Summits On The Air

[GrizzlyGuy]

I recently found out about the Summits On The Air (SOTA) program. It has been big in Europe for many years and just now starting to really catch on here in North America. The basic idea is that "activators" hike up onto mountain summits with their ham radio gear and talk to "chasers" in their home, mobile or portable stations around the world. The rules say that you have to do the last 100 vertical feet of the ascent on foot, but that doesn't mean that you can't do the first 2900 feet on an ATV.

I thought this sounded pretty cool, so I went out and did my first activation on Sunday: Peavine Peak. I was actually the very first person to ever activate it for SOTA, so that was cool too. Photos and the story (in the captions) are here:

http://www.grizzlyguy.com/HamRadio/SOTA ... 77_2bKGhzX

I was too lazy to hook up my trailer and load the Grizzly so I just drove up Peavine Road in my H2. My final hike only covered about 200 vertical feet, from the saddle up to the top.

Their current database of summits in this area is kind of sparse. There are a TON that qualify in this area that aren't listed, and hopefully I can get them added before next riding season. Summits like Signal Peak, Verdi Peak, Jack's Spot (seriously), Brian's Secret Miyagi Nightride Summit (really, SERIOUSLY, it qualifies), Sardine Peak, Babbitts Peak, etc. This could give ATV riding a whole 'nuther angle, at least for radio geeks like Hemingray and I.

[Ken]

That's pretty cool.

I like the "seriously..it counts."

[hemingray]

Sounds like fun - did you do CW or sideband?

I do want to get a battery, borrow the Outbacker we have at work and take the FT-897 out portable. This sounds like a cool thing. Verdi Peak and Genoa Peak come to mind as similarly accessible peaks. How about Dogskin Mountain (Moonrocks)? And next season - imagine working from Signal Peak!

[GrizzlyGuy]

Sounds like fun - did you do CW or sideband?

I do want to get a battery, borrow the Outbacker we have at work and take the FT-897 out portable. This sounds like a cool thing. Verdi Peak and Genoa Peak come to mind as similarly accessible peaks. How about Dogskin Mountain (Moonrocks)? And next season - imagine working from Signal Peak!

Ha! I figured those radio wheels would start turning in your head when you saw this. You've been threatening to operate portable, you already have all the equipment you need, and now you have a reason to do it every weekend during a ride break.

Yup, Dogskin Mountain is on their official list already. So is the little ridge just across 395 that Ken and I rode down the top of on our way TO Moonrocks (right after we made our made our pavement dash and went speeding by the road construction guys to get back onto dirt, which happened to be the trail up onto it.).

Just about every lookout you can think of is eligible but most aren't on the official list (yet). There are also lots of "summits" that qualify that you might not expect. Remember the time we rode Pinoli Ridge and stopped at that viewpoint right along the road? It qualifies. So does Pt 6522 out by Bowman Lake that you've almost ridden to the top of except for maybe 80 vertical feet. That's fine, because the rules say that you have to hike the last 100 vertical feet. The key for a summit to qualify is that it has to have a prominence of 500 feet or more. Climbers have already compiled summit lists with prominence specified at sites like PeakList.org and they explain what it means there. I'll send you my GPX file so you can see all of them in our area.

I was operating CW but there is plenty of activity on SSB as well. I made 16 QSOs with my longest being to Nova Scotia and Quebec. Had I gotten up there a little earlier I think I could have bagged some Europeans as well with just my piddly 5-10W. I was getting good reports from eastern Canada and the US. Not really a surprise given how the terrain fell of sharply to the east about 5 feet from my antenna.

[hemingray]

Ha! I figured those radio wheels would start turning in your head when you saw this. You've been threatening to operate portable, you already have all the equipment you need, and now you have a reason to do it every weekend during a ride break.

Yeah, great - now I have to go shop for a battery... maybe a tuner... I'll have to grab the Outbacker next week and try it from the backyard and see how I do.

Could be fun.

[GrizzlyGuy]

That's the ticket! I just used a cheap 9 AHr SLA battery that I bought online for something like $25. You can spend more and get something a lot lighter like these from Buddipole.

Trying out your setup at home is a good idea. I did that the day before my trip and luckily there was a contest going on so it was easy to make a bunch of QRP contacts to be sure it was all working as expected. The Outbacker is nice for easy setup, but it won't perform as well as a full-size antenna like a dipole. If you're having trouble making contacts, don't give up as you can always toss together a dipole. It won't even require a tuner if you cut it for the middle of the band instead of way down at the bottom like I did. The only reason I brought a tuner was to allow me to use it up at the top of the phone band where the SOTA guys hang out on SSB. On the other hand, a dipole will require at least one support and trees aren't always available on summits. Just like anything there are always trade-offs and that's part of what makes it fun.

[hemingray]

That little Elecraft is sweet!

No question - I want to get that thing portable and now's a good time to have it ready for next year.

The only reason for the Outbacker is I have access to it for FREE... I'll have to check out your setup sometime. I agree that rolling up long wire is better than loaded antennas - but I still need a support for sure.

[GrizzlyGuy]

FREE is always good! Who knows, that might be a great performing antenna and I'll end up buying one.

Tomorrow morning I'm headed for Virginia Peak on the silver Grizzly, out in the Moonrocks area. If you're around look for me on about 14.062 MHz CW or 14.342 MHz SSB starting at about 1930Z.

http://sotawatch.org/summits.php?summit=W7/WC-010

Hopefully someone will spot me here and I'll get a mini-pileup like last time:

http://sotawatch.org/spots.php

If I happen to get out there early, I might even zip back down, run across the highway, and hit Warm Springs Mountain. Less points for that one because it is lower, but it has a trail connecting to Moonrocks. Damn, if Ken's pulpit hill was in their database I'd hit it too:



No sermons from the mount, just Morse code for the masses.

[hemingray]

I'm kinda working this week - but I'd have gone with you if I had more notice! I set a meeting with someone tomorrow, or I could have headed out. I'll try to fire up the HF radio at work around then and give you a shout if I hear you.

[Mr. Green]

ya speak up there, id have gone as well. I just left grass valley with my quad a few hours ago and i only have my garage to clean tomorrow and god knows i dont want to do that. id have welcome an excuse to go ride, especially in NV so we could shoot as well... dam i want to go even worse now.

Though i admit id be a huge distraction, since id be riding all around ya and shooting if legal /safe as well why you did your radio thing.

[hemingray]

No sermons from the mount, just Morse code for the masses.

Code: Select all

--. ..- -..        .-.. ..- -.-. -.-      --- --

[Ken]

No profanity Dave....even in Morse.

[hemingray]

LOL Ken!

So, I listened and believe I heard you - there was a very weak CW signal that I kept hearing stronger signals come back to. It was on the frequency you gave, but I don't know that it was you - but I see at least one person logged you. Nothing heard on USB though.





I guess it was ham day at work - most everyone else is on vacation, so along with listening for you, another ham and I nearly completed our installation of a Gap Challenger. We just have to set up the coax and put it up and guy it (it's 31 feet long!).

[GrizzlyGuy]

I'm kinda working this week - but I'd have gone with you if I had more notice! I set a meeting with someone tomorrow, or I could have headed out. I'll try to fire up the HF radio at work around then and give you a shout if I hear you.

ya speak up there, id have gone as well. I just left grass valley with my quad a few hours ago and i only have my garage to clean tomorrow and god knows i dont want to do that. id have welcome an excuse to go ride, especially in NV so we could shoot as well... dam i want to go even worse now.

Though i admit id be a huge distraction, since id be riding all around ya and shooting if legal /safe as well why you did your radio thing.

Dohhh!! I figured everyone would be working on a Wednesday so I didn’t announce it here. You guys didn’t miss much in terms of riding. It was 17.4 miles to the top per my GPS, all smooth roads, and lots of private property surrounding the roads so not many opportunities for exploring. However, the views were more impressive than I expected, photos here:

http://www.grizzlyguy.com/HamRadio/SOTA ... 795_j8gq4F

LOL Brian, with all the noise from your hand canon I'd never be able to hear the radio! I did bring along some shooting equipment, but nobody needed to be shot so I focused on using the radio gear:

No profanity Dave....even in Morse.

Ha! Dude, you need to work on your Morse. Nothing profane although he did call me an old man.

So, I listened and believe I heard you - there was a very weak CW signal that I kept hearing stronger signals come back to. It was on the frequency you gave, but I don't know that it was you - but I see at least one person logged you. Nothing heard on USB though.

Excellent! I ended up on 14.063.3 MHz and was running only 20W the whole time. I worked 12 guys beginning at 11:38 AM local time, including eastern Canada again, and even worked a fellow SOTA activator (KH2TJ) w-a-y far away in Portola, CA. Mr. Ionosphere and Mr. Ground Wave were both in good shape. You'd be behind the Sierra "wall" from where I was so that might be why you couldn't hear me.

Around 12:15 local time I called CQ on 20m SSB (14.342) for something like 15 minutes and didn't get a single response. The same thing happened while I was on Peavine. Don't know what the deal is, maybe everyone worked me on CW and didn't bother looking for me on SSB.

I ended up not heading across the highway towards Moonrocks. I couldn't find a trail from where I had unloaded, and didn't feel like loading and unloading again. I'd been up on the mountain with temps in the 30's and the winds blowing 38-40 and gusting to 45+ mph the whole time (per the NOAA weather station up there) so I wasn't super-disappointed that I wouldn't have to risk a breakdown late in the day. Maybe next time...

[hemingray]

Where was KH2TJ? Beckwourth Peak? Didn't see him spotted.

Sorry I missed that one - I would have liked seeing the NOAA WX site at the very least. Not surprised it was windy and cold with a small system approaching. You looked like you were sheltering against the building. Doesn't look like a whole lot of radio there - I know on Signal Peak most of the VHF/UHF stuff gets desensed from all the RF. I guess HF is not so bad?

Aside from the Sierra blocking things, we are handicapped by a LOT of building noise from our loop antenna on the roof (it's above the HVAC mezzanine) so we're hoping the new Gap will help that. I probably could have heard better if the noise level weren't so high. I bet I could have easily heard you from here at home.

Let me know when you are going mountaintopping again - my work can be very flexible when I need it to....

Next year maybe we should do a Field Day expedition on a mountaintop somewhere - could be fun.