On Friday, 4/18, I will be making a trip out to western Kansas to activate Lake Scott State Park (US-5717), Little Jerusalem State Park (US-2352), and hopefully Cedar Bluff State Park (US-2330) on satellites. This trip is my first step in 2025 toward (finally) wrapping up my goal of activating all Kansas State Parks on satellites that I originally started in 2020. The first two parks are in DM98 which is a relatively rare grid for this part of the country, and Cedar Bluff State Park is in EM08 which is also relatively sought after, so I am ready for a busy day!
My plans to get there include taking an overnight Amtrak train Thursday evening, picking up a rental car in Garden City, Kansas Friday morning, hitting up the three parks, and making it back to Garden City in time to take Amtrak back to Kansas City in the other direction. As such, the schedule will likely change a bit, particularly with regards to Cedar Bluff State Park as that will be more challenging to fit into the rove. I do have decent buffer around the train schedule, so while Amtrak is notoriously unreliable, I think there is a good chance I make it to all three parks. Note I will not leave a park until I get at least 10 contacts and can properly “activate” the park entity, so Cedar Bluff State Park is the park at highest risk for this trip.
My plans in terms of POTA parks and satellite passes are listed below. I also posted these details on Hams.at and will keep those updated as best I can if plans change. Hams.at does not yet support Hades-R/SO-124, so that won’t be listed. Additionally, it appears SONATE-2 will be turned off while I am there, but I still have it listed in case that changes.
Lake Scott State Park (POTA US-2352 and DM98):
- 10:03 (15:03 UTC) – ISS Pass (+8m10s)
- 10:29 (15:29 UTC) – AO-91 Pass (+11m11s)
- 10:37 (15:37 UTC) – AO-123 Pass (+10m30s)
- 11:07 (16:07 UTC) – JO-97 (+11m32s) 145.870 fixed downlink. This pass may be omitted if I reach ten contacts on the preceding passes
Little Jerusalem State Park (POTA US-5717 and DM98):
- 11:40 (16:40 UTC) – ISS Pass (+9m27s)
- 12:10 (17:10 UTC) – SO-50 Pass (+11m14s)
- 12:47 (17:47 UTC) – HADES-R/SO-124 (+11m22s)
- 13:17 (18:17 UTC) – ISS Pass (+11m51s)
- 13:48 (18:48 UTC) – SO-50 Pass (+13m12s)
Cedar Bluff State Park (POTA US-2330 and EM08):
- 16:09 (21:09 UTC) – SONATE-2 APRS (+11m7s) Pass unlikely
- 16:35 (21:35 UTC) – RS-44 (+21m28s) 145.960 fixed uplink.
- 17:13 (22:13 UTC) – AO-7 (+20m8s) 145.940 fixed downlink
- 18:37 (23:37 UTC) – PO-101 Pass (+12m57s)