years plans already.. Look for W9WRC next time around!! Thanks for all the contacts.

William W9WRC