2. Ham Radio

Pt. 8060 (W6/NS-166) SOTA Activation 8/30/2012

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A view of the signal-enhancing slope from the other side of the antenna (see the HFTA plots for my antenna at this location further down in this album if you don't believe me about the signal-enhancing properties). The green antenna wire (insulated 22 AWG stranded wire, nothing special) and orange mason line I use to tie off the ends are visible as well.
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A view of the signal-enhancing slope from the other side of the antenna (see the HFTA plots for my antenna at this location further down in this album if you don't believe me about the signal-enhancing properties). The green antenna wire (insulated 22 AWG stranded wire, nothing special) and orange mason line I use to tie off the ends are visible as well.

  • Pt. 8060 isn't spectacular, just a forested hill top in an area of Tahoe National Forest that most people would never visit. For maps and directions, see <a href="http://www.grizzlyguy.com/HamRadio/SOTA-Pt8060-W6NS166-2013">this album from a later activation</a>. I ride through the area pretty often on my way north from Truckee to Gold Lake and points beyond. After parking my ATV in the shade just off the road that is signed as "Ridge Loop", I decided to hike up this old logging road that looked like it might go to the summit.
  • The old logging road actually doesn't go to the summit so you eventually have to walk cross-country through old logging slash.
  • Me thinks that the summit is somewhere up above this break in the forest.
  • The top is rounded and rather flat with nothing yelling out "summit!". I therefore proclaimed this old stump to be the summit since it is as high as everything else up there.
  • As is my habit, I headed for the east side to find some downsloping terrain that will help my signal in that direction, even if I can't manage to get my antenna up that high. I found two dead fir trees perched right on the edge of a bowl and quickly tossed my bright yellow Zing-It throw line up into one of them (using a baseball-sized rock in a small ditty bag for the actual throw).
  • In short order I had the center of my 20/40m link dipole hanging up about 25 feet high. I tied the ends of the antenna off to nearby trees. The wires ran along the edge of the slope, putting my main lobes heading east/west with the east lobe getting a downhill boost.
  • Zoomed in on the center of the antenna.
  • All set up and ready to roll with the little HB-1B transceiver and the Bull Dog mini keyer paddles stuck on the top via their magnetic base. I was expecting an easy hike (and it was) so I brought along my Crazy Creek chair for extra comfort.
  • A view of the signal-enhancing slope from the other side of the antenna (see the HFTA plots for my antenna at this location further down in this album if you don't believe me about the signal-enhancing properties). The green antenna wire (insulated 22 AWG stranded wire, nothing special) and orange mason line I use to tie off the ends are visible as well.
  • My view while operating. I was looking ENE.
  • My view while operating, zoomed in. The valley is the southmost segment of the western arm of the Sierra Valley. Pt. 6815 (W6/NS-262) and Pt. 7282 (W6/NS-226) are on the ridge across the valley. I believe that's Mt. Ina Coolbrith (W6/NS-167) rising to the skyline.
  • To the northeast Adams Peak (W6/NS-158) and Dixie Mountain (W6/CN-006) are visible on the other side of the Sierra Valley.
  • Babbitt Peak (W6/NS-132) is on the skyline to the east with Pt. 7282 (W6/NS-226) on the ridge below it and closer to the camera.
  • Topo map with the GPS track log from my hike. The turquoise and white dashed line is my estimation of the activation zone that I use for planning purposes. The hike up was gradual, easy and only climbed about 300 vertical feet (contour interval is 40 feet).
  • Aerial photo of the same area.
  • The HFTA (High Frequency Terrain Analysis) terrain profile graph for my actual operating position on Pt. 8060 looking ENE at a heading of 75 degrees. This is the heading for stations I typically work in the northeast part of the country and Canada.
  • The HFTA plot for my actual 20m dipole up 25 feet at this actual location (red line) as compared to a 20m dipole up a half wavelength but over flat ground (blue line) for a heading of 75 degrees. My actual antenna clearly outperforms the theoretical higher dipole over flat ground due to the downsloping terrain at my location. Or at least the HFTA modelling algorithms think it will.
  • Terrain profile for 90 degrees.
  • At a heading of 90 degrees, HFTA again predicts that my dipole will generally outperform a higher dipole sitting above flat ground.
  • At 115 degrees, there is a small terrain bump a bit down the slope from my operating position. You can see it on the topo map.
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