Activation Report: Sunshine Skyway Fishing Pier State Park (US-1916) — June 23, 2026

• June 23 2026
• 5 min reading time

A 20-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 Dominican Republic DX.

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

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Twenty contacts on five watts, a dozen grid squares, and a little Caribbean DX before nine in the morning — all of it logging itself in real time while I sat on the sand and watched Tampa Bay. A Skyway morning that more than earned the early alarm.

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 set up at the north rest area, down where the sand meets the water — open bay on the horizon, a steady breeze, and nothing between my antenna and the salt water. It’s a repeat park for me, and mornings like this are exactly why.

The setup

This was a Radioddity HF-010 run. I planted the vertical out on the sand near the waterline and ran the coax back to the tailgate, where the Xiegu X6200 sat at 5 watts QRP with DigiPi handling WSJT-X and the tablet up front for logging. Operating out of the back of the truck isn’t glamorous, but it’s fast, it’s shaded, and it keeps everything in reach. The HF-010 tuned up beautifully — 1.18 SWR on 20m, no tuner drama. Clip it together, check it, get on the air.

And just like at De Soto, the log built itself. Every FT8 contact streamed straight into TavaOne // Activate the moment it completed, with the qualification counter climbing live while I watched the water — no ADIF export, no second logging app to babysit.

On the air

First in the log was W1AW/0 at 8:08 AM — always fun to catch the ARRL HQ call out portable — and seconds later HI3QMT in the Dominican Republic answered. Caribbean DX on five watts before I’d even settled into my chair. From there the log filled steadily, mostly Midwest and Northeast, and the park qualified at 8:52. I kept running through 9:28 just because the morning was too good to pack up.

Final tally: 20 QSOs on 20m FT8, all at QRP power. Contacts landed across a dozen grid squares, with the best DX going to HI3QMT in the Dominican Republic — right around 1,030 miles on five watts and a vertical stuck in beach sand. At one point the reception map showed 352 stations had decoded me in the previous 15 minutes. The reach this little antenna gets keeps impressing me.

Would I activate here again?

YES. The Skyway is a low-friction, high-reward spot — open horizon over salt water, fast tailgate setup, and a view that makes any slow stretch on the band feel like a bonus instead of a problem.

73 de W4GGJ

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Activation Stats

All-Time POTA Stats

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Gear used in this activation: Xiegu X6200 · Radioddity HF-010 · NanoVNA · 50L MOLLE Backpack · LiFePO4 Batteries

Tags

20 meters amateur radio Caribbean DX DigiPi Digital Dominican Republic Field Operations Florida FT8 ham radio HI3QMT Parks on the Air Pinellas County portable HF POTA QRP Radioddity HF-010 Skyway Sunshine Skyway Fishing Pier State Park Tampa Bay TavaOne Activate US-1916 W1AW WSJT-X Xiegu X6200

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