Back To Basics: A Little Radio, Some Bad Morse Code, A Restless Shepherd, And Ten Beautiful Contacts (CUTLER PARK RESERVATION, POTA US-8407)

It is hard to believe that I am approaching seven years of ham radio. I started as a portable operator who liked to experiment with antennas and transceivers. This hobby is a source of tremendous joy and inspiration, leading me down paths I never knew existed. I consider myself a “hyperlocal traveler.” I take immense pleasure in exploring the nooks and crannies of the world immediately around me, never failing to delight in uncovering an unknown destination that is nearly in my backyard. Cutler Park Reservation (US-8407) is one of those hyperlocal gems.

Kendrick Pond is encircled by a mile and a half dirt road. Everyone stays on the path for the most part. But if you pay attention, you’ll see many single-track trails jutting off from the main path. Georgie (my shepherd) and I followed one of those toward the upper portion of the Charles River and found a nice place to set up my Parks-On-The-Air (POTA) camp. If you look carefully you can see the trail running behind my station.

I thought, hey, might as well take a selfie and prove I am here, lol.

I stuck with simple gear for this jaunt. The ground cloth is actually a 2-person Summit Supalite Bothy Bag. There is a Sea-To-Summit 20L Dry Bag holding a Lowepro Hardside CS80 case. The radio components I used were a Venus SW-3B QRP CW Transceiver, Chameleon CHA LEFS 4010 EFHW Antenna, 3Ah Bioenno Battery, ABR316 Coaxial Cable, and a BaMaTech Paddle (very sad news on this last manufacturer’s website). Of course, I had all of the necessary audio and power cables. The Venus transceiver requires wired headphones as well. And as usual, nothing is monetized on this website. These are not advertisements or endorsements, just gear I own, use, and write about.

Below you can see the unun of the Chameleon antenna in the air. You can see that the antenna is about 12 feet off the ground at the unun end, and maybe 20 feet at the other end.

And a closer, if blurry, view of the Chameleon unun.

The RigExpert analyzer shows less then 2:1 VSWR on 40M, 20M, 15M, 12M, and 10M. This antenna is expensive for what it is. It turns out though that I am starting to like it more and more.

I settled down against a tree and spotted myself for CW on 20M. I instantly got a pile-up…and given my seriously lacking CW skills, I lost a lot of it. But with a barely adequate amount of talent, I managed to work my way through exactly ten contacts in a half hour. My Morse fist is always rather sloppy, but add a rambunctious, stubborn, determined, and bored shepherd distraction, and well, maybe my CW is not quite as bad as I think… No, I did not use a decoder. Not because it would have been beneath me to do so (It wouldn’t be!), but because the Venus does not have a speaker. For those wanting to cheat, I highly recommend Morse Expert (for Android). Despite naysayers, it is extremely good at decoding CW.

And for a few minutes the sky shed ice chips… This not-quite-snow not-quite-freezing-rain precipitation sent Georgia into a panic. Her shepherd instincts told her it was time to get me packed up and out of there immediately lest it was the end of us. And she was not taking no for an answer. Oh Lawd! Here is a shout out to all you shepherd owners out there…you know what I am talking about!

With the activation wrapped up and the radio station packed up, it was time to explore Cutler Park a bit. I kept spotting dilapidated utility poles. I wondered about the history of this parcel of land.

As we progressed along the road encircling Kendrick Pond, this abandoned brick structure caught my eye. I have a fascination with broken down architecture, a curiosity mixed with dread that probably stems from too many horror novels as a child. Abandon all hope ye…

Of course curiosity wins.

Georgia and I stand peering into the doorway. Not particularly tempted to go farther.

I take flash photography of the buildings innards with my poor quality phone camera. What is the purpose of this odd smattering of machinery? I nearly take the few steps into the structure when upon further inspection I realize that there is a pried up piece of plywood overlying an underground cavity, a basement I presume? Look where the arrow is pointing below. Whatever is below is deep and dark and terrifying. My curiosity is squelched and Georgie and I quickly shuffle away.

Once I am safely home and exploring the internet rather than real life, I do a little reconnaissance. Turns out the little brick building is “[a]n old Newton water supply pump house” according to this source.

Well that’s it. Just another nice day with ham radio.

Luv ‘n’ ruins,

KM1NDY