Activation Report: Sawgrass Lake Park (US-6700) — May 7, 2026
- 4 min reading time
Mode: FT8 (Digital) · Band: 20m · Radio: Xiegu X6200 · Contacts: 30 · Park: US-6700 · Antenna: Radioddity HF-010
Sawgrass Lake Park, POTA reference US-6700. Day two of the Radioddity HF-010 field test. 30 QSOs in the log, a corrected antenna assembly, a beautiful Florida morning, and a milestone I didn't see coming — 50,000 TikTok likes while live on the air.
The park
Sawgrass Lake Park is the home park and it delivered again today. Cool morning with a slight breeze and plenty of shade from the cypress canopy. Very few people around early. The elevated boardwalk over the water gave us a wildlife moment worth mentioning — a group of baby anhinga's in a tree branch right over the water, close enough to see clearly from the operating table. That's the kind of thing that only happens when you're outside with a radio instead of sitting in the shack.
The antenna correction
Yesterday's deployment had the HF-010 assembled incorrectly. I had the 5–18 MHz tunable loading coil connected at the base of the antenna, then both extensions above that, then the telescoping whip on top. That's backwards.
The correct assembly is: antenna base → both extensions → loading coil → telescoping whip. Today's deployment followed the proper order and the difference was immediately noticeable. Tuned the antenna with the Nano VNA and got a 1.16 SWR on 20 meters — down from 1.23 yesterday and a noticeably cleaner tune.
Setup time today was 2–3 minutes. Takedown was 2–3 minutes. Both were filmed for the review.
On the air
First contact at 8:13 AM. Last contact at 11:51 AM. All on 20 meters FT8 running 5 watts through the Xiegu X6200 and DigiPi.
Propagation today told a clear story on PSK Reporter. Signal was being heard strongly across the northern and northeastern United States early in the session, with some West Coast reception that faded relatively quickly. The interesting note — the signal was skipping right over the southern states entirely. Not being heard in Florida's neighbors at all while reaching Minnesota and Maine. That's skip propagation doing exactly what it does on 20 meters at that time of day.
30 total QSOs. Park qualified comfortably.
The TikTok live — and a milestone
Went live on TikTok during the activation and had strong engaged viewer numbers throughout the session. While live I hit 50,000 total likes on TikTok — a milestone that caught me by surprise mid-activation. Shared the achievement on air with the viewers watching. The baby anhinga's made an appearance on the live as well, which got a great reaction from the chat.
HF-010 impressions — day two
With the correct assembly today the antenna performed even better than yesterday. PSK Reporter coverage was strong and the waterfall was active throughout the morning. The 2–3 minute setup and takedown time is genuinely impressive for a multi-band HF antenna system. The carrying case keeps everything compact and organized.
The full two-day review with all data, SWR readings, propagation maps, and contact statistics will be published separately. The short version: this antenna exceeded expectations on both days.
Full log uploaded to pota.app. 73 de W4GGJ
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