Parks on the air at K-0189 Don Edwards San Francisco National Bay Wildlife Refuge
I operated from Inner Bair Island within park K-0189. Most contacts were made on 20 meters using my portable vertical antenna. The location is at the end of a walking trail with a nice elevated wooden structure with benches to sit on. To enter the walking trail there is a small gate from the nearby road. There is no parking nearby that I could see.
I was able to operate until my portable lithium ion battery died. I didn't have much trouble reaching stations. I started off my activation at low power. Then I doubled my transmit power whenever I'd got no response calling CQ. I also made a contact on 2m FM from my handheld radio. Since the location is right on the water I think you can reach most of the coastal bay area with just a handheld.
This spot is directly underneath the approach for the airport runway, so some planes can be a bit noisy as they land. The day I was there the wind was minmal. When the wind would blow I would hear RF noise on the 20m band that sounded like arcing. Directly behind the park is a very large set of high tension lines. I'm guessing the noise I heard was the insulators moving around. If it's very windy I don't think you could operate HF from this location.
Contacts
Hunter | Date | Time | Band | Mode | Frequency(MHz) | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
KA7PTW | 20231210 | 1715 | 20m | SSB | 14.248 | |
WZ0D | 20231210 | 1715 | 20m | SSB | 14.248 | |
AF40D | 20231210 | 1715 | 20m | SSB | 14.280 | |
K7HTM | 20231210 | 1715 | 20m | SSB | 14.280 | |
AI7RV | 20231210 | 1715 | 20m | SSB | 14.280 | |
KD5EDL | 20231210 | 1715 | 20m | SSB | 14.280 | |
W7BTM | 20231210 | 1715 | 20m | SSB | 14.280 | |
AI7QF | 20231210 | 1742 | 20m | SSB | 14.280 | |
K1KHJ | 20231210 | 1742 | 20m | SSB | 14.280 | |
KI5NBN | 20231210 | 1751 | 20m | SSB | 14.280 | |
W0CKI | 20231210 | 1752 | 20m | SSB | 14.280 | |
VE7AWS | 20231210 | 1753 | 20m | SSB | 14.280 | |
KK7LXU | 20231210 | 1758 | 20m | SSB | 14.280 | |
N9RDX | 20231210 | 1803 | 20m | SSB | 14.280 | |
W3VHF | 20231210 | 1803 | 20m | SSB | 14.280 | |
KC0ZVN | 20231210 | 1804 | 20m | SSB | 14.280 | |
K5MPD | 20231210 | 1804 | 20m | SSB | 14.280 | |
W7VOZ | 20231210 | 1806 | 20m | SSB | 14.280 | |
W0HTH | 20231210 | 1807 | 20m | SSB | 14.280 | |
WA2JAL | 20231210 | 1807 | 20m | SSB | 14.280 | |
VA3YA3/P | 20231210 | 1808 | 20m | SSB | 14.280 | |
WB5Q | 20231210 | 1815 | 20m | SSB | 14.280 | |
KJ7NFM | 20231210 | 1817 | 20m | SSB | 14.280 | |
AK4QR | 20231210 | 1822 | 20m | SSB | 14.280 | |
KI6MUH | 20231210 | 1823 | 20m | SSB | 14.280 | |
AE0TL | 20231210 | 1830 | 20m | SSB | 14.280 | |
N5SLY | 20231210 | 1830 | 20m | SSB | 14.280 | |
N9EAJ | 20231210 | 1832 | 20m | SSB | 14.280 | |
KK7CJV | 20231210 | 1833 | 20m | SSB | 14.280 | |
W0TNT | 20231210 | 1833 | 20m | SSB | 14.280 | QRP |
N9CDX | 20231210 | 1834 | 20m | SSB | 14.280 | |
KQ4AEO | 20231210 | 1834 | 20m | SSB | 14.280 | |
WB7ASV | 20231210 | 1835 | 20m | SSB | 14.280 | |
K04GAR | 20231210 | 1837 | 20m | SSB | 14.280 | |
K1BTA | 20231210 | 1838 | 20m | SSB | 14.280 | 1st HF contact |
W7SRH | 20231210 | 1841 | 20m | SSB | 14.276 | |
KO6BLM | 20231210 | 1841 | 20m | SSB | 14.276 | |
KN6KQA | 20231210 | 1904 | 2m | FM | 146.520 | contacted from my handheld |