My Northern Michigan "Micro DX-pedition"

              Hey yall ! Last year was my first field day as a new general class ham! I barely understood what contesting was much less how BIG a deal field day is! After browsing the ARRL website I found a somewhat local club to me (shout out to MARA ~ W8USA) and reached out to the club president asking if I could just come and observe. I was accepted with open arms! I had prior commitments that Saturday night so early Sunday morning I showed up where the club was meeting . All the club members were very patient and explained the different aspects of contesting from phone to CW and on to digital modes. From that moment I had the  contesting bug!  Since then Ive participated in quite a few contests, each time refining my technique and learning something new!

                Fast forward almost a year, feverish studies underway to set for my extra exam the first weekend in June at the W8IRA ham-fest . Regardless of exam outcome I have big aspirations for this years field day! I'm calling it my "Northern Michigan Micro DX-Pedition".   I and a small group of friends are avid backpackers. We have been discussing a trip to North Manitou Island off Michigan's Northern West coast. When doing research on this island I found that it is BOTH a POTA site (K-6728) ANNNNND a SOTA entity (W8M) ! Whats even more intriguing (at the time of this article) only 1 OTHER PERSON has done a POTA activation there! With that thought in mind we set the date for the camping trip for field day weekend!

                The tentative plan is to hike about a mile into the interior of the island and setup base the Wednesday before field day festivities and setup a base camp from which we will do day hikes to explore the rest of the island.

                Trip planning is well underway , the roster of hikers is just about complete!  Soon reservations will be set and the countdown to departure day will begin. Researching QRP radios, off grid power options and best antenna configurations all take time and resources.  If you would like to help sponsor this trip would you consider buying me a coffee to assist with purchasing the necessary gear would be greatly appreciated! Sponsors will receive a paper QSL card , pre-release access to the accompanying blog article and a mention in the thank you credits on the live article.

Thank you ! 

73

~Jayson