2. Ham Radio

NA SOTA Day Overnight 4-summit Trip Sept 2012

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The top is rather flat, but best I could tell this is the summit. The massive fir tree next to me looked to be a great support for my antenna.
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The top is rather flat, but best I could tell this is the summit. The massive fir tree next to me looked to be a great support for my antenna.

  • Visible through the trees to the north, the jagged <a href="http://www.grizzlyguy.com/HamRadio/SOTA-Activation-9202012-Sierra">Sierra Buttes (W6/NS-139)</a> juts up onto the skyline.
  • Bowman Lake is down below to the southeast.
  • W6/NS-273 (Pt. 6522) logbook page 1.
  • W6/NS-273 (Pt. 6522) logbook page 2.
  • After finishing the W6/NS-273 activation I made my way to Pinoli Ridge W6/NS-223 for the night. I was running a little late after my hike took longer than expected and had to scramble to get the 135' doublet up and my tent ready to go before it got dark. About 20 feet past my tent the summit slopes off steeply to the south. The wind blew all night and into the next day. It wasn't bad, only about 10-15 mph gusting to 20 mph.
  • Clouds above the mountains to the east.
  • Looking west-southwest.
  • The balun went intermittent on me and then completely failed the night before. The following morning I took it out of the circuit and used clip leads to connect the doublet's twinlead directly to the coax jumper. The KX3 was still able to tune it, but not on 20m. I did 30m and 15m instead.
  • My operating position behind the tent.
  • The center of my doublet hanging from the tree above my tent.
  • Sierra Buttes (W6/NS-139) to the north.
  • W6/NS-223 (Pinoli Ridge) logbook page 1. I worked only the low bands that evening (Sorry Rich, I didn't get your E-mail requesting 20m until after I got home). The 80m QSOs and the one with Skip K6DGW on 160m were SOTA firsts for me on those bands. One of the wires inside the balun seems to have broken loose and by the time I worked Skip on 160m the balun was in very-very bad shape. I could only manage an SWR of something like 6 or 7 to 1 after much jiggling. When I tested the antenna at home before the trip, the KX3 ATU had tuned the balun/antenna to about 1.2:1 on 160m. I went QRT, ate dinner and hit the sack after working Skip.
  • W6/NS-223 (Pinoli Ridge) logbook page 2. These are my QSOs the following morning.
  • After breaking camp, I headed for Findley Peak W6/NS-216. This is me and my trusty 'SOTA steed' (Yamaha Grizzly 700) just before I headed out on my hike.
  • The hike begins on the road, but the last 2/3 or so are cross-country up through the forest.
  • The summit is up there somewhere.
  • That's gotta be it up past the opening.
  • The top is rather flat, but best I could tell this is the summit. The massive fir tree next to me looked to be a great support for my antenna.
  • The tree from a distance.
  • Me standing next to the tree for scale.
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