• Site Review

US-11633 Hockomock Swamp WMA

I seem to be spending a lot of time in swamps lately. It’s actually not a bad time here in New England to be thinking about swamps – the summer and fall of 2024 were very dry here, and many areas that would normally be impassable are now hike-able. US-11501 Chockalog Swamp is a perfect […]

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• Site Review

US-2424 Callahan State Park

Autumn 2024 has been a great time to explore new POTA sites. The weather has been unseasonably mild, with temperatures reaching into the high 60s many days, and plenty of sunshine. Even better for POTA, most of the parks are closed for the season, which means that you pretty much have the place to yourself. […]

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• Site Review

US-11625 Erwin Wilder WMA

The father and son had bagged one pheasant, and the young boy was excited to show it to me, a beautiful male. It was a reminder that WMAs are set aside for both wildlife management and hunting. Three more hunters were in the process of gearing up to head in to the fields. I would […]

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• Site Review

US-2464 Whitehall State Park

Whitehall is one of the small handful of parks in my area that I’ve spent some time at in my pre-POTA life, kayaking on the reservoir and hiking the six-mile loop trail. I’d already spent some quality time here and had an idea of where I wanted to operate from going in. The park is […]

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• Site Review

US-2417 Ashland State Park

In early November 2024 New England was blessed with a short stretch of 80ºF, sunny weather in what had already been a mild fall. I took the opportunity to visit a few new state parks in my area, a double treat since the parks here in Massachusetts close in October, meaning that I more or […]

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• Site Review

US-11563 Quisset WMA

I’ve been burned a few times visiting parks that have had only a few activations. For a while I would get intrigued and excited when I’d find a nearby location that had only been activated one or two times, but then I realized that there usually was a reason. Looking at you, Canoe River WMA, […]

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• Site Review

US-5636 Mt. Greylock State Reserve

For some reason I thought it would be an easy thing to drive out to the summit of Mt. Greylock in Adams, three hours to my west in the Berkshires of Massachusetts, do a quick POTA + SOTA activation, and then hit one or two other parks in the area as part of my overall […]

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• Site Review

US-2678 Silver Lake State Park

Earlier in the day I’d spent time activating US-4913 Hodgman State Forest in Amherst, New Hampshire, and before that I’d been wandering the grounds of the New England Amateur Radio Fest over in New Boston, not far from Manchester. I live close to Providence, Rhode Island, and it was a long enough journey to NEAR-Fest […]

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• Site Review

US-4913 Hodgman State Forest

Just 8 acres perched on a rubble pile...

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• Site Review

US-1708 Quaddick State Park, CT

Another beautiful fall day embraced us here in New England in late October with several days of temperatures in the mid-70s and sunny blue skies. I’d spent the past few days prepping, cleaning, and sealing a large deck area and felt the pull of the woods that we all feel in POTA. I’ve been enjoying […]

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