Trail Activation: Capital State Trail With Imminent Rain

The afternoon after my sky picture, I went out to one of Wisconsin's newer POTA entities (Capital State Trail, K-9773) after work to pick up another activation. One of my hunted P2P contacts included a request for a station setup picture, so this is for VA5MUD who was operating from VE-0111. This was a quick activation cut right at 10 QSOs due to the arrival of the anticipated rain.

Antenna setup using the trail emergency locator marker as a support for the fiberglass pole.

Sun getting low behind the trees of the horizon and the developing storm moving in from the southwest. The rain was visible on the local weather radar before I left the office.

Operating position just getting started. The TP-III is just getting used for PTT, sorry.

Continued developing clouds indicating the approaching rain.

Vacating the operating position as the sprinkles started to develop further. Teardown of the station was hasty and, fortunately, a well-practiced sequence.

In the end, the activation was a couple P2P on 10m, VA5MUD on 15m, taking that 15m frequency and getting a few more, then rounding out with a couple on 17m before the rain. It was a jog up the hill to the parking area to get everything back in the car before the rain really set in.

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