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# US-7637 (quick) zBitx POTA
- URL: https://kb9v.com/us-7637-quick-zbitx-pota/
- Published: 2026-10-26T07:51:22.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-26T07:51:22.000Z
- Author: KB9V

10-15-2026 Flagstaff, Arizona

Had a few unplanned minutes to do a quick POTA attempt at a POTA park within the Flagstaff city limits (a rare POTA thing!). Riordan Mansion State Park US-7637.

This is only the second POTA Activation for the little zBitx HF rig. Noise in this downtown park was S6-s7 with huge bursts of electronic noise. I attempted a phone Park-2-Park with a station in IA and he said he could hear me call P2P but could not copy my call sign. For whatever reason there were only 2 Parks on Phone and 30 on digital (20m band). Antenna was also not perfect and ran with no tuner, so I had SWR ranging from 1.3 to 2.3.  
  
So I switched to the noise floor alternative, FT8.  
  
Quickly piled up 13 just as I was worried about closing things out for the night. At first I thought it was going to be a dud, but they came in.  
  
Surprising, several of the first contacts were from within 100 miles of my QTH in Alabama. Thanks neighbors!

After todays use of the zBitx, I think it will become a serious tool for digital on go.  
  
SETUP:  
Location: At parking lot just south of the picnic bench  
RIG(s): zBitx v1  
Antenna: 20m vertical with 2 radials mostly on ground  
Power: 2x 18650 Lipo cells on zBitx  
Logging: PoLo + zBitx  
Bands: 20M phone+FT8  
  
zBitx in action below:

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![](https://kb9v.com/content/images/2026/10/flgpota2.png)

![](https://kb9v.com/content/images/2026/10/flgpota3.png)

Amazing reach today of 3-4w FT8, and on two tiny batteries...  
these are the stations that heard the little zBitx running today.

![](https://kb9v.com/content/images/2026/10/flgpota4.png)