2. Ham Radio

Pt. 7100 (W6/NS-239), Pt. 7052 (W6/NS-244) SOTA Activations 7/18/2013

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One more shot of the doublet with its 300-ohm TV twinlead dropping down to my operating position.
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One more shot of the doublet with its 300-ohm TV twinlead dropping down to my operating position.

  • The SOTA Northern Sierra region logo. This logo is available on Northern Sierra T-shirts, sweatshirts, beer steins, mouse pads, etc. for SOTA participants who qualify for the Northern Sierra Award (offered by yours truly KU6J). The award rules are linked to from my page on QRZ.com.
  • Pt. 7100 (W6/NS-239) and Pt. 7052 (W6/NS-144) can be accessed from Interstate 80/Highway 20 via Bowman Lake Road, or via Highway 89 and Tahoe National Forest Road 07 which runs to Jackson Meadows Reservoir. The roads shown in black above are paved, while the others are dirt roads in various states of repair (mostly disrepair). The green road that runs along and past Bowman Lake is especially rough, so the route from Hwy 89 will put the least amount of wear and tear on your vehicle.
  • To get to Pt. 7100, proceed to the east end of the dam at Jackson Meadows Reservoir (F07C301 at 39.50959N, 120.55373W). Turn onto the dirt Henness Pass Road, continue past Milton Reservoir, and turn right at the non-signed intersection C301HILDA (39.53046N, 120.62117W). Turn right again at PT7100RD (39.53655N, 120.6133W). This road ends on the NE side of the hill just outside the summit's activation zone. Make the short hike up to the summit from there.
  • Zoomed in topo map of Pt. 7100.
  • Pt. 7100 as seen from near the end of the road. I didn't have the activation zone for this summit loaded into my GPS, and thought the hike would be longer.
  • Up on top, I found a shady spot to operate from.
  • I used my 88' doublet in inverted-V configuration with the center supported by my 28' Jackite pole.
  • Another shot of the antenna. The doublet wires are running N-S for maximum signal to the E-W on 20m and below, and mostly end-fire to the NNE/NNW/SSE/SSW on 12m due to the antenna's multiple lobes on that band. Recent 12m openings have mostly been to South America and northeast up into Canada, so this turns out to be a perfect orientation.
  • I bungeed the bottom of the mast to this mangled little fir tree.
  • One more shot of the doublet with its 300-ohm TV twinlead dropping down to my operating position.
  • I saw this pile of bear scat near where I was sitting, but had no sighting of the bear itself.
  • Sierra Buttes (W6/NS-139) on the other side of the Yuba River Canyon (Highway 49 runs along the bottom of the canyon). The lookout tower is on the peak to the left. See <a href="http://www.grizzlyguy.com/HamRadio/SOTA-Activation-9202012-Sierra">my Sierra Buttes activation album</a> for more info.
  • My SOTAWatch spots for W6/NS-239. I had no Internet connectivity on the summit so I couldn't see these at the time.
  • Logbook page 1.
  • Logbook page 2. My only summit-to-summit QSO was with Elliott K6EL on Mt. Davidson in San Francisco. Jerry K6III called me on a few different bands from down in Grass Valley, 33 miles away. When I worked him on 15m I asked him to QSY to 12m for my only 12m contact from this summit. I made 20 QSOs overall, thanks to everyone who called in!
  • To get to Pt. 7052, proceed towards Bowman Lake from Jackson Meadows Reservoir (or towards Jackson Meadows Reservoir if coming from Bowman Lake). Approximately midway between these two bodies of water is a signed intersection with Meadow Lake Road shown above as C843C956 (39.47384N, 120.56313W). Turn towards Meadow Lake. In about .35 miles, turn left onto the blue road at the non-signed intersection PT7052RD (39.472N, 120.55808W). This road climbs steeply in some spots and has many high water bars on it. If you don't have a dirt bike, ATV or high clearance vehicle (preferably 4WD) park and hike up the road.
  • Shortly after the road crests, leave it and hike cross-country up through the forest to the summit. I began my hike from the PT7052HIKE point at 39.47691N, 120.55094W.
  • The view to the north from the summit of Pt. 7052 with Jackson Meadows Reservoir down below and <a href="http://www.grizzlyguy.com/HamRadio/SOTA-Activation-9202012-Sierra">Sierra Buttes (W6/NS-139)</a> visible between the trees. Oh yeah, I'm in the shot too. ;-)
  • I set up about 15 feet from the actual summit near a pine tree that gave me some shade. I again used my 88' doublet in inverted-V configuration with the center supported by my 28' Jackite pole, with the wires running N-S.
  • My SOTAWatch spots. I still had no Internet connectivity and not even any cell phone coverage on this summit.
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