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

HunterDateTimeBandModeFrequency(MHz)Notes
KA7PTW20231210171520mSSB14.248
WZ0D20231210171520mSSB14.248
AF40D20231210171520mSSB14.280
K7HTM20231210171520mSSB14.280
AI7RV20231210171520mSSB14.280
KD5EDL20231210171520mSSB14.280
W7BTM20231210171520mSSB14.280
AI7QF20231210174220mSSB14.280
K1KHJ20231210174220mSSB14.280
KI5NBN20231210175120mSSB14.280
W0CKI20231210175220mSSB14.280
VE7AWS20231210175320mSSB14.280
KK7LXU20231210175820mSSB14.280
N9RDX20231210180320mSSB14.280
W3VHF20231210180320mSSB14.280
KC0ZVN20231210180420mSSB14.280
K5MPD20231210180420mSSB14.280
W7VOZ20231210180620mSSB14.280
W0HTH20231210180720mSSB14.280
WA2JAL20231210180720mSSB14.280
VA3YA3/P20231210180820mSSB14.280
WB5Q20231210181520mSSB14.280
KJ7NFM20231210181720mSSB14.280
AK4QR20231210182220mSSB14.280
KI6MUH20231210182320mSSB14.280
AE0TL20231210183020mSSB14.280
N5SLY20231210183020mSSB14.280
N9EAJ20231210183220mSSB14.280
KK7CJV20231210183320mSSB14.280
W0TNT20231210183320mSSB14.280QRP
N9CDX20231210183420mSSB14.280
KQ4AEO20231210183420mSSB14.280
WB7ASV20231210183520mSSB14.280
K04GAR20231210183720mSSB14.280
K1BTA20231210183820mSSB14.2801st HF contact
W7SRH20231210184120mSSB14.276
KO6BLM20231210184120mSSB14.276
KN6KQA2023121019042mFM146.520contacted from my handheld

Files

Photos


Copyright Eric Urban 2023, or the respective entity where indicated