Activation Report: Sunshine Skyway Fishing Pier State Park (US-1916) — August 11, 2026

• August 11 2026
• 7 min reading time

An 11-contact morning POTA activation at Sunshine Skyway Fishing Pier State Park (US-1916) on 20m FT8 — 5 watts QRP into a Radioddity HF-010, with the first contact of the day landing in Japan.

Mode: FT8 (Digital) · Band: 20m · Radio: Xiegu X6200 · Contacts: 11 · Park: US-1916

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Eleven contacts on five watts, ten grid squares, and the first station in the log was Japan. Then the tide came in and ran me off my own operating spot. A Skyway morning that gave and took in about equal measure.

The park

Sunshine Skyway Fishing Pier State Park (US-1916) is built from the approaches of the old Skyway bridge, reaching out into Tampa Bay. I was set up a little after 7:30 at the sandy stretch where the beach meets the water — clear sky, 84°F, and just enough breeze off the bay to keep it honest. It’s a repeat park for me, and the open salt water horizon is the whole reason why.

The setup

Standard kit. The Radioddity HF-010 staked in the sand, coax back to the tailgate, and the Xiegu X6200 at 5 watts QRP with DigiPi running WSJT-X and the tablet up front for logging. I put the NanoVNA on the antenna before anything else and it came back at 1.16 SWR with the marker sitting right on 14.070. No tuner drama — sweep it, confirm it, get on the air.

One thing was new: this was the maiden field test of the Starlink Mini as my hotspot. It rode flat on the roof of the truck, and I’ve been curious whether it earns its space in the pack for spotting and live logging. Conditions cooperated too — solar flux at 136 with a K index of 1, and 15, 17, and 20 meters all looking workable on paper.

On the air

I settled on 20 meters and called CQ POTA on 14.074. The first station to come back was JA2ATE in PM85 — Japan, at 7:55 AM. Seven thousand three hundred seventy-five miles on five watts, into a vertical planted in wet sand. I’ve had good DX days before, but I have never had the first contact of a morning be Japan. I sat there a second and just looked at the screen before hitting the log button.

After that the North American stations rolled in steadily. The Northeast stacked up first with KB1HKN (FN42), KE2DOS (FN24), and W2GGY (FN03), then the log opened west through AF0DB in EM28, KC9RXM in EN51, and K0OTC in EN26. The park qualified at 8:53 on N8AZE in EN91, and I closed on W9ZPL in EN61 at 9:01. Eleven QSOs across ten grids in sixty-six minutes, every one at five watts. The Starlink Mini held a solid connection start to finish — that experiment is a pass.

Then the part I’d rather not write down. I did not check the tide chart. High tide came in while I was working the run and the water kept advancing on my nice flat operating spot, until I had to relocate both the antenna and the car to stay out of it. Nothing got wet and nothing got damaged, but it was an avoidable scramble in the middle of a good stretch, and it cost me time on the air. Coastal park, sand-staked vertical, vehicle near the waterline — check the tide chart. I’ve been doing this long enough to know better.

One other note for anyone heading this way: there was a distinct smell at the water’s edge. Could be red tide, could be something else — I’m not qualified to say. It wasn’t bad enough to run me off, but check the current red tide status before you commit to a morning here.

Would I activate here again?

YES. Easy access, fast tailgate setup, and an unobstructed salt water takeoff in nearly every direction — the Japan contact on five watts makes the case better than I can. Skyway keeps earning its spot in the rotation.

Next time I’ll bring a tide chart.

73 de W4GGJ

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Activation Stats

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All-Time POTA Stats

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Gear used in this activation: Xiegu X6200 · Radioddity HF-010 · NanoVNA · 50L MOLLE Backpack · LiFePO4 Battery · DigiPi on RPi 4

Tags

20 meters 20m amateur radio DigiPi Digital DX field operations Florida FT8 ham radio JA2ATE Japan DX Parks on the Air Pinellas County portable HF POTA QRP Radioddity HF-010 Skyway Starlink Mini Sunshine Skyway Fishing Pier State Park Tampa Bay TavaOne Activate US-1916 W4GGJ WSJT-X Xiegu X6200

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