Test Driving the IC-705: An Impromptu POTA of Purgatory Chasm State Reserve & Sutton State Forest
The best I can tell, Purgatory Chasm State Reserve and Sutton State Forest are the same place. Or, maybe it would be better to say that Purgatory Chasm is a subsection of Sutton State Forest in Sutton Massachusetts. As many portable ham radio operators bemoan though, sometimes half of a Parks-On-The-Air challenge is figuring out where the official park boundaries are.
This particular distinction had no reason to concern me, at least I would have thought. Since I have been putting together a talk on portable radio operation for my local ham club and dealing with a dog that seems to have incurred the wrath of Montezuma, it seemed logical that this Easter weekend would come and go without a proper radio adventure. So, I was rather surprised when AA1F proposed a POTA activation of Sutton State Forest K-4708. And even more surprised to learn that, along with a slew of other sites in Massachusetts in the last couple weeks, Purgatory Chasm had been designated POTA park K-8423. Seemed we may be in for a POTA two-fer, if only we could figure out what counted as Sutton State Forest.
Believe it or not, I was not actually in the mood to operate. Maybe this wasn’t exactly true, more so that I did not want to operate my new Icom 705. Because that would mean figuring things out, and my brain was feeling a bit squishy. And I needed an antenna. And blah, blah, blah. I just wanted to mindlessly sit on a park bench with my old friend–the Yaesu 891–like slipping into comfy slippers. But, the 705 was sitting on the ottoman making me feel guilty… Its single contact on a Boston 2M net starting to be forgotten…
The remainder of a spool of green 12ga twisted copper wire, a spade terminal, a stretch of heat shrink tubing, and a few cable ties later, I had a 35.5′ random wire radiator to attach to an LDG 9:1 200W PEP unun I had purchased for just this occasion. The length was chosen, well, more or less at random. I would be as surprised as anyone to see what the VSWRs would be. Knowing I would not have a resonant antenna, I planned to focus on receive, analysis, and familiarizing myself with the new rig. I bowed out of activating this go-around, content to just sit and play with my radio.
AA1F made his contacts at Purgatory Chasm easily, pumping 100W from his 891 through a 20M half-wave endfed about 25 feet into the trees. I ran the end of my radiator over a branch about 20′ up to the LDG unun which I tied to a picnic table. A short couple foot length of coax attached it all to the IC-705. Turns out my random wire with a 9:1 unun was closest to resonant on 17M and 12M. QRO would allow for use of a matching unit and operation across several bands, but overall I think the antenna is too unrefined for a QRP rig like the 705. I am on the fence about acquiring a tuner for it. I could hear AA1F telling his hunters that he was going to activate Sutton State Forest soon. To be honest, though, I think he already was.
A web search, like a treasure hunt, led us to a rather cryptic set of directions to our next park. It turns out, the trails of Sutton State Forest are a 6 minute drive from Purgatory Chasm, mostly confirming to me that it is all the same tract of land. Fortunately, though, the kiosk at the trailhead has a confirmatory–if somewhat amusing–sign. The only indication we have ever found that Sutton State Forest truly exists.
After a short walk into the woods, I found nature’s perfect tabletop and set up my shack. I spent some unlucky time trying to find CW slow enough to decode. AA1F quickly secured his ten qsos and a few more to spare. We packed up and went home. Just another beautiful radio day…
73s de KM1NDY