I chase parks around the Tennessee Valley, drag a radio onto every vacation my family will tolerate, and write down what worked. Everything here is a real log entry with the boring parts left in — the ones that tell you where the antenna actually went.
A vertical in the sand at Shoal Bay East, 45 minutes before local sunset, and a European pileup that lasted until the battery gave up before I did. Notes on salt-water gain, what customs actually asked about, and why I'll bring a longer feedline next time.
Ninety minutes between two cells. Wire up, 40 m, hunt the hunters, wire down — a lesson in how fast you can really pack a station.
How to get on the air from a beach house without putting a single hole in anything, and what the salt air does to your radials by day four.
The volcano is a national park, the trail is steeper than the map suggests, and the view from the crater rim is worth every ounce of the pack.
Everything I packed, everything I forgot, and the one adapter that saved the trip. Start here if you're planning a first Caribbean operation.