NPOTAthon

     For those of you who have been waiting to hear my announcement about my "big" activation - here it is!  My regular readers will get a sneak at this post first, but beginning the morning of Monday July 18th, I'll start dropping lines to the social media world at large.  If you read this before then, consider yourself "in-the-know!" 
     Update!  Check out the Amateure Radio Newsline story about this activation!
​     After about a month of planning, we are only a few days from the big event.  Private pilots go for solo flight records for things like time and distance.  As a NPOTA activator, here are the plans for my upcoming solo "flight" attempt:

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400 + miles
24 hours
12 park activations

     Thats right!  In a single day I am going to attempt to activate 12 different NPS units.  I'm not sure what the current record is for activations in a single 24 hour period, by a single operator, but I'm going to attempt to put this in the books. 

     I'll have a special QSL card to send to any US stations who contact me along the way to help me out with this mission (I'll send cards outside the US if you send an SASE to the address on QRZ.)  Your card will be customized with the locations I was at when you contacted me, and I'll give special recognition right here on my blog (for what that's worth....) to the person that contacts me at the most locations, or to anyone who contacts me at all the stops I make.  Depending on the number of contacts I make, I may even create a "scoreboard" after the day is complete, so everyone who contacted me can see where they landed!

     Please ride along for my adventure, on August 1st, starting at 5:22 EST (9:22 UTC).  My planned schedule and route is below.  Because of the time pressure I am putting on myself, I'll most likely be sticking to 40 meter phone, starting at 7.220 and sliding up in frequency until I find a clear spot.  During mid day I may move to 20 meters depending on the conditions.  
     Times listed below are approximate based on travel and band conditions, but represent the earliest time I will likely be starting each park:

Leg 1

• Gettysburg National Military Park, MP03, 5:22 EST, 9:22 UTC
• Eisenhower National Historic Park, NS13, 6:05 EST, 10:05 UTC
• Catoctin Mountain Park, DZ01, 7:09 EST, 11:09 UTC
• Antietam National Battlefield, BF01, 8:15 EST, 12:15 UTC
• Harpers Ferry National Historic Park, HP14, 9:12 EST, 13:12 UTC
• Cedar Creek and Belle Grove, HP06, 10:37 EST, 14:37 UTC

Leg 2

• Blue Ridge Parkway, PK01, 12:30 EST, 16:30 UTC
• Shenandoah National Park*, NP51, 13:02 EST, 17:02 UTC
• Appalachian National Scenic Trail*, TR01, 13:02 EST, 17:02 UTC
• Bluestone National Scenic River, WR02, 17:23 EST, 21:23 UTC
• New River Gorge National River, RV03, 19:09 EST, 23:09 UTC
• Gauley River National Recreation Area, RC09, 20:01 EST, 0:01 UTC

                                                       ​* These 2 parks area a 2-for-1 activation

     I will attempt to operate for about 30 - 45 minutes at each location, but I will stay longer if needed to reach the minimum number of required contacts for the activation.  As long as I don't get too far behind my planned schedule (I have left some wiggle room) I'll try to stay at each location for at least 30 minutes to give everyone trying to join in the fun an equal chance.  The only exception to this will be the Appalachian Trail / Shenandoah activation where I am planning for 90 minutes, since I will need to leave my vehicle and move my a gear a few yards on foot in order to satisfy the NPOTA requirements for trail activations.  I recommend checking my Facebook page, or the NPOTA Facebook group, if you are trying to keep tabs on when I arrive at each park (links provided at the end of this post).

     While I was planning the trip, I wanted to make sure I could get in and out of places quickly, so aside from the above activation, the rest of the activations will be from my vehicle.  The first 2 units are parks that technically are not open yet at the time of my activations, however they also have public roads that remain open 24 hours passing through them, so those 2 stops will be from pull offs along those local roads that the park has for stopping to view markers, etc.  I also e-mailed the superintendent of those parks, so there shouldn't be any surprises.  
     For the river activations, I was lucky enough to be able to locate boat ramps that I can park along to be able to get within the necessary distance of the river. Luckily, all the parks I will be hitting in the evening are open 24 hours, so I'll still be in good shape when it gets dark.

     If anyone wishes to contribute to the event, I am asking for no monetary support.  All I need is your best wishes, prayers for safety on my travels, and for you to be there on the other end of the radio waves when I call:

CQ CQ CQ November 3 Victor Echo Mike for Parks on the Air

I hope you can join me on my NPOTAthon!  When the day comes I'll try to do some live posts on my facebook page and in the National Parks on the Air Facebook group.

Do you think I can do it?  If not, how many parks do you think I'll get?  Leave a comment and let me know!

​73!