Hermann, Missouri POTA weekend

A vacation to Hermann, Missouri, a small city along the Missouri River about an hour and a half west of St Louis was a great opportunity to activate some parks. Over three days I activated three state parks and added a fourth one on the way home.

# Deutschheim State Historic Site (US-3346)

The Deutschheim state historic stite is a collection of historic buildings in downtown Hermann. The site’s layout isn’t immediately clear from various maps. There are four buildings on the corner of W 2nd and Market Street and a fifth toward the southwest end of the block on W 2nd street. Two of the larger buildings have small yet nicely kept gardens and lawns with park benches along the sidewalk. The main park office is on the corner of W 2nd and Market at 101 W 2nd and includes a small gift shop, a modern restroom and a small museum. Hours are limited and park staff give tours a few times a day during which time the park office may be closed.

The notes on POTA.app website at the time of this writing state “This is an in-town park. You must park on the street and carry equipment to a park bench to activate” so I planned on bringing an antenna that would allow me to operate from one of the park benches. I had hoped to talk to the park staff but the park office was closed while they gave a tour. Initially I setup my IC-705 with an Elecraft AX-1 antenna and a capacitance hat on the park bench in front of 130 W 2nd street. That setup seemed like the only obvious solution to operating according to the notes but I quickly discovered that it was not ideal. The capacitance hat brings down the SWR to a very reasonable level with a few adjustments of the whip length but I think the antenna just isn’t efficient enough for SSB QRP operations. I immediately made a good contact on 20 meters with a 55 signal report but didn’t have a single QSO over the next hour. I gave up and went to a local winery for lunch.

The next day we activated another park before stopping by the park office again to ask the park staff about a better place to operate from. I believe we spoke with the park manager, Lori, who was very helpful and suggested a small patch of lawn at the back of the yard behind 109 W 2nd St. She walked us over to the spot which was perfect for setting up with the Chelegance MC-750 and a lawn chair. Half an hour later I had 23 QSOs in the log, all on 20 meters SSB.

# Katy Trail State Park (US-1766)

The Katy Trail is a 239 mile long rail trail that runs along the Missouri River from north of St. Louis to Southeast of Kansas City, with an additional trail that links up to Kansas City. There are a number of trailheads, including one just outside Hermann in McKittrick. There’s a smallish gravel parking lot, pit toilet, information display and picnic table. There’s also an old silo that has murals painted on two sides. It was pretty quiet on a Monday morning so I setup the MC-750 and operated from the picnic table with the IC-706. I saw a report that 10 meters was open to Europe but after about 15 minutes I had no luck calling CQ or hunting other activators. I switched to 20 meters SSB had got 21 QSOs in about half an hour.

# Grand Bluffs State Conservation Area (US-10165)

The Grand Bluffs Conservation area is about 30 minutes west of Hermann. State conservation areas aren’t usually as developed as state parks but the Grand Bluffs conservation area is a small exception. There’s an overlook on the bluff about 300ft above the Missouri River bottoms with a mile long trail connecting it to a smallish gravel parking lot. The trail is rated as moderate or steep depending on the souce and part of the trail passes through an easement on private property. We opted to set up in the parking lot and skip the trail hike. There’s no picnic tables or other amenities so I just setup the MC-750 in the grass and operated with the IC-705 in my car. Verizon cell coverage was spotty so I wasn’t able to spot myself. After about 45 minutes I had 17 QSOs in the log, all on 20 meters SSB.

# Castlewood State Park (US-1751)

On the way home we stopped at Castlewood State Park. Castlewood is a very popular park about 40 minutes southwest of St. Louis. The park has a number of trails, access to the Meramec river, a playground and picnic areas vith shelters and nice outdoor toilets. I set up on a picnic table near a volleyball court. The fall weather was just starting to make things chilly and the winds were 15 knots gusting to 20 so I used the MC-750’s spike and watched the whip flail around in the wind as I operated. 12 QSOs in half an hour on 20 meters SSB, a few park to parks.