This year I participated in the annual POTA summer Support Your Parks event using the Ham Radio Clubhouse club call of W2HRC. Like last year, I went on a mini rove to several parks in the area. Also like last year, it was a lot of FUN.
I noticed this year was that there seemed to be more stations out there activating parks. There were also a larger presence of club calls being used, which is awesome! I love the idea of groups of hams getting into POTA.
Bringing Out the Big Guns
Normally when doing POTA, I'll bring along my Yaesu 891 or Icom 705, and do my logging with HAMRS on my phone or tablet. For the Support Your Parks event I brought out "big guns" with my shack rig, my Yaesu 991A and logged with my Panasonic ToughBook.
Yaesu 991A - It really isn't a stretch for me to bring out my 991A. The 991A, like most transceivers for amateur radio are more than capable for field use. They are ruggedly enough built for this type of activity.
I bought my 991A knowing that I would be taking it out of the shack. In fact, the rails I bought for it from Portable Zero arrived before my 991A did. For well over a year I was caught in a loop of "analysis paralyses" on if I should buy the Yaesu 991A or the Icom 7300 for my base HF rig.
The event that finally pushed me over the edge for the 991A was seeing my friend use his during 2021 ARRL Field Day. The "shack in the box" concept of the 991A showed its promise to me when my friend was working SSB 2 meters during Field Day. Although let's be completely honest, I would have been very happy if I went the route of getting the 7300. Both are fantastic rigs.
What I like about using the 991A over the Yaesu 891 that I usually use for QRO POTA is the waterfall display. I will stand by my claim that, a great display is not needed for portable radio. Although I can't deny having a live water fall is a plus for quickly finding an open space on the bands during a busy weekend, like Support Your Parks weekends.
Panasonic ToughBook - I bought a used ToughBook off of eBay months ago with the plan to out fit it as my ham radio laptop. I like the idea of a rugged laptop that would hold up to rough use. For the most part, I've used it in the shack logging SOTA and POTA chasing with HAMRS, but would rarely bring out for an activation. The backpacker in me just can't get past the volume and weight savings with using my tablet.
But with the amount of use I got out of it with my mini rove, I am definitely going to use it for all by my hike in SOTA and POTA outings. The decent keyboard coupled with the touch screen are a nice combination and easier for me to use over my tablet. Even when I used my wireless keyboard with the tablet.
Now, I just need to get proficient with the digital modes to get the most out of the ToughBook.