2. Ham Radio

Pt. 7282 (W6/NS-226) SOTA Activation 10/14/2012

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A closer shot of Sierraville and the Sierra Valley to the west-northwest.
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A closer shot of Sierraville and the Sierra Valley to the west-northwest.

  • Pt. 7282 as seen from the southeast. For maps and directions to Pt. 7282, see <a href="http://www.grizzlyguy.com/HamRadio/SOTA-Pt7282-W6NS226-2013">my activation album from the following year</a>.
  • Pt. 7282 as seen from the northeast. The bump just to the right of the summit is a giant 16 foot high boulder.
  • This area used to be a beautiful pine and fir forest until the Cottonwood Fire in August 1994 wiped it all out, leaving a landscape that looks more like Southern California than Northern California.
  • Pack on and ready to start the climb. I went up the shallower sloped west side, not because of its shallower slope but because the steeper east slope was covered with impenetrable brush. The climb up this route wasn't difficult and there were enough old logging skid trails that I rarely had to whack any bushes.
  • This is what you climb through: brush and dead fall from the 1994 fire.
  • As you approach the top you can see that a giant boulder is perched near the summit. While standing next to it, I estimated it to be about 16 feet high. I'm not a geologist, but all the rocks and boulders in this area appear to be igneous rocks with low densities (like pumice). This is unusual for our area where the norm is for the big rocks to be heavy granite.
  • Standing on the summit. I'm actually standing on a smaller boulder, the larger one is behind and blocked from view due to the camera angle.
  • Today's antenna was an 88' doublet fed with el-cheapo 300-ohm twinlead (the same stuff that is used with VHF/UHF TV antennas). My rarely used (because it is rarely needed) 28' Jackite collapsible fiberglass pole supports the center. The pole was designed to hold wind socks up in the air, but they work really well for portable antenna masts. The antenna is running north-south so its major lobe on 20/30/40m is broadside toward the east-west. There is a steep downslope to the east, and the antenna performed very well.
  • A view of the antenna from the other direction.
  • I wedged the bottom of the pole into some rocks and used a short bungee cord (running from the pole to a dead tree) to pull it securely against the rocks. Although it was moderately windy, I didn't need any other guy lines.
  • I used the 16' boulder to support the north end of the antenna. I didn't want to risk climbing it, so I tossed my Zing-it thrown line up and over the boulder using the rock-in-bag overhand toss technique. You can barely see the line going over the boulder. Note to self: clean the camera lens!
  • The line ran up and over the boulder, then down to this dead tree on the other side. Sierra Valley and the town of Sierraville are in the background. The camera is looking west-northwest. I secured the south end of the doublet to one of the dead trees on the summit ridge.
  • With the twinlead routed this way and that way through the dead trees, I'm ready to roll. My Elecraft KX3 transceiver is in my left hand and my right hand is holding a 4:1 QRP balun from Balun Designs. I use a 1-foot long piece of RG-58 with BNC male connectors on each end to connect to the KX3. This system works on all bands 6m - 80m and changing bands is a simple matter of hitting the ATU button and waiting a few seconds for it to tune. I verified that the antenna tuned to a VSWR of less than 1.5 to 1 on all bands, and I made QSOs on 10m, 17m, 20m, 30m and 40m. I called CQ on 12m and 80m, was auto-spotted by the new RBNGate software that I created, but had no takers on those bands. The antenna wouldn't load on 160m, but I included a small loop and connector on each end so that I can easily turn it into a 135' link doublet by adding two chunks of wire attached by zip ties. This will be handy for activations when I camp on the summit. I've made one 160m QSO from a summit so far (with Skip K6DGW) and I'd like to make more.
  • Looking toward the northeast, this one old snag is all that remains standing after the 1994 fire.
  • A closer shot of Sierraville and the Sierra Valley to the west-northwest.
  • The devastation from the fire is apparent in this shot looking toward the south-southwest.
  • Logbook page 1. I made a total of 33 SOTA QSOs which is a new record for me on a single activation. Being instantly spotted by my RBNGate software as soon as I fired up on any band was a big help and was largely responsible for this high (for me) QSO total. By the way, I hadn't mentioned 17m in my alert, and people know that I invariably start out on 20m. Today I started on 17m just to see if my software would spot me. It did, and a small pile of chasers soon appeared!
  • Logbook page 2. Etienne K7ATN called me on 40m for my first summit-to-summit QSO of the day.
  • Logbook page 3. I had Internet on the summit and when I saw N0BCB spotted on 20m phone, I dug my rarely used microphone out of the pack, changed bands from 10m to 20m, and gave him a call for my second summit-to-summit contact of the day.
  • Logbook page 4. K4BAI is a recognizable call for those of us who participate in contests. I don't know if he realized (or cared) that I was activating a summit, but I was happy to have him call in. Thanks to everyone who gave me a call and making it a really fun activation!
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