2. Ham Radio

Grouse Ridge (W6/NS-195) SOTA Activation 10/17/2012

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The road up to the top of Grouse Ridge is closed and gated approximately 150 vertical feet from the top.
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The road up to the top of Grouse Ridge is closed and gated approximately 150 vertical feet from the top.

  • Looking up through the trees at the west face of Grouse Ridge with its old lookout tower perched on top.
  • The road up to the top of Grouse Ridge is closed and gated approximately 150 vertical feet from the top.
  • I had planned to setup my 28' Jackite pole mast next to the lookout tower, but the the ridge drops off steeply past the tower and there wouldn't have been room to tie off that end of my 88' doublet. I instead anchored the bottom of the mast in a bush midway down the short ridge top. The camera is looking north.
  • My mast, antenna and twinlead feedline as seen from next to the lookout tower. The camera is looking south.
  • My mast crammed down into the bush and bungeed to one of the branches.
  • Close-up showing the bungee near the center of the shot. It was a beautiful day with light winds, so guying wasn't necessary.
  • At the north end of the antenna, I used one of my hiking poles as a tie-off.
  • A rock holds down my hi-tech line winder (piece of cardboard from a Charmin toilet paper box) to tension the hiking pole and antenna.
  • I used my other hiking pole for the south end of the antenna.
  • No rock needed for tensioning, I crammed my line winder down into a crack.
  • The west face of the ridge as seen from the north end. It is a steep scree-covered slope followed by a sheer cliff. The east face is similar to the scree-covered slope seen here, but without a cliff.
  • My operating position next to the bush and base of my mast. I was hoping to get a bit of shade from the bush but there wasn't much. By the way, a KX3 plus an 88' doublet is about as good as it gets for portable operations: one quick press of the KX3's ATU button gets you on any band from 6m-80m in seconds, and the antenna is an extended double Zepp on 20m with about 3 dB of gain over a half-wave dipole. Extend the doublet out to 135' and 160m is just as easy.
  • Fully camouflaged next to my bush and ready to operate. The yellow BNC plug on the end of the coax jumper even fits with the fall camo motif.
  • Dang it, I could have left my battery home and saved some pack weight (just kidding)! These batteries and related equipment are under the lookout, presumably used only to power the repeaters on the summit since the lookout hasn't been a functional lookout for years.
  • Looking to the west, the Sacramento Valley is under the haze and the coastal range is visible beyond the haze. The tops of the Sutter Buttes are visible poking up through the haze from the Sacramento Valley (1/3 of the way from left edge). The buttes contain five different SOTA summits: W6/CV-001, 004, 007, 008 & 011.
  • To the east, Old Man Mountain (W6/NS-184) is the half-dome-shaped mountain approximately 1/3 of the way from the right edge of the photo. The Fordyce Creek 4x4 trail runs along the base of it as it follows Fordyce Creek from I-80 near Cisco Grove up to Meadow Lake. <a href="http://www.grizzlyguy.com/HamRadio/SOTA-Activation-942012-Sand">Sand Ridge</a>, Castle Peak and various other SOTA summits are back toward the skyline. Part of the <a href="http://www.grizzlyguy.com/HamRadio/SOTA-BlackButtes-W6NS270-2013">Black Buttes (W6/NS-170)</a> is visible along the left edge of the photo.
  • The Black Buttes (W6/NS-170) are only about 4 miles away to the east-northeast. That would be a tough one, as there are no roads or motorized routes leading to it. UPDATE: <a href="http://www.grizzlyguy.com/HamRadio/SOTA-BlackButtes-W6NS270-2013">I did it!</a>
  • A closer shot of Old Man Mountain (W6/NS-184) to the east-southeast.
  • To the north-northeast is <a href="http://www.grizzlyguy.com/HamRadio/SOTA-EnglishMtn-W6NS151-2013">English Mountain (W6/NS-151)</a>.
  • The Sierra Buttes (W6/NS-139) jut up onto the skyline to the north (see <a href="http://www.grizzlyguy.com/HamRadio/SOTA-Activation-9202012-Sierra">my activation album for that summit</a>).
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