[GCARC] Fort Mott POTA Activation and Historic Soldiers Weekend

Fri Sep 18 19:49:15 EDT 2026

D. Jeffrey Garth

621 Greenbriar Drive

Williamstown, NJ 08094-1149

73, WB2ZBN

Club Publications

www.w2mmd.org

"Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life" - Confucius

From: Stan Slachetka <stanplans at gmail.com> 
Sent: Friday, September 18, 2026 19:19
To: mrsguenther at gmail.com; Glen <gguenther at gmail.com>; lenrust at gmail.com; Jim n2gxj <jim.n2gxj at gmail.com>; Courtney Smith <court_smith at hotmail.com>; jb854975 at gmail.com; gene schoeberlein <geneschoeb at yahoo.com>; Amo <rvtvetnurse at gmail.com>; N2TNN Ham <n2tnn at hotmail.com>; dcaguiat48 at gmail.com; 1971kerri at gmail.com; stevenson.russ at gmail.com; rbleda29 at gmail.com; rustyrust508 at gmail.com; Frank Romeo <frank at execupages.com>; bonamica at comcast.net
Cc: John Zaruba Jr <k2za at icloud.com>; Jon Pearce <jon at pearcefamily.org>; Jeff One <djgrath1 at gmail.com>; John Oconnel <k2qa at k2qa.org>; Christopher Prioli AD2CS <cpprioli at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: Fort Mott POTA Activation and Historic Soldiers Weekend

As a reminder, we will be doing a Fort Mott prep meeting starting at 9 am tomorrow at the clubhouse. Given the unique aspects of our POTA operation and set up at Fort Mott, everyone intending to either operate, help set up or break down, or bring antennas and equipment to the event are highly encouraged to attend this meeting. 

So far, a total of13 members have signed up for the event. We have 10 members registered for all or a portion of the day on Saturday and eight (8) members registered for all or a portion of Sunday. We can definitely use more registrations and members to attend either on Saturday or Sunday.

Given the significant public-facing aspect of this event we are looking for a great turnout from the club. If you haven't done so already, please sign up as soon as possible at: https://registration.w2mmd.org/wpregp/pota-signup-fort-mott/ Also, please reach out and encourage other club members, family, and friends to come to the event and stop by at our station at the bunker.

Look forward to seeing you tomorrow and at Fort Mott on September 26 and 27.

Stan

WA2JRZ

On Sun, Sep 13, 2026 at 1:15 PM Stan Slachetka <stanplans at gmail.com <mailto:stanplans at gmail.com> > wrote:

Hope everyone had a great Labor Day and that you are enjoying being back in the swing of things in September. 

It's hard to believe that it is less than two weeks to our POTA activation and special event station during Historic Soldiers Weekend at Fort Mott. 

So far, we have only eight members signed up for the event. Given the significant public-facing aspect of this event we are looking for a great turnout from the club. If you haven't done so already, please sign up as soon as possible at: POTA Signup – Fort Mott – GCARC Payments and Registration Portal <https://registration.w2mmd.org/wpregp/pota-signup-fort-mott/> 

I need to let Andy Grant at Fort Mott know how many club members will be participating on Saturday so he can purchase enough food and reserve lunches for us, so your timely response would be greatly appreciated. (They will not be providing lunch on Sunday.)

Regardless of whether you are operating or not, your presence at the event will be greatly appreciated. Also, let other club members, family, and friends know that they are welcome to attend the event either on Saturday or Sunday, even if they are not club members or hams. There will be food trucks, and you can also bring picnic lunches to the park during Historic Soldiers Weekend. Also, the event is free and open to the public on both days.

We will be doing a Fort Mott prep meeting starting at 9 am this Saturday, September 19 at the clubhouse. Given the unique aspects of our POTA operation and set up at Fort Mott everyone intending to either operate, help set up or break down, or bring antennas and equipment to the event are highly encouraged to attend this meeting. This will be just focused on the preparations for Fort Mott. There will not be a general POTA presentation included as part of the meeting as we did before the Hancock House. 

Also, check out the special event QSL card that the staff of Fort Mott prepared for us. I posted it on the Revolutionary War POTA channel on the club's Discord site. I think they did a great job, and their support is very much appreciated. This is another reason to have a good turnout for our event.

Thanks, and I look forward to seeing you at the club this Saturday and at Fort Mott on September 26 and 27.

Stan

WA2JRZ

On Wed, Aug 26, 2026 at 5:35 PM Stan Slachetka <stanplans at gmail.com <mailto:stanplans at gmail.com> > wrote:

Here is a link to the photos that I took at the bunker at Fort Mott.

A few facts about the bunker (a.k.a. Battery Gregg):

There are great views from the top of the bunker (See Images 2952 through 2955)

The battery commander station (BCS) at the top of the bunker (Images_2961 through 2972) is available for our use. It's approximately 8-1/2 by 9 feet.

There is a bolt and metal rod on the roof of the BCS that could be used to attach one end of a wire antenna (Images 2978 and 2979). 

There is also ample room at the grassy areas of the bunker facing the river for a long-wire antenna or dipole. (images 2980 through 2984) This can be supported by telescoping poles on one or both ends. We can anchor poles and hammer stakes into the grassy areas of the bunker. I estimate that we have 60 to 70 feet available there.

There is another smally grass square on the other side of the bunker (Image 2975) to set up a vertical antenna or that can be set up in the circular gun emplacement area (Images 2957 and 2973).

We can set up a station at the base of the bunker to be available for viewing by the general public. (Images 2986  and 2987) This is about 9.5 feet wide and 20 feet deep. There is a straight shot for our coax from the top of the bunker (Image 2959) to that area. 

The stairs to the top of the bunker are shown in Image 2989. They might be a bit steep to allow access from the public and we may not want people wandering around by the antennas but we can talk about that. 

The slopes on the sides of the bunker are steep, but do not form a complete vertical dropoff. (Image 2990)

Andy is going to have the grass areas on the bunker mowed before the event.

Zoom into the sign (Image 2988) for some interesting facts about Battery Gregg.

We can talk more about the bunker and set up before the event and confirm station locations and the type and location of antennas. Any thoughts about that would be welcome. 

Thanks

Stan

WA2JRZ

On Wed, Aug 26, 2026 at 1:44 PM Stan Slachetka <stanplans at gmail.com <mailto:stanplans at gmail.com> > wrote:

I had a good meeting yesterday with Andy Grant, the Historic Site Area Supervisor at Fort Mott State Park, regarding our Revolutionary War POTA activation and special event station during Historic Soldiers Weekend.

I also took a number of photos of the bunker where we will be operating and took a few measurements. I will be sending the photos with some descriptions in a separate email.

Here are a few quick takeaways from my conversation with Andy:

*	We can set up starting Friday afternoon or come early on Saturday morning before the event starts. The start time for the event will be 10 am and we can as early as we want before then. Donuts and coffee will be available Saturday morning at 7 am for any early bird set up teams. 
*	Many of the reenactor groups will be coming on Friday to set up and will be camping overnight on both Friday and Saturday nights. I didn't ask but if there's interest I could find out if it's ok for someone to stay overnight to watch our antennas and any gear we leave overnight. (I guess you could do some operating too--just like Field Day.
*	Andy suggested roping off sections of the station area and bunker that we don't want the public to access either during the event or overnight.
*	Andy can provide a golf cart during set up and break down to transport any heavier gear if necessary.
*	Similar to what we do on Field Day, there will be a "commanders" meeting on Saturday morning before the event to go over everything and coordinate with the various reenactor groups. John and I can attend that.
*	Andy will provide us with a schedule and map for the event.
*	There is no need for club members to register in advance with Fort Mott. The event is free and open to the public. GCARC is already registered as a "reenactor" group. However, please fill out our online registration for the event which is now live at https://registration.w2mmd.org/wpregp/pota-signup-fort-mott/ . 
*	There will either be a welcome table at the entrance next to the main parking area or at the museum office. The parking area is within walking distance of our bunker. I will provide Andy with a list of our club members who are going to be attending just in case there are any issues.
*	Lunch will be provided by the Fort Mott staff on Saturday but only for club members who are going to be operating or organizing the event. Club members that are just visiting and family members and guests are not eligible. However, there will be a food truck and picnic lunches can be brought to the park during the event. My understanding is that the lunch that will be provided will be relatively simple with hot dogs and possibly sandwiches, with some basic side dishes.
*	Lunch will not be provided by the Fort Mott staff on Sunday, but the food truck will be there and picnic lunches can be brought in.
*	Andy asked me to provide him with a list of the club members who will be having lunch before the event so he can estimate the amount of food he needs. Those members intending to have lunch will receive a wristband. Please make sure that you sign up using our online registration form.
*	There will be a Huey helicopter landing during the event, which will take place on the lawn area between our bunker and the Delaware River/Bay. Given the nature of our set up, there won't be any issues with our antennas even at the top of the bunker. (No hazard lights necessary! 😀)
*	Although it is not confirmed, the Governor may be stopping by during the event. If she does come, that will be most likely on Saturday. Given our prominent location at the end of the main entrance road there is a possibility that she could pass by our station. 
*	Andy's staff is working on a special event QSL card. More on that to follow.

As noted, the registration form for the Revolutionary War POTA activation and special event station during the Historic Soldiers Weekend September 26 and 27 at Fort Mott is now live. https://registration.w2mmd.org/wpregp/pota-signup-fort-mott/ Please sign up as soon as you can so we can see where we might need operators.

Let me know if you have any questions. I can always follow up with Andy as necessary. There also is a possibility that we may do a prep meeting prior to the event, either at the club or on Zoom. I will let you know if that is being scheduled.

Thanks and I look forward to seeing you all at the club and at Fort Mott in September.

Stan
WA2JRZ