Activation Report: Sawgrass Lake Park (US-6700) — May 5, 2026
- 3 min reading time
Mode: FT8 (Digital) · Band: 20m · Radio: Xiegu X6200 · Contacts: 10 · Park: US-6700
Sawgrass Lake Park, POTA reference US-6700, right here in St. Petersburg. 10 QSOs in the log — exactly at the minimum — and a story worth telling. This wasn't just another Sawgrass activation. Today I unboxed a brand new mobile HF antenna, installed it on the car, and made my first contact all before 8:30 in the morning.
The antenna
The star of today's activation was the Harvest Outback 2000 — a nine band HF mobile antenna covering 80m through 6m at up to 200 watts. It arrived yesterday and came straight to the field this morning without a bench test, without a shakedown run, without anything. Straight out of the box, installed on the car, and on the air. The antenna mount made the vehicle install clean and straightforward.
The park
Sawgrass Lake Park is a home park at this point — one of the largest maple swamps on the Gulf Coast, over 400 acres of genuine Florida wilderness tucked right behind the neighborhoods of St. Petersburg. Free admission, easy access, and elevated boardwalks through the cypress and swamp bay canopy. It's been in the rotation since the very beginning and it keeps delivering.
The setup
Arrived at 7:10 AM. Unboxed the Harvest Outback 2000, ran the coax, mounted the antenna, and got the Xiegu X6200 set up on the front seat with the Raspberry Pi 4 running DigiPi alongside it. Android tablet mounted on the steering wheel for spotting and control. The DIY LiFePO4 battery box powered everything from the back.
First contact hit the log at 8:29 AM — 79 minutes from parking the car to working a station.
On the air
Auto-tuned to 40m first and tested the band — conditions were marginal. QSY'd to 20m and found more signals, more activity, and a better contact rate. PSK Reporter confirmed the signal was propagating well with the new antenna — reaching out across the map on 5 watts through a mobile antenna installed that same morning.
Then the bands collapsed. 20m dropped out almost completely and contacts dried up. Pushed through to 10 QSOs — exactly the minimum to qualify — and called it. The bands had other plans today and there was no point fighting them.
Park qualified. Log uploaded to pota.app. The Harvest Outback 2000 did its job.
Would I activate here again?
Sawgrass is always a yes. And the Harvest Outback 2000 gets a proper field review once I've had more time with it — today was just the first run.
Full log uploaded to pota.app. 73 de W4GGJ
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