From Sea to Summit on CW

I've now been an Amateur Radio Operator for 30 years. There isn't much about the hobby that I don't like. For me and many in the hobby, radio is magic and however we experience it, by definition makes it magical. However, there are always a few experiences in the hobby that you just have to talk about and I recently had one of those experiences. Did I work my last country, no. Did I win a contest, no. Did I build a complete home-brew station, absolutely not. I suppose I've given it away with the title of this story, but I recently experienced of couple of aspects of the hobby that I enjoy in the same week and I thought it worthy of mention.

I've enjoyed the IOTA program for 25 years. It took me 16 years to get to #1 DXCC, but I'm still working new ones in IOTA. There are 1200+ island groups so it takes a while. I've also enjoyed IOTA Expeditioning over the years including islands in  Australia, Nicaragua, Labrador, Alaska and numerous islands in the Gulf of Mexico. My last expedition was in 2017 and I was getting the itch to go out again.

I live about 3 hours from the Gulf of Mexico and had been thinking about a trip to North Padre Island, (NA-092), on the Texas coast to have a fun couple of days operating portable and enjoying the National Seashore there. I was convinced that while NA-092 was not rare in the states, the RV Ham crowd has satisfied that demand, but that it would be needed in Europe and Asia. To convince myself that I needed to take the radio gear on the trip, I put out a query on the IOTA Chaser reflector to gauge interest. I was a bit surprised at the many long time IOTA Chasers in Europe and Asia who needed it. So, my hunch was confirmed.

So I put my operating plan together. My station would consist of:

K3 Transceiver
KPA500 Amplifier
KAT500 Tuner
30 ft MFJ push up pole
MFJ 2980 Feather Lite Vertical
Begali Stradivarius Paddle
N1MM+
Winkey

Since Padre Island is a barrier island it is connected to the mainland by a bridge, so no boat necessary on this trip. I have a tear-drop camping trailer that is a king-size bed on wheels with a kitchen in the back which would be sleeping quarters and a 6 person tent which would be the operating HQ. My XYL, Cris, accompanied me on the trip and was gracious enough tolerate my operating. Below is a picture of the operating location.

AD5A/p on North Padre Island

My operating strategy was to focus on European sunrise and Asian sunset on 40m, which means operating through most of the night and early morning. This was also a CW only expedition. CW is my preferred mode by a 9.9 to 1 margin. I brought a nice, heavy, Begali paddle with me so I could feel right at home.

I was very pleased with the results of the operation. I provided a new island to many EU and Asian Chasers and the station performed well. I was very pleased with the performance of the Feather Lite vertical. The antenna has a very small foot print, which in a campground is essential, and I experienced good TX/RX results with it, of course a vertical over salt water works extremely well and this was confirmed once again. During the first Asian sunset, 3:30 am for me, I had to go split for about an hour to handle the pile-up. I finished with 633 QSO's with ~40 countries, 427 of the QSO's were on 40m.

But this is only half the story. We arrived on Padre Island on a Monday afternoon and departed on Wednesday morning.

On Friday, we had to catch a flight to Albuquerque, NM and drive to our second QTH in Santa Fe, NM. One of my favorite things to do in Santa Fe is to do activations for the Summits on the Air (SOTA) program. In Santa Fe we have a team we call the Three Amigos, consisting of Fred, KT5X, John, K1JD and myself. We are all Mountain Goats within the SOTA program, (1,000 activation points required) and our likeness was captured by a female artist, the subject of another blog. But here is our portrait, notice the belt buckles if you can see them:

Tres Amigos de SOTA

Upon arrival in Santa Fe, I made contact with John, K1JD (KT5X as out of town) and we decided to activate El Cerro de la Consena or W5N/SI-020 which had an elevation of 6,923 ft. This mountain has lots of loose rock and cactus.

Planning for a SOTA activation is much simpler than an IOTA expedition, but you will need to be self propelled. This hike is ~6.5 mile round-trip. My station consisted of a KX-2, a 3 band trapped EFHW made of 28 ga. wire, an 81 to 1 transformer and a 20 ft. collapsible fiberglass pole. The paddle I use is the Elecraft paddle made for the KX2 I made 28 QSO's on this activation and found these:

Hopi Petroglyphs

The next day I did a solo hike to Peak 9420, at oddly enough, 9,420 ft ASL. This summit is only about a 2 mile round trip, but has a nice operating position on the summit. As you can see from the picture it is within an Alpine region and it is a beautiful hike. I made 38 QSO's from here.

AD5A Shack at 9,420 ft

So in the span of a week I had gone from Sea Level to Mountain Summits operating CW and enjoying the magic of our hobby. There is adventure in ham radio, and many ways to get out and make QSO's. If you can't make QSO's at home, go to where the QSO's are, the seas and summits.

The Pedernal - My SOTA Activation

Some things in life are very special and others, very ordinary. The difference, I suppose, is dependent on the individual. I recently had an experience that, to me, was very special and, of course, it is the subject of this post. As I write this April of 2018, I have summited more than 265 mountains, hills and mesas as I enjoy the Summits on the Air (SOTA) program. For the uninitiated, SOTA is an award program for amateur radio operators who get points for making radio contacts from qualifying summits. Some summits are tougher than others, some higher than others but a few are very special. One such special summit for me is the narrow mesa in northern New Mexico called Cerro Pedernal. In English, the words mean "hill of flint".

The Pedernal, as it is commonly known, was made famous by the American artist Georgia O'Keefe,  O'Keefe is quoted as saying, "It's my private mountain. It belongs to me. God told me if I painted it enough, I could have it." O'Keefe not only painted the mountain itself but incorporated its image in many other paintings. Moving to New Mexico permanently in 1949, O'Keefe painted the surrounding area in a prolific way, capturing the area in art as no-one has before or since. Upon her death, at the age of 98, O'Keefe's ashes were spread on the summit of the Pedernal.

Pedernal
Painted by Georgia O'Keefe 1942

 In SOTA speak, the reference for Pedernal is W5N/SE-018. A nondescript reference to a magnificent natural monument that doesn't do justice to the mountain it refers to. The Pedernal is much more than a number or a name. I had pondered climbing the Pedernal for a couple of years. One of my SOTA climbing buddies, Fred, KT5X, a full time resident of New Mexico, had climbed it a couple of times and had volunteered to show me the way. However, it seemed to never become a priority as we opted for easier climbs. Then an award was created by New Mexico SOTA aficionados called the Iconic Peaks of New Mexico award (check out WS0TA on QRZ.com for the list and rules). The requirement for a non-resident is to climb 5 of the 10 Iconic Peaks. I had done 4, The Pedernal would be the 5th and qualify me for Award #1 for the non-resident Iconic Peaks award. Not that I'm competitive but, with an award at stake, climbing the Pedernal became a priority.  

 Ascending the Pedernal is no cake walk. The summit tops out at 9,866 feet above sea level and dominates the horizon. Protected by cliffs, the summit is very narrow ranging from 10 ft - 20 ft wide and the slopes leading to the final, rocky ascent, are very steep. There is, however, a weakness on the back side of the mesa that allows those, willing to do a little rock climbing, access to the summit. Negotiating the rock face is the key to a successful climb.

The Near Vertical Climb
The actual route is up the left side

As we stood in front of the rock face standing between us and the summit, there was a bit of trepidation. I'd climbed faces more difficult than this in the past, albeit more than 30 years ago. After a few minutes of analyzing the route and some coaching on the best hand holds from Fred, I ascended the face successfully. The difficult part was over, but a steep climb up a narrow trail remained and close attention must be paid to ensure a totally safe ascent.

After some arduous climbing into the thinning air, we were on top. Summiting the Pedernal was an awe inspiring, almost spiritual experience. I've climbed dozens of mountains that are taller, much taller, but none of those climbs could match the experience of climbing this peak. I've stared at this iconic landmark for years, imagining what it must be like to be on top and now, here I was. For the first time in my SOTA activation history, I put the pack down and instead of grabbing the radio to set up, I picked up the camera to capture the moment. Fred and I spent 10 - 15 minutes just soaking it in. 

AD5A and KT5X on the summit of the Pedernal

We did finally put the cameras down and pick up our radios to set up on the summit. Too bad those calling us couldn't see what we saw as we made the QSO's, 31 of them with AD5A and 40 for WS0TA ( aka, KT5X),  which is a good day on any summit, but especially gratifying from the top of this iconic narrow mesa.

AD5A on top of the Pedernal

View from  the top

The trip down was uneventful, although I was a bit concerned about descending the rock face, getting down it was relatively easy. The hike back to the truck was very satisfying and I caught myself numerous times turning around to catch a glimpse of the summit from which I had just descended. Awesome.

VK9AR A Wonderful IOTA Expedition Experience

I'm not really sure why I haven't blogged about this before now, but last November I went on an amazing expedition to Ashmore Reef , an island off the coast of Australia. I can't write a better story about the expedition than the expedition leader and planner, Craig, VK5CE, put together. Here is the link, https://vkiota.wordpress.com/past-dxpeditions/oc-216-vk9ar-ashmore-reef/ 

Going to Australia was a bucket list item for me and to check it off with such an adventure as the VK9AR expedition was a wonderful treat.

Keep The Faith, Having Fun With No Sunspots

I was motivated to write this today after looking at the solar flux number which sat at 67.  I don't know if I've ever seen the flux this low. I think I've seen 68 a lot, but not 67. Truly, things must be really bad.

As it would happen today, with the flux at 67,  I did my 258th SOTA activation on a summit near Santa Fe, NM that has no name, but goes by it's elevation, 8409. There are beautiful views in every direction, from the summit of 8409, and I enjoyed them immensely. With me, on my trek up the mountain, was my KX2, a 21ft. collapsible pole to support a 29 ft. piece of wire through an 81 to 1 transformer. I feed the antenna about a foot above the ground and run the wire up the pole in an inverted L configuration. The pole was propped up among the branches of a pine tree and I tied off the antenna to a close-by pine branch. I had the power set to 5 watts and tuned the wire with the KX2. I  operated CW using the Elecraft plug-in paddle and I logged with a golf pencil on a, Rite in the Rain, index card. The temperature was a crisp 39 degrees, but the sun was shining and not wisp of a breeze. It was a good day to be on the mountain top.

I was on the air from 1642z - 1722z. I operated on 40, 30m, 20m and 17m and completed 40 QSO's in the 40 minutes that I was on the air from 8409. Also, with the flux at 67, I managed to work two EU stations, ON and EA. I heard a 9A calling me but we couldn't complete the contact. So, 40 QSO's, coast to coast in the US and 2 DX QSO's from EU was my catch for the day. Not bad for a short QRP/portable outing. Keep in mind that's with the flux at 67. I'm glad I didn't look at the numbers before I left or I might have been a bit discouraged and perhaps wouldn't have gone out at all. I would have missed the beautiful views, the warming sunshine and a QSO a minute QRP operation. I wouldn't have worked EU with 5 watts and a wire. I would have had to put off my 258th SOTA activation for another day.

The moral of this story is simple, don't look at the numbers. In fact I would recommend that you ignore them. There is plenty of fun to be had keying up your radio even when conditions, or at least the numbers, are this bad.

Keep the Faith. Go call CQ. I was glad I did.

Activating SOTA's at Philmont Scout Ranch

Philmont Scout Ranch belongs to the Boy Scouts of America and is located near Cimarron, NM. Philmont consists of some 136,000 acres of rugged back country ideal for backpacking and any number of other outdoor activities. (www.philmontscoutranch.org) Philmont offers a variety of backpacking itineraries that cover 10 days of hiking ranging in distance from 56 miles to 106 miles.

I was fortunate to be able to do a 84 mile backpacking trek with my son, AB5EB, and my grandson, KF5GYD, at Philmont Scout Ranch near Cimarron, NM. It was 25 years ago to the day, July 5^th, 1991 that I started a  trek with my two sons, the second, KB5SKN, to July 5^th, 2016 that I started this trek. Pretty cool from a grandfather perspective. Aside from the trek experience I had in mind to activate a couple of SOTA peaks, within the Philmont boundries, that we would climb on our trek. Neither had every been activated for SOTA.

Philmont rates their treks by the magnitude of difficulty from Challenging, Rugged, Strenuous and Super Strenuous. The trek I was on was in the Super Strenuous category, for those familiar with the system, our Trek was # 31. I have been training for this trek for over a year and would need all that accumulated fitness to make the trip. We had a crew of eight, two adults and six teenage boys. What you learn, or maybe remember, is that youth covers lots of physical ills, in other words, they recover quickly.

The first summit on our trek was Baldy Mountain, W5N/CM-002, 12,441 ft. ASL. We would summit the mountain on the 4^th day of our trek. Trek #31  started at ~ 6,500 ASL, so we would spend 4 days climbing with 50 lb packs on our back toward the summit of Baldy Mountain. There were a multitude of other activities on the way, but the trail was always going up. The day of the final ascent, we arose and 3:30 am, was on the trail by 5:00 am and we climbed ~2,300 vertical feet over four miles of trail from 9,200 ASL to 11,500 ASL with full backpacks to the shoulder of Baldy and hiked the final 1,200 feet with day packs. It was a full day.

Baldy Mountain getting closer

The SOTA activation of Baldy was a bit chaotic. Baldy Mountain is the iconic destination for Philmont trekkers so there was a significant number of scouts on the summit and trying to keep them away from my EFHW was a distraction. I used the KX2, needing SSB capability from my grandson. We made a total of 16 QSO’s in tough conditions, using both my call, AD5A and KX5BSA, a club call that my son is the trustee of. I’ve had my eye on this summit for a while, but the only way to access it is to do a Philmont trek. The descent was satisfying, but when we go back to our packs, we had to saddle up and hike another 3 miles, this time downhill, to our camp for the night. It was a 15 mile day, 12 miles of which was with full packs.

Operating from Baldy Mountain
AD5A In The Middle and AB5EB On The Right

Fast forward six days, the last day of our trek, we camped at ~7,500 ASL, We would ascend almost 2,000 feet again to Schaeffer’s Peak, W5N/CM-016, at 9.413 feet, with full packs. The final 100 ft. or so was with day packs. We had a nice activation there with 23 QSO’s between AD5A and KX5BSA. On this activation, my son and grandson both had sufficient QSO’s to qualify for the points and the scouts gathered around to listen to CW and SSB as my grandson activated. A couple of the boys expressed interest in getting licensed so we will follow up on that.

Baldy Mountain From Scheaffers Peak
Yes, We Hiked That Distance

My Grandson, KF5GYD Operating
From Scheaffer's Peak

After the activation of Scheaffer's Peak, we had to put our packs back on and finish the last nine miles of the trek. Another long day, but at the end, what a sense of accomplishment. Hiking 84 miles in rugged back country and activating two new SOTA summits.

What a great hobby.

Chinese Kit Invasion

I suppose that I might be a little late to the game, so to speak, but I was browsing through the variety of  QRP kits on Ebay the other day and was shocked at what I saw. Many may already be familiar with  this phenomena in the QRP kit world, however it was news to me. A new Pixie 2 kit for $3.54 plus a whopping $1.80 for shipping. Now that's a QRP price. The kits were from China. As I considered this, I rationalized that at that price, something was askew, surely the quality was suspect, the parts incomplete and the instructions resembled some graffiti on an inner city wall. I passed it off as maybe a joke and went about my EBay browsing.

A few days later I stumbled upon an entry on the SOTA reflector entitled "QRPp Activation with a $3.56 Chinese Pixie..." by Manuel HB9DQM. Manuel had seen the radio on EBAy and couldn't pass up the opportunity to give it a shot. He not only built the radio, which takes the better part of an hour, but he decided to put it to the test in the field.

HB9DQM Pixie Station

Using the configuration above, running 300 milliwatts, he made 16 QSO's from a summit top bench. Pretty cool. 300 mw, wire antenna, battery power and a straight key, ah the magic of Ham Radio.

Of course the radio has limitations, it's crystal controlled, the radio comes with a 7.023 crystal (HB9DQM used a 7.030 crystal) and the bandwidth on receive is very wide, but as Manuel demonstrated, you can have some good, cheap fun with this little radio. He said he was listening to the world news, in English (courtesy of a BC station), while he worked the callers. An interesting diversion.

I did some further research on YouTube and found many happy campers who had purchased and assembled the kit. So I took the big plunge. I even went overboard and bought a couple of extra's as projects for my teenage grandsons who are hams.

There is one thing a little troublesome about this kit invasion however, at these prices, the other QRP kit providers can't compete. What will happen to them? Such is the world these days.

Chinese version of the Pixie 2

The inexpensive kits aren't limited to Pixie's, there are also '49ers, RockMites, etc.. Some even come assembled. I saw and assembled Rockmite, with a case for $35.00.

Mountain Goat Summit Revisited

A little less than a year ago I summited a mountain, known in SOTA terms as 9431 (it's elevation ASL) with a designator of W5N/PW-019, which put me over 1,000 Activator points and thus qualified me for the Mountain Goat award. This award is one of the most satisfying awards I've achieved in ham radio, including #1 Honor Roll. I did the summit that day with a couple of friends of mine, Fred KT5X (aka WS0TA) and John, K1JD. Both are also mentors to me as I learned the SOTA trade so to speak.

So, nearly a year later, the three of us returned to the same summit. Like the previous ascent we would need snowshoes to get to the top. The hike is a little more than 3 miles round trip and climbs 1,100 vertical feet. The hike starts in Black Canyon with a steady ascent to the shoulder, and then two different steep pitches to the top. The drifts on the summit were significant with our snowshoes sinking 1-2 feet into the snow. There were patches facing the south were the snow had completely melted, however most of the final ascent is on the north side of the mountain.

Below is a brief video of my set-up on the summit. I have configured my 3 band MTR (17m, 20m and 30m) so that I can hold it in my hand. As you will see in the video, the battery and paddle are attached to the radio and I use the back of the radio to hold my log. Very compact and very efficient. I certainly can't claim this as an original design since I coped it from Fred, KT5X. My antenna is a linked EFHW into an 81:1 transformer. The actual link connection design was inspired from Frank, K0JQZ.

http://youtu.be/50G1i-kvqRc

Below is my log:

Time	Call	Band	Mode	Notes
17:31z	W7RV	10MHz	CW
17:31z	K0LAF	10MHz	CW
17:32z	K6JMP	10MHz	CW
17:33z	W7USA	10MHz	CW
17:34z	K7JFD	10MHz	CW
17:34z	AK5SD	10MHz	CW
17:35z	NU7Y	10MHz	CW
17:35z	NG6R	10MHz	CW
17:36z	ND7PA	10MHz	CW
17:36z	N7LP	10MHz	CW
17:38z	K1LB	10MHz	CW
17:41z	W4AMW	10MHz	CW
17:41z	K0HNC	10MHz	CW
17:42z	KG3W	10MHz	CW
17:47z	K6EL	14MHz	CW
17:48z	AE9F	14MHz	CW
17:48z	KG3W	14MHz	CW
17:49z	NA4SO	14MHz	CW
17:51z	N9KW	14MHz	CW
17:51z	NK6A	14MHz	CW

SOTA Rig Reconfiguration

Activating SOTA's, if you do it regularly, is an iterative process. Of course the primary focus is to get to the top of whatever summit you might be tackling on a given day, but another part of the game is how you get there. Of course the right clothing to be comfortable in whatever conditions you face, the right pack to carry your gear and of course the right radio. But then, some of the fun begins. Not only the right radio, but how will I configure the radio to maximize my signal, be as light as possible and how to I package of this so I don't have radio gear all over the ground or digging in my pack to find the battery, paddle, etc.. I have activated 150+ summits and this is a continuous process.

Since I've retired, I've now have the opportunity to have continuous thoughts about things like this without the interference of work or schedule related thoughts, it's great. Consequently, I've had some time to give my rig configuration some thought. What I have done is not totally unique as I have gotten ideas from others and mixed them into my own concoction. I have the 3 Band MTR, with 17m, 20m and 30m. I chose these particular bands so that I would have flexibility on contest weekends. So below is my latest, not my last configuration.

As you can see I am using a backpacking cutting board as the foundation of the setup. I used a product called Scotch Extreme fastener to attache the LIPO battery and the Pico Paddle, it's sort of like Velcro but it snaps into place and is 10x stronger than velcro. I simply drilled holes (this board has seen several iterations as you can see the many holes), and used rubber bands to hold the radio in place. I may decide to use the fastener instead. The "Rite in the Rain" card is for logging. A nice neat package to pull out of the pack, hook up the antenna, plug in the power and off I go.

There are however a couple of further improvements.

You can see I've added a tethered pencil for logging and an optional Elecraft T1 tuner, if you have a non-resonant wire. I can fasten it to the board with either rubber bands or the Scotch fastener.

I've also added a protective cover for the MTR. It's made from sleeping pad foam and protects the face and switches on the MTR when getting jostled in your pack. On the backside of the cover I've cut out recesses where the switches are and added little magnets that are attracted to the four screws on the case. Thanks to Fred, KT5X for this idea.

So there you have it, a light, three band, package that is compact, light and ready to go. So until I reconfigure again.

Recent Activations Out West

I've been very busy lately with a variety of seemingly important things and I thought it was about time to write a little. In the past few weeks I've had the rare opportunity, in combination with a couple of business trips to do a few SOTA activations in California and Utah. A few words about those.

California

I was in Northern California, of all tough places to be, Napa. While having a look at the nearby summits I discovered that all the nearby summits were 1 or 2 pointers. Should be easy right. Well not so much. One of the inequities of SOTA, albeit well understood, is that elevation is the major determinant of point value, not length of climb or difficulty. Although all of that tends to even out over time if you do enough summits. I used my MTR II configured for 17M, 20M and 30M. I brought my LNR Trail friendly 40/20m antenna and a T1 Elecraft Tuner. The tuner failed, so I could only operate on 20m exclusively.

Mt. Diablo

 

This is a video from Mt. Diablo, W6/CC-045, near Walnut Creek, CA. While only a two pointer it is a substantial mountain rising up from near sea level to 3,800 ft. ASL. It is a drive up, so easy enough from an activation point of view and the views are excellent.

 

 

Sulphur Springs Mountain

 

This summit, W6/NC-406, is accessed through a local golf community named Hidden Brooke. Access is not forbidden and there is a nice trail to the top. The vertical gain is a little over 1,000 ft. over about 1.5 miles and it is a one pointer. Below a  short video from the top.

 

 

There is no doubt that you earn the one point. While the hike is not hard, I've had much easier hikes for many more points. Nice views from the top.

 

 

Pt. 970

This summit, W6/NC-422, can be done in tandem with Sulphur Springs Mountain, which I did. It is a more substantial hike with a 5.0 mile round trip. Not a difficult hike, it has a nice trail to the summit, but again you earn the one point. I got nice workout and I got to play radio on top.

 

 

 

Utah

 

My activations in Utah were at much higher elevations than the Northern California Coast. The two activations that I did were near Park City which sits around 7,000 ft. ASL. My wife accompanied me on these activations and we had some wonderful weather to hike in.

 

Scott Hill

 

The summit, W7U/SL-008, sits at 10,118 ft. ASL and is an 8 pointer. The hike is along nice trail/road. The road is closed to private traffic and on even numbered days the mountain bikers are out in force. However that's not a problem as everyone is courteous and respectful. This would be my 100th unique summit to activate in the SOTA program which is a nice milestone to cross. The hike is a 4 mile round trip and the final ascent to the summit is steep and you will like have to set-up in quite a steep pitch. Views are wonderful.



View from Scott Hill

Scott Hill in the Distance

Quarry Mountain


This summit, W7U/NU-067, is not the most scenic and the trail winds through a lot of scrub brush. There is a little more cover on top and so some shade to set up the station. It is a 2 mile round trip and is a 6 pointer. It was my second activation on a day that netted 14 points. Below is a short video from the summit.

 

 

So, my trip out west showed me some more of the variety that makes SOTA such a rewarding and enjoyable pursuit. A few more points and a few more summits and another memorable experience.

 



Final Assault (Part Three): Mission Accomplished

Today, March 8, 2015 at 1732z, I made my fourth QSO from Peak 9431, W5N/PW-019 with N4EX. That QSO qualified the activation and thus earned me my SOTA Mountain Goat award. After 2 years and 2 days my point total is now 1,007, hallelujah!!

Peak 9431 was also  the second activation I ever made and I activated it with Fred, KT5X and John K1JD, both of which were with me today. Also this was my first activation using snow shoes the entire way, which actually was sort of fun. I made 37 QSO's and had a nice run of Europeans on 15m. It was a great day. Below is a video and a couple of pictures of today's activation.

Ascent

Activation (I left my snow shoes on)

Departing the Summit with K1JD and KT5X

More summits to activate. Thanks to the chasers who make this possible.

Final Assualt (Part 2), Not Today

There was a tentative plan to do two peaks today to finish off my SOTA Goat quest. However it was not to be. We did activate Viejos Mesa, W5N/CC-020, but evidently I had yet to do a hike through snow and mud on a beautiful sunny day. I can now check that box. The summit took us a lot longer than expected and conditions would have been similar a the second peak. So we cancelled the second one.

I did the activation with Fred, KT5X and John K1JD. It was a lovely day and the views were simply magnificent, in fact these views captured the imagination of Georgia O'Keeffe, and which she immortalized in her paintings. Of all the days to forget my camera it was today, but in the picture below, everything in it plus a lot more was what we got to look at while activating this summit. Of course we were a lot higher, 8,000 ft. ASL, while enjoying the beauty.

So now I sit at 996 points. Maybe tomorrow.

Final Assault (Part 1)

The last I wrote I had 965 SOTA Activator points. The goal is 1,000 Activator points to achieve Mountain Goat status. I'm almost there. I did two summits today, Palomas Peak (W5N/SI-010) and Peak 6860 (W5/SI-022), to move my total to 985 points, almost there. Below are some video clips from my activations today.

It was a beautiful day to be in the mountains of New Mexico. Both of these summits are near Albuquerque, but very different environments. Palomas Peak is in an alpine forest and 6860, more or less in the desert. Al within about 25 miles of each other.

The Trail to Palomas Peak

Palomas Operating Position

Palomas Descent

Taking a Break During 6860 Ascent

Arrival on 6860

6860 Summit

It was a beautiful day with two very different mountains. Lots of fun. Only 15 points to go. Stay Tuned for Part II.

Closing in on Mountain Goat

It has been a busy year on several fronts. My day job has kept me extremely busy, my band competed in the International Blues Challenge (IBC), getting to play two nights in BB Kings on Beale St. in Memphis, TN to packed houses and I've been accumulating a lot of SOTA points.

Sometimes my busy schedule gives me opportunities to activate summits that I wouldn't otherwise get to activate. A case in point was travelling to the IBC in Memphis. My drive from San Antonio took me through eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas. Both areas are target rich environments for SOTA activators so I was able to accumulate a lot of points. So many points in fact that, when added to a recent trip to Santa Fe, NM and the Davis Mountains in Texas I am knocking on the door of the SOTA Mountain Goat award which requires 1,000 activator points. I am now at 965 points.

Not just because I am getting close to earning MG status, but I believe this is one of the toughest awards in ham radio if you factor in the physical side of it. Nearly all awards in the amateur radio world require you sit on your derriere for hours or even days at a time. You will never mistake a ham convention for a gathering of tri-athletes. Staying fit enough to do these climbs has me in the best shape I've been in  years. That said, you don't have to be in fantastic shape to participate in SOTA. There are mountains or hills  that qualify that can be driven up or just a short walk will get you there. But it does require that you get outside, which is a good thing. And I promise, the more you do it, the more you will want to do.

I've learned some much about portable QRP operating while working toward this award. It's been said that when you achieve MG status, you have a Ph.D in portable radio operation. When I think about my first activation versus the way I operate now, it's night and day. I travel so much lighter and my station is much more efficient. I can be operating within 10 minutes of arriving on the summit with a station that will generate a pile-up and make DX contacts on multiple bands.

So I am anxious to get the 1,000th point, which hopefully will be within the next couple of weeks. Below is a video and picture from a couple of summits I activated last weekend in the Davis Mountains of Texas. The Davis Mountains are the home of the McDonald Observatory which, as you will see below, is a dominant feature on the horizon in that area. BTW, Mount Locke, where the observatory sits, is a 10 pointer that you drive up, however you have to get of the house to get there. The picture is from Mt. Arabella, a fairly steep 8 pointer that will take the average person 30 -45 minutes to ascend. The video is from Peak 6411 outside of Ft. Davis. It also is a drive-up. I use the Alex Loop on drive up mountains, but End Fed Half Wave (EFHW) on hikes of any distance.

Since beginning my chase for MG my longest hike was doing Santa Fe Baldy, in Santa Fe, NM. A 15 mile roundtrip up to 12,000+ ft. ASL. The tallest mountain I've done is Mt. Sherman in Colorado at 14,036 ft. ASL.

I 'm sure I will make another posting to the Blog when I get the 1,000th point. I can't wait to become a certified Old Goat!

McDonald Observatory from Mt. Arabella

Holiday SOTA Activations

So here we are, another year has past, and it seems, at warp speed. I hope each of you are enjoying the holiday season, however you celebrate it. Our family celebrates Christmas and I was able to spoil my grandchildren, so it has been fun indeed. Happy New Year as we approach 2015, and may you have health and happiness.

I am spending a few days at my Santa Fe, NM QTH for the holidays. There is snow on the ground and its only been above freezing about 3 hours since last Friday. However its a dry cold so its not too bad.

As always when I'm here I try to squeeze in some Summits on the Air (SOTA) activations. So far I've been able to do a couple as detailed below.

The Wagon Mound W5N/EL-016  6,930ft ASL  6 pts

The Wagon Mound gets its name from it's appearance. Without too much imagination you can see the outline of an old Conestoga Wagon on the summit outline. I chose this summit primarily because I've never done it, but also because, for the peaks in the area, it is at a relatively low elevation and the snow cover should be much less than higher peaks. When I departed Santa Fe, it was clear, sunny and 19F. I envisioned very thin snow cover, if any, on the mountain.

I was in for a little surprise, as you will see from the video below.

Wagon Mound, NM is 104 miles northeast of my QTH near Lamy, NM. About half way there we encountered fog. Visibility dropped, at times, to about 50 yards and the temperature dropped to 7F. I was beginning to have my doubts about making the climb. It was obvious that the snow accumulations were significantly more here, than back home. However I continued, postponing my decision until I could see the actual conditions at the base of the mountain..

Upon arrival, conditions had improved a little, visibility to 1 mile and the temperature was 13F at the base of the mountain. It wasn't a long climb, but it was steep. There was about 12 inches of snow on the ground. The problem with that is that this climb was a bushwhack over volcanic rocks and cactus. The snow cover completely disguised what might or might not be underneath. I decided to make the attempt. Cris, my XYL, was with me and she was willing to try as well. After all, we had just come over 100 miles.

The footing was treacherous. I had to plant my foot through the snow to discover what footing was below, whether solid ground or slippery rocks.We took our time and turned what should have been a 20 minute climb into about 40 minutes.

We set up about 30 feet below the summit, well into the activation zone. I used my KX3, 31 ft. piece of wire elevated with a 21 foot mast through a 9 to 1 balun, tuned by the KX3's tuner. Despite weather conditions, propagation was very good. I worked 31 stations on 20m CW in 18 minutes, a quick QSY to 40m yielded no results and since it was cold I didn't try any other bands. We packed up and retraced our steps down.

All in all a very satisfying activation given the challenges. We stopped on our way home in Las Vegas, NM and warmed ourselves up with some Mexican Food. A good day.

Summit 6860 W5N/SI-022  6,860ft ASL  6 pts

After my experience heading north, I decided to go south for my next activation. This summit is east of Albuquerque NM just south of I-40 and 67 miles from my QTH. This is a nice summit. Depending on where you start, the hike is 2. to 3 miles round trip. The elevation change is about 800 feet over that distance. There are numerous crisscrossing trails over the terrain, so there are multiple ways to get to summit. The trails are all nice trails, no bushwhacking required on this one.

The weather was near perfect for climbing, about 40 degrees, sunshine and little wind. Very enjoyable. You will see from the video below that the conditions were splendid and there was a little snow on the ground.

I used the same set-up here as described above. Conditions were good, 31 QSO's on 15, 20, and 30 meters.

So 12 more points in the log and some good exercise and, obviously, some stories to tell.

Happy New Year!!

Tromelin, Andamans and SOTA

It's been a while since I've sit down to write down a few thoughts. I've intended on several occasions to sit down and write down my thoughts, but it seems some other priority asserts itself and I can't get the time to write. But not today.

So what's happened since I last blogged.

Tromelin Expedition FT4TA: The expedition team did a great job, making nearly all bands available with good signals, at least in South Texas. I enjoyed both working the expedition, to fill some band slots, but also the event. The daily news, conditions, the complaining, etc.... I worked them on 10m, 15m, 20m, 30m and 80m. All new bands except 20m. My practice, as I have written about here, is to try to work the expeditions, during the last days, QRP. I was not able to do that on this expedition. The pile-ups never really slacked off, which brings me to my point.

Now that many expeditions use Club Log and other online tools to post how many QSO's each caller has logged, the information is leading to much debate. I am on a particular reflector where an individual copied and posted the band scorecard for multiple individuals and berated them for making multiple band/mode contacts when so many needed Tromelin for an all time new one.

My thoughts on this one: As long as an individual doesn't dupe band/mode slots, working the expedition is fair game. If a DXer builds a station that is capable and puts in the time operating to work Tromelin on 20 band slots, why not. Telling him not to is like telling a guy with a Ferrari that he can only drive the speed limit.  If, for whatever reason, a dipole is all you have, you know that working rare DX is a tough proposition. Why should the capable stations be made to wait on those not so capable. In my early days of DXing, not working an expedition motivated me to improve my station, improve my operating skills, improve my understanding of propagation, etc... Failure is often life's greatest teacher.

DX-peditions can control this somewhat by limiting the number of bands they operate on, but those guys paid their money, why shouldn't they have all the fun they can.

Andamans VU4CB and VU4KV:  This team also did a nice job activating a pretty rare place, that from my part of the world, is difficult to work.  I was able to get QSO's on a few bands and was impressed with the operation. I was not able to work these guys on QRP either. VU4VB operated from a rare IOTA which I also chased. So, please all around on this one.

SOTA Activations: I did find time to get in four SOTA activations near my Santa Fe, NM QTH during November. I activated three peaks, along with Fred KT5X and John K1JD, southeast of Albuquerque, NM.

Summit 8455 W5N/EL-002

This was a full day of activating. The first peak was a 100 mile drive, but well worth it. All of the three peaks were in excess of 8,000 feet. The picture above is of the first summit we activated, about a mile hike to the top. You can see from the pictures that a wildfire some years ago delineates our path to the top.

View from 8455

The reward, besides activator points, from being involved in SOTA, are the views.

More Views

The additional points achieved from these activations moved me to a total of 719 points in my quest to get to a 1,000 and earn the esteemed title of "SOTA Goat"

I love this radio stuff.....Until next time...73

Smoky Mountain SOTA Adventure

I've documented in this space before what I love about the Summits on the Air program. I love the mountains, the views, the exercise, the fresh air, the sense of accomplishment and the planning and executing of a successful radio operation. All of those elements came into play these past few days as I took a quick trip to the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee and North Carolina.

The bulk of the trip was spent on the Blue Ridge Parkway, which is a target rich environment from a SOTA perspective. The drive along the Parkway is beautiful all by itself, especially this time of year with the leaves starting to change. The Parkway is a winding road, with a speed limit of 45 mph, but because of the scenery you are tempted to drive slower. I highly recommend it.

From a SOTA perspective I wanted to activate as many summits as I could in a 2 1/2 time frame. I had been wanting to do this trip for over a year and finally found a hole in my schedule and some decent weather to make the trip happen. I wanted to activate summits in both Tennessee and North Carolina as these would be new SOTA Associations for me to activate. I had some frequent flyer miles on Delta Airlines that needed to be used so we flew into Knoxville, TN. The Smoky Mountains are just a short drive south from there.

I was able to activate eight summits, seven of which were 10 pointers with the other being an 8 pointer. In order of activation they were:
Greentop                                   W4T/SU-076
Clingmans Dome                      W4C/WM-001
Bunches Bald,                           W4C/WM-013
Waterrock Knob,                       W4C/WM-004
Black Balsam Knob                   W4C/CM-005
Mount Pisgah                             W4C/CM-011
Mount Mitchell                          W4C/CM-001
Richland Balsam                        W4C/WM-003

My XYL accompanied my on this trip. She is in great shape and is very helpful setting up and tearing down. Because she was with me and could carry the Alex Loop, my station consisted of Yaesu FT-817 with the 3000 MAh rechargeable battery, Pico Paddle and Alex Loop. The Alex Loop is easier to manage on crowded summits and worked well.

My operating strategy was simple, start on 20m and run the pile-up until I get several unanswered CQ's, move to 40m and get the local guys and then go to 15m to look for some DX. I had some decent DX on 15m. My typical activation takes around 25 - 30 minutes. Since these activations were during the week, I figured QSO counts would be down, however I would say they were better than I expected with 130 QSO's over 8 activations.

Greentop Mountain W4T/SU-076

This is a drive-up summit with radio towers on the top. I didn't have any trouble with RF in the radio however and had a nice activation, 16 QSOs including CU3AA and OE8SPW.

Greentop Mountain

Clingmans Dome W4C/WM-001

Clingman's Dome is a tourist attraction. While it is mostly a drive up, there is about a 1/2 mile hike to the top. Walking past all of the out of shape tourists, I felt rather fit. The trick for the operation is to avoid the crowds. I went to the left of the observation deck and down a path to a clearing next to a air monitoring station and some solar panels. Nice and quiet, away from the crowds and as you can see below, a very nice operating position. 14 QSO's from here.

Operating Position at Clingman's Dome

Bunches Bald W4C/WM-013

As much as Clingman's Dome is a tourist attraction, Bunches Bald is not. It's off the beaten path on the backside of a campground. Got to SotaWatch for more details, but at the back of campsite #14 there is a faint trail to the summit. The hike is probably less that a 1/4 of a mile, but it is through some fairly dense woods/undergrowth, however the trail makes it easier. The summit is very small, so I wouldn't count on two different stations if you do it with someone. I made 27 QSO's from here including EA2LU and F5UBH.

Benchmark on Bunches Bald

Operating from Bunches Bald

Waterrock Knob W4C/WM-004

Waterrock Knob has a visitor center, toilets and a nice trail to the summit. While the trail is nice its a challenging little hike, not too long, but steep in places. Wonderful views from here. 16 QSO's from here including EA2LU, EA2IF and CU3AA.

View from Waterrock Knob

This finished off the first day. As you can see from the pictures, the weather was glorious and the scenery fantastic. The XYL and I finished off the with a nice pizza pie.


Black Balsam Knob W4C/CM-005

This is a unique summit for the area in that there are no trees on top. I'm sure there is some reasonable explanation but I didn't talk to anyone who knew. I would have guessed that this summit would have "bald" in the name since it has no trees, however, it's a "knob". Bunches Bald, is anything but bald as it has lots of trees and undergrowth on the summit. Go figure. From the trailhead this is probably a 2 mile roundtrip but not a bad hike at all. Because there are no trees on the summit you can see for miles and miles. Beautiful!! 22 QSO's from here including EA2LU and DJ5AV.

Operating from Black Balsam Knob

Mt. Pisgah W4C/CM-011

This is a classic hike in the region. It's 3 miles round trip and gains 750 vertical feet, however the first third of a mile is relatively flat, so most of the vertical gain comes over the last mile. The trail is well shaded, but the trail is rock laden, be sure to wear supportive shoes. Pisgah is a summit that will, at most any given time, have 5 -10 people on top. There is an observation deck, however, based on N1EU's recommendation, I crossed under the tower and operated from the other side of the tower opposite the observation deck. I made 15 QSO's from here including a couple of EA's.



Operating from Mt. Pisgah

My XYL Cris on the trail to Mt. Pisgah

Mt Mitchell W4C/CM-001

Mt. Mitchell is located in Mt. Mitchell State Park. The mountain is the tallest mountain east of the Mississippi. There is a nice road to just below the summit, which is just a short walk away. This is another summit with an observation deck and as before I walked to opposite side of the summit from the deck. I found a nice flat rock to operate from. I made 16 QSO's from here including CU3AA.

Mt. Mitchel Benchmark

Operating from Mt. Mitchell



Mt. Mitchell Summit

Mt. Mitchell finished the second day. We were tired and had dinner at the restaurant just down from the summit. The restaurant food was delicious and the views incredible.

Friday morning, the third day of the trip was forecast for 80% chance of rain. I had a plan to do Richland Balsam if I could get there before the rain did.

Richland Balsam W4C/WM-003

Visibility on the Blue Ridge Parkway was near zero in places and a rain storm was approaching from the west. I was racing the weather to get this one in before it got too bad. It took a little time to find the trail head because of the fog, but we finally found it. The trail is probably .6 miles one way through some dense forest.  We arrived at the summit with only the wind and foggy mist to deal with, but after the first QSO, the rain started. My XYL, what a trooper she is, was holding the umbrella while I hastily tried to qualify the activation. So I was sitting in the rain after 3 QSO's in log, N7UN, NE4TN and W2CKL. It was around 1245z, a little early for the chasers in the west and this was a work day as well. I called CQ for what seemed like an eternity trying to get that 4th QSO. I switched to 40m from 20m, called a couple of CQ's and then the golden answer, de N4EX. Hallelujah!! Another quick QSO with N4MJ and I QRT'ed as the rain intensified. We packed up and happily, at least me, headed down the mountain in the rain.

Operating from Richland Balsam just before a rain

Departing Richland Balsam in the rain

What a great trip, lots of SOTA points and lots of beautiful scenery and even some adventure.