The city of Milwaukee, WI has always had a warm spot in my heart. My first visit was in the mid ’80s as high school aged 4-H’er going down to the State Fair. Our group took an afternoon trip downtown and the excitement of the city was opened up to me. I’ve been back many times, and in each one, something new and amazing has been revealed. Needless to say, our weekend trip only scratched the surface of this great midwest city.
You can watch this week’s video, QRP in the BIG CITY. A Milwaukee Urban POTA Adventure here: https://youtu.be/En0D0lhpSx4
It’s been a long tradition for Chris and I to take a weekend getaway mid winter somewhere in the state. We usually head to places like Madison, Door County, or even Up North. This year was full-on big city vibe and we enjoyed it. There are a few shout outs that I want to do as the time limits of this week’s video didn’t allow me to put everything in.
The hotel we stayed at, Saint Kate Arts Hotel, is totally amazing. Nestled in the theatre district between the Pabst Theater and the Marcus center for the Arts, this is the place to be if you are planning to see a show.
Downtown Milwaukee is a walkable city. Even in the cold and snow of February, we had no problem strolling to the Milwaukee Public Museum, or Mader’s Germaun Restaurant for dinner. We could’ve even taken The Hop street car to The Historic Third Ward, just blocks south of the hotel for our Sunday breakfast, but we were checking out of the hotel that day and on our way to do the Parks on the Air activation.
Urban POTA
Which leads me to the POTA part of this message. There are three POTA entities within Milwaukee county. On the north side of the city is Havenwoods State Forest (POTA US-5579). This is the second time I’ve been to this park, and it is located less than 2 miles from the Milwaukee Ham Radio Outlet location. If you are going to HRO, I recommend a side trip to the park. Activating it is pretty easy, it had a large parking area and plenty of green space so that you can set up out of the way from other visitors. The park does close at 8pm so be aware of that. No park pass is required for vehicle entry.
Lakeshore State Park (US-1461) is located downtown on the shore of Lake Michigan. This park, again, is quite small and the formal areas are accessible only by pedestrian and non motorized vehicles. Much of the park is behind the Summerfest grounds, so I wasn’t sure the best way to access it. There is paid parking on the north side by Discovery World and the Milwaukee Art Museum. But in doing some research, I found free parking on the south end under the Hoan Bridge. Initially I wasn’t sure if this was park land or not, but consulting some maps and talking to a local, I found out that the entire stretch of Erie St, from the bridge to the official park entrance is all part of the park as the State holds an easement and maintains the land. Again the park is open until 10pm and no state vehicle pass is required for entry.
The third entity is the Hank Aaron State Trail (US-9800). This is an urban bike/ped path that runs from West Allis to Lakeshore State Park. If you are along Erie Street or in parks of the formal park, you can two-fer Lakeshore State Park and the State Trail. The trail is open year round and no state trail pass is required.
In activating these locations, be aware that they are urban and you will see a fair amount of use. The short time I was at Lakeshore State Park, the path and road ways were busy with pedestrians. It’s best to keep a compact profile by using a small footprint antenna system. Something mounted on your vehicle or a vertical with a magic carpet ground would be ideal. Also, don’t forget to get on the VHF/UHF frequencies. Milwaukee has a population of 570,000 people and even with my handheld at the lakefront, I got a couple of contacts on 146.520 Mhz simplex. I’m sure if I announced my presence on one of the area repeaters, I’d be able to do an entire activation on 2 meter simplex.
Finishing up
I first must apologize. I usually process my QSL card requests every few weeks. But when I sat down last evening to do a batch, I realized that it had been more than two months. Needless to say, I had a stack of them. Everything is now done, and if you are expecting a card from me, it’s in the mail. I do return QSL, so if you send a card, you can expect one in return.
The last couple of weeks have been very cold and snowy, and this weather has impacted my POTA activations. According to the local weather guy, warmer weather is around the corner and I am looking forward to temperatures in the upper 20’s to low 30’s starting this weekend. Unfortunately many of my favorite activation spots are buried in snow, so some melting will have to occur before I get back into them. I’ll be on the air this Friday afternoon from an accessible location and listen for me some time on Saturday. I’m not sure when or where I will be, yet.
I hope to get you in the log soon.
Michael
KB9VBR
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