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Sardine Peak (W6/NS-160) SOTA Activation 4/27/2013

SOTA activation for the 2013 QRPTTF (QRP To The Field) event
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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. Today I wore my Northern Sierra sweatshirt.
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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. Today I wore my Northern Sierra sweatshirt.

SOTANorthernSierra

  • 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. Today I wore my Northern Sierra sweatshirt.
  • Sardine Peak has an elevation of 8135 feet and is located in California's Tahoe National Forest, near the Nevada border, and approximately equidistant from the towns of Sierraville, Loyalton and Verdi. Reaching it requires about 10-12 miles of traveling on dirt forest service roads. In dry conditions, a rugged 2WD vehicle can make it to within a few hundred vertical feet of the top. In this map, the black lines are paved roads, purple is a good dirt road, green a little less good and blue is rough 2WD.
  • Four different forest service roads climb up onto the mountain and I chose the most south-facing route for my Yamaha Grizzly 700 ATV, expecting all of the snow to be melted. It was, except for the final section that begins below the locked gate and loops around the north side of the mountain and on up to the summit. No worries, I planned to begin my hike from this spot anyway. <br /> <br /> Unfortunately, I was so confident that there would be no snow that I wore only my low-top hiking shoes. Up around the bend beyond the gate, the drifts were still 3-4 feet deep and I had to post-hole my way through them to the top. It was a warm day and the snow that packed itself into my shoes actually felt refreshing!
  • The Sardine Peak lookout tower (no longer in operation) and the picnic table that I operated from. I managed to get my 88' doublet erected as a true flattop (the ideal configuration, vs. an inverted-V) by using my Buddipole mast to support the center, my Jackite pole to support the south end, and the railing of the lookout tower's observation deck to support the north end. The antenna was up about 20' and oriented in the ideal direction for making contacts to my east and west (most SOTA participants are to my east). The twinlead runs down to a 4:1 QRP balun from Balun Designs, then into my KX3 via a 1 foot long RG-58 cable. The KX3's ATU can match the antenna on any band 6m-80m.
  • The Buddipole mast sitting up on a raised concrete platform that (I'm guessing) was originally used for the lookout tower's propane tank. I used a bungee to secure the mast to the metal railing, so guying wasn't necessary. My el-cheapo 300-ohm TV twinlead feedline can be seen running down to the left towards the picnic table.
  • The south side of my doublet with my picnic table operating position underneath it. I eventually moved off the table and tucked myself in under the bush to get some shade.
  • The north side of the antenna and the lookout tower.
  • Sitting at my initial operating position with the KX3 and the rest of the Sierra to the west behind me. The snowy ridge that is above my head but not quite on the skyline is <a href="http://www.grizzlyguy.com/HamRadio/SOTA-Activation-862012-Donner">Donner Ridge (W6/NS-181)</a> to the SSW where Jeff W6JP was operating from. It is only about 14 miles away, so he was naturally 599+ both times I worked him, first on 20m and later on 15m. Sardine Peak is only about 1.5 miles from the historic Henness Pass Road, a pioneer route from the Reno, NV area to California's Sacramento Valley. Does that mean that I get to double my multiplier and be both a Trail and a SOTA station for QRPTTF scoring? ;-)
  • In this shot I've crudely marked where Jeff W6JP was (Donner Ridge W6/NS-181).
  • Rockin' and a rollin' on CW with the KX3 and Palm paddles. I usually don't pack a battery as large (or heavy) as the 9 Ahr SLAB you can see sitting on the table, but I wasn't sure how long I'd be operating. I would have operated a lot longer had it not been for some nasty biting flies. I packed up and headed out after about 3.5 hours of operating.
  • To the southeast is Sardine Valley, Stampede Reservoir and the Carson Range (including Mt. Rose) in Nevada behind it on the skyline.
  • Land Peak (W6/NS-169) is the wooded summit visible through the trees. It is only about 1 mile away to the north of Sardine Peak (see <a href="http://www.grizzlyguy.com/HamRadio/SOTA-LandPeak-W6NS169-2013">my Land Peak activation album</a> for more info).
  • Logbook page 1. Although conditions were generally poor, I made a total of 51 QSOs including 17 summit-to-summit QSOs with 12 unique summits for a total of 65 SOTA summit-to-summit points. My QRPTTF score was 3,504. Operating time was approximately 3.5 hours.<br /> <br /> 10m and 12m were both open, I was heard by the ZL2HAM skimmer on 10m and the W3LPL skimmer on 12m (see the Reverse Beacon Network screen captures later in the album). My guess is that the conditions on 17m were as good or better than the conditions on 15m and 20m, and the W3OA skimmer heard me on that band. Unfortunately, QRPTTF seems to draw all the activity to 15m/20m and I didn't get a single answer to my CQs on 10m, 12m or 17m.
  • Logbook page 2
  • Logbook page 3
  • Logbook page 4
  • Logbook page 5
  • Logbook page 6. Thanks to everyone who worked me!
  • My QRPTTF summary sheet.
  • Reverse Beacon Network Spots #1
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