2. Ham Radio

Smith Peak (W6/NS-198) SOTA Activation 10/01/2013

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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.
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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.

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.
  • Smith Peak as seen from Crocker Mountain W6/NS-207. For more photos, maps and information on how to get there, see <a href="http://www.grizzlyguy.com/HamRadio/SOTA-Activation-10302012-Smith">my activation album from last year</a>. I wasn't planning on activating Smith Peak today. Last night I read that Randy ND0C would be making the first ever activation of a W0M Minnesota summit, so I decided to head for a summit so as to work him S2S. I worked Hawaii S2S on its first day last month, so why not Minnesota. I decided on Babbitt Peak and put an alert into SOTAWatch before I went to bed. When I woke up this morning, I remembered that there is a lockable gate along the road up to Babbitt, and it is quite a ways down from the top. It has never been locked when I've been up there before. However, the federal government shut down this morning, and I was worried that the lookout lady would have locked it on her way down from her last day of work, and no one would be heading up this morning to open it up again. I could hike all the way up from the gate, but the hike would take so long that I'd probably end up missing Randy. So, I hastily decided to head to Smith Peak instead. I knew there were no gates along the way.
  • After a quick 9-ish mile ATV ride in from Highway 70 via the route I mapped out in my prior activation album, I parked my Yamaha Grizzly 700 in the trees down below the summit, grabbed my pack, and headed for the top. That's Lake Davis in the background.
  • When I rounded the last curve in the road, I was surprised to see someone manning the lookout. I had mistakenly thought it was an inactive lookout since no one had been there the year before.<br /> <br /> I took off my SOTA hat, climbed the stairs to the lookout, said "Hi", signed the guest book and then informed him that I would be doing "some ham radio stuff" in the rocks out front. He interrupted and told me that this wasn't allowed. I completely ignored what he said, since I am 100% sure that there are no forest service rules, regulations or forest orders that disallow citizens engaging in ham radio activity on this summit. I just continued the conversation as if those words had never left his mouth. 15 minutes later my new friend had no other objections when I again informed him that I'd be doing "some ham radio stuff" in the rocks out front. :-)<br /> <br /> I had planned to use my 88' doublet as I had last year, but I was now running late and didn't want to miss Randy ND0C. Alexloop to the rescue!
  • With the Big Government issues presented by the Plumas National Forest employee now resolved amicably without even having to call my Congressman (great guy) or my lawyer (great gal), I'm ready to roll. By the way, if you want to see one of the reasons why I think my Congressman is a great guy, read <a href="http://mcclintock.house.gov/Letter_Tidwell_Plumas%20TMP_12%2022.pdf">this letter</a> he wrote to the Forest Service about the very forest I'm standing in.
  • To further understand why I like my Congressman and don't-so-like the bureaucrats and their minions who manage OUR lands... read this sign that I spotted on my ride down. That wasn't the only one I saw, and Todd KH2TJ said that he heard they were closing the road up to Crocker Mountain W6/NS-207 as well!
  • Another shot of the loop. It is being supported by a Buddipole shockcord mast that I crammed down into the rocks, plus my homebrew mast-to-Alexloop adapter. The wind was howling, but there was never any danger of the Alexloop blowing over, off the mast, or even rotating to a heading I didn't set it at.
  • I finished operating and was just about to start breaking down when I noticed that Todd KH2TJ had been spotted on 20m CW. What the heck, I didn't even know he was activating today. The Northern Sierra summit reference looked strangely familiar. I whipped out my summit reference cheat sheet that I always carry with me, and found that it was for Crocker Mountain right across Lake Davis from where I was. No wonder it sounded familiar, <a href="http://www.grizzlyguy.com/HamRadio/SOTA-Activations-W6CN005-NS207">I was just up there activating it three days ago!</a>
  • Todd was off the side of the loop at this point, but I didn't bother rotating it before I called. He was line-of-sight and only about 3-4 miles away. No surprise that that the reports were 599 in each direction.
  • I don't think I took a shot of this one the last time I was up on Smith. The steep hill in the center, on the edge of Sierra Valley, is Sugarloaf W6/NS-279. The camera is looking east-southeast. As far as I know, it is on private land.
  • SOTAWatch spots
  • RBN spots
  • Logbook page 1. I started on 12m, and Rich N4EX told me that Randy ND0C was down the band a bit. I listened for him, but couldn't hear him. The 12m opening was only covering the W4's. Randy was then spotted on 20m SSB. I went down there and called him several times, but he never heard me. I figured he would QSY to 20m CW next, so I headed down there and started a run. Randy came by a few minutes later and the summit-to-summit QSO went in to the log.
  • Logbook page 2. I saw John KK4NQQ spotted over on 17m SSB so I gave him a call (actual several calls before he heard me) for my second summit-to-summit QSO. I was hoping to catch Jim N6KZ who was also spotted on 17m SSB, but we didn't have propagation.
  • Logbook page 3. After a sweep through the low bands and a few minutes on 15m just for the heck of it, I was ready to head home when I noticed that Todd had been spotted. You know the rest of that story. I made 29 QSOs overall including 3 summit-to-summit QSOs. Thanks to everyone who gave me a call!
  • Solar-terrestrial data that I screen captured after I got home.
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