Scouting and POTA on a Boston Harbor Island

This past weekend, September 14, 2024, I went camping with my son’s Scout Troop, Troop 119, Lexington on Peddocks Island in the Boston Harbor. Peddocks Island is the only island in the Boston Harbor, with overnight camping sites.

Peddocks Island is part of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area and listed as Parks on the Air (POTA) site US-2421. So this trip was a chance to activate another POTA site and share the magic of radio with some of the Scouts.

I camped there with the Scouts last September but didn’t bring my HF equipment because we were dealing with the remnants of a hurricane traveling up the East Coast. I did, however, bring my VHF/UHF handheld radio and experiment with APRS. Read more here (Camping on Peddocks Island in Boston Harbor).

Our trip through Boston Harbor

We boarded the Bell in Charlestown, MA and crossed Boston Harbor heading south-west to Peddocks Island. Thank you to Boston Fun Cruises who shuttles Troop 119 to Peddocks Island every September. They get us to the island safely and on time. If you want to bring a group onto Boston Harbor I highly recommend them.

Thank you to Boston Fun Cruises who shuttles Troop 119 to Peddocks Island every September.

Our route took us from the top-left to the bottom-right corner of the map.

I don’t often get to view Boston’s skyline from the harbor.

We navigated our way south through the remnants of the Long Island bridge to see Peddocks Island. The photo below is our view as we approached.

My HF setup

This year I brought along my Xeigu G90 along with my quarter-wave vertical whip. I also brought along my Elecraft KH1, a small 5-watt, Morse code only radio.

It was a gorgeous day. I set up my vertical whip and G90 and some of the Scouts were excited to jump on the air.

Several of the Scouts and adult leaders have their amateur radio licenses. One Scout who had their General license activated their first park. Another Scout with their Technician license made their first HF contacts on 10 meters.

Here’s a map of all the contacts we made during our time at Peddocks.

Beach side Morse Code

Camping overnight provided plenty of time for POTA activities. Later in the day I wandered down to the beach and operated CW mode with my KH1 radio.

The KH1 was made for operating while lounging on the beach in an Adirondack chair. I love this little radio. I was making contacts at a steady pace with the whip antenna on 20 meters.

Later that evening, I went back to the beach after dark and operated on 40 meters, a good nighttime band. I began after 8PM Easter Time, which is the beginning of the Universal Time next calendar day. In short order I was able to activate US-2124 again.

I can’t remember having a more enjoyable radio session. The moon, the waves and CW connecting me to operators hundreds of miles away were magic.