A gritty POTA activation at Cantley Park (GB-5398)

To celebrate Star Wars Day (May the fourth be with you), The Bracknell Amateur Radio Club (BARC) boldly went where no club has gone before for a Parks On The Air (POTA) activation at Cantley Park in Wokingham.

While the weather held out, the force was not with us. The ionosphere and the local noise floor had other plans. It wasn’t the easiest day on the air, but as any ham knows, the toughest contacts are often the most rewarding.

From the moment we keyed up, it was clear we were in for a battle.
We were met with significant QRM and a fluctuating noise floor that threatened to bury even the strongest signals. Despite the “wall of noise,” the team persevered, shifting frequencies and narrowing filters to pull callsigns out of the static. It was a true test of operator skill and equipment performance.

We decided to run a dual-mode operation to maximize our chances. For the CW side of things, we deployed the ultra-compact Yuerao FX-4CR; its sharp filtering was absolutely essential for digging out Morse code through the interference. Gopan M0XUU experimented with tuned elevated radials on his vertical whip and successfully made 10 contacts. For SSB, Daniel G4DGC leaned on the reliable Icom IC-7000, using its DSP capabilities to help clarify voice signals. He managed 5 SSB contacts. This made a total of 15 contacts, successfully qualifying the park despite the challenging conditions.

A huge thank you to the club members who came out to support the activation and to the hunters who had the patience to stick with us through the fades. Cantley Park proved to be a challenging RF environment this time around, but we walked away with some great field experience and a successful log. We also had some good interactions with members of the public.

The FX-4CR continues to punch well above its weight class. Even when the bands are noisy, that little radio finds a way to hear the weak ones.