Activation Report: Myakka River State Park (US-1904) — May 25, 2026
- 3 min reading time
Mode: FT8 (Digital) · Band: 20m · Radio: Xiegu X6200 · Contacts: 18 · Park: US-1904
Memorial Day activation — Myakka River State Park, POTA reference US-1904, out on State Road 72 east of Sarasota. 18 QSOs in the log and a park that earned a spot on the come-back list.
The park
Myakka is one of those places that earns its reputation. Over 37,000 acres, one of Florida's oldest and largest state parks, and home to a river the state legislature saw fit to designate as a Florida Wild and Scenic River back in 1985. The Myakka runs through two shallow lakes connected by wetlands, prairies, and hammocks, and the wildlife presence is constant — alligators in the water, birds working the shoreline, deer out on the prairie at dusk. The dry prairie habitat that covers more than half the park is a globally imperiled ecosystem that Myakka is actively working to restore through prescribed burns. It doesn't look like much from the road. Get inside and it's a different story entirely.
The setup
Operating spot was Fishermen's Loop, right along the river bank at a picnic table. Good spot — shade, clear ground for radials, and a front-row seat to whatever was moving through the water. The Radioddity HF-010 went up in about 15 minutes. SWR came in at 1.107 — solid. Xiegu X6200 running 5 watts, DigiPi on the Raspberry Pi 4 running WSJT-X v2.7.0, controlled via VNC on the Android tablet over 4G LTE. On the air by 9:28 AM.
On the air
20m was up and down all morning. Not terrible, but not the wide-open conditions you hope for on a holiday weekend. PSKReporter showed 91 reception reports in the first pass and climbed to 197 by 9:52 — the band heard us fine. Signals were inconsistent though. Some sequences went clean, others took the full exchange to push through.
First QSO at 9:39 AM. Ran until 10:47 AM. 18 contacts logged across a solid eastern US spread — Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New England, Texas, the Gulf Coast. Best exchange of the day was K4YT, sent -06 received -01. K1JLB came back at -03 sent. KC8ZKS was first in the log and they were a clean +04 copy.
The whole time the antenna was up, alligators were moving through the river. Not one or two — several, just cruising through like they owned the place. Because they do.
Would I activate here again?
Yes — but I want a rematch on a better band day. The spot at Fishermen's Loop is easy to set up and right on the water. The park is genuinely one of the best I've activated in Florida. 20m on Memorial Day morning wasn't its best, and Myakka deserves a full log. Already thinking about coming back on 40m on a quieter weekday. Went back in after teardown to hike the canopy walkway and the bridge trail. Worth doing every time.
Full log uploaded to POTA and LoTW. 73 de W4GGJ