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2024 March SJRA EVENT K2AA - Join us for the Emilio Carranza Memorial Activation

SJRA K2AA Activation

Planned for March 9th - Wharton State Forest


Hello fellow club operators, and friends, we did this last year in January, and I am planning for this again during March 9th  as a Parks on the Air Park Activation and SJRA event, with a weather break during March. We need a minimum of (4) operators including myself. If you can not participate please take a few moments and contact us on the air during March 9th. This year we would like to include VHF 6 Mtrs- 2 Mtrs and 70Cm.


Please let me know if you are interested in participating in this event for 2024. I am planning  for the Saturday morning of March 9th This year this would be especially important with the recent fatal 6ABC Helicopter crash in the Pine barrens, and we would pay our respects and memorialize  the pilot, 67-year-old Monroe Smith, and the photographer, 45-year-old Christopher Dougherty, who died in the crash in the Wharton State Forest., and Emilio Carranza the Historical Mexican pilot.


This is a  SJRA K2AA  POTA Activation and we are looking to have (4) operators on HF, each with a table, we also need a CW Operator and we can also include VHF operator.


  You don't have to be a club member to participate, all are welcome to get out of the house during March and play radio, even if it's only for 1 hour or so.


Please respond to my email or call/text me at 609 254 7120 to RSVP



 Video Here from Last year


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUcmfDn9Myo&feature=youtu.be


https://www.nj.com/burlington/2023/12/news-chopper-in-fatal-south-jersey-crash-was-under-power-upon-impact-officials-say.html


https://nj.gov/dep/parksandforests/historic/carranzamemorial.html


This past weekend K2AA activated Parks on the Air Park K-6609 located in the Pinelands of Southern New Jersey. This unique POTA activation spot took place at the Emilio Carranza Memorial site in honor of the famous Mexican aviator. Joe KC2SGV, Robert KF2Z and Gerard KD2YTU all worked contacts. Follow our Parks on the Air activation with the YouTube Video link below. We also set up (4) different antennas to work 10, 15, 20 and 40 meters.


We had a great day with "warm January weather" for this fun POTA event. Thanks to all that worked  K2AA from the Park.


Follow my activation plan for my next POTA event Scroll below for our park this week end.

We are activating (4) bands and will be monitoring Simplex for Winter Heat on Saturday Jan 28th in the NJ Pinelands


"Special Emilio Carranza Memorial Activation"

Parks on the Air - Pinelands Preserve National Conservation Area K-6609


Go to  the Spotting Page and look up K2AA to find which frequency is being used for the activation. I will change the spot as I move from one frequency to another during the park activation.

You can also spot me on the frequency,  if we have had a QSO from the Park.  I have listed my next park activation with the date and planned bands to activate. 

Always check the spotting link, as  the frequency may change on operating conditions and local QRM.

I look forward to working you from my next park !

Scott     AA2SD - operator for K2AA Pota

Visit the Spotting Page and look up K2AA  if you can find me on the  listed frequencies' below

Emilio Carranza Crash Monument History in the NJ Pinelands


Tabernacle, New Jersey      The "Lindbergh of Mexico," Emilio Carranza Rodriguez, will forever be bound to a patch of forest in the New Jersey Pine Barrens.


Captain Carranza.

In 1928, Emilio Carranza Rodriguez was 22 years old and a hotshot hero of Mexican aviation. Charles Lindbergh's transatlantic flight the previous year and his subsequent dramatic flight to Mexico City made a powerful impression south of the border. Influential men in Mexico decided that their country should have its own flyboy glory. A plane was built, the Mexico-Excelsior (an exact copy of Lindbergh's Spirit of St Louis), and it was announced that Captain Carranza would fly from Mexico City to New York and then back again.


The trip to New York was done in stages and went smoothly. But the return flight was going to be a non-stop, grueling test of endurance. Carranza delayed his departure for three days because of bad weather, and then abruptly flew off on the evening of July 12, 1928, in a wild thunderstorm.


Rumor has it that he was forced to leave on orders from a jealous Mexican general, whose telegram to Carranza was reportedly later found in the aviator's pocket.


Aztec bird.

"Leave immediately," it read, "or the quality of your manhood will be in doubt."


Carranza only got about 50 miles south before his flight ended in the Pine Barrens of southern New Jersey, a vast stretch of pine trees and sand. His body was discovered the next day by some locals picking blueberries. Carranza had a flashlight in his right hand -- literally in his right hand, as the force of the impact had driven it into his palm. He had apparently been looking for a place to land when he crashed into some trees.


The heartbroken children of Mexico contributed pennies to build a monument, inscribed in both English and Spanish, to mark the spot where their hero had died. It still stands today, an arrow on one side pointing skyward, an Aztec eagle on the other plummeting to earth. Eerie footprints have been carved into the granite to signify Carranza's final touchdown. "THE PEOPLE OF MEXICO," its inscription reads, "HOPE THAT YOUR HIGH IDEALS WILL BE REALIZED."


The ground where Carranza met his end is as empty today as it was in 1928. A lonely road leads past the monument, through miles of pine trees. The closest neighbor is several miles up the road, the "Life Skills and Leadership Academy," a boot camp for teen criminals. Perhaps they draw inspiration from Carranza when they police the grounds around his memorial, but otherwise this is a lonely place.