Activation Report: Sawgrass Lake Park (US-6700) — September 30, 2026
- 5 min reading time
82 FT8 contacts on 20m and 15m from the front seat of the car at Sawgrass Lake Park (US-6700), on 80 watts into a mobile antenna, park qualified in 30 minutes, with France and Spain on 15m at the end.
Mode: FT8 (Digital) · Bands: 20m / 15m · Radio: Icom IC-706MKIIG · Contacts: 82 · Park: US-6700
I ran this one from the front seat of the car, in the air conditioning. First call at 8:04 AM, tenth at 8:34, so the park was qualified in thirty minutes, and by 11:28 the log had 82 contacts. My previous best activation was 75.
The park
Sawgrass Lake Park (US-6700) in St. Petersburg. The last write-up I did from here was July 16, five watts into an HF-010 and 12 contacts before a storm ended it. This time I stayed in the car. The view from the front seat was a lawn, some oaks and a split-rail fence.
The setup
An Icom IC-706MKIIG in the dash, the Harvest OUTB2000 HF/6M mobile antenna lip-mounted on the trunk, a DigiRig into a laptop running WSJT-X, and an ATU-100 in the line. SWR on 20m was 1.04 and the radio was set to 80 W. The tuner display in the photo reads 81 W, so this was not a QRP day.
On the air
First call was KE0N at 8:04 on 20m. The tenth was AF5ZO at 8:34. After that it kept coming. My notes say 24 contacts in the first hour and that I think that is a first. The log says the busiest hour was later, 31 starting at 9:24. Most of it was the lower 48, with Ontario (VA3TS) and Puerto Rico (WP4SZA) on 20m along the way.
At 11:08 I moved to 15m for the last stretch. Five contacts there. F5DGQ in France was first, then K1BZ, then EA4T in Spain at 11:16, then KE0PX, and K2BAG at 11:28 was the last one in the log. The PSKReporter map at 11:32 had Europe filled in.
Would I activate here again?
Yes.
73 de W4GGJ
Activation Stats
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Park | Sawgrass Lake Park (US-6700) |
| Date | September 30, 2026 |
| QSOs | 82 (previous best: 75) |
| Bands / Mode | 20m (77) and 15m (5) / FT8 |
| Frequency | 14.074 MHz (20m), 21.074 MHz (15m) |
| Power | 80 W |
| Antenna | Harvest OUTB2000 HF/6M mobile, lip-mounted on the trunk |
| Measured SWR | 1.04 on 20m (ATU-100) |
| Grid Squares Worked | 57 |
| Call Areas | All 10 US call areas (0–9) + VA3, EA4, F5, WP4 |
| First QSO | 8:04 AM EDT (KE0N, EN34) |
| Park Qualified | 8:34 AM EDT (AF5ZO, EN52, 10th contact) |
| Last QSO | 11:28 AM EDT (K2BAG, DM33, 15m) |
| Session Length | 3 hours 24 minutes |
| Best Hour | 31 QSOs (9:24–10:24 AM EDT) |
| Hottest 15 Minutes | 9 QSOs (8:48–9:03 AM EDT) |
| Furthest Contact | F5DGQ IN94 (France), 4,505 mi / 7,251 km |
| DXCC Entities | 5 (USA, Canada, Puerto Rico, Spain, France) |
| Best Report Received | +30 (AA6TB, FM16) |
All-Time POTA Stats
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Activations | 37 |
| Unique Parks | 17 |
| Activation QSOs | 896 |
| Parks Hunted | 428 (21 entities) |
| Hunted QSOs | 521 |
Gear used in this activation: Icom IC-706MKIIG · Harvest OUTB2000 HF/6M · ATU-100 · DigiRig · laptop running WSJT-X