I’ve just deployed this BLOG site yesterday
and am trying to load all my past expeditions in to catch up but I promised
someone that I would update the BLOG with my location today, I can’t remember
the call sign that I promised, but here you go.
I summited W6/SC-365 - 1109. It has no name but let’s call it hill
1109. It’s about 3 to 5 mi west of Black
Mtn. and I think the peak is about 1,100.
It was perfect weather, super light breeze,
overcast sky and about 72 F. The setup
was easy today and the hike was pleasant.
I learned a few more things today. First, I figured out why the SOTA dog didn’t
want to sit by me, it was the radio. As
soon as I turned it on, she got up to leave.
All of the squeek’s squawks, beeps, and other noises bug me but it must
really drive the dog crazy... or it’s that people’s voices are coming out of
the black box. Yesterday she left just
as I was packing up. I was in a bit of a
panic but she hiked the mile back to the car on her own and was waiting for me
in the shade.
I learned that the packtenna doesn’t need to
be tuned, it’s close enough, and the MFJ antenna tuner doesn’t really improve
it. I put an antenna analyser on
it. Since the SWR on the FT-891 is a
little better than the 817, it was never over 1.5. As you can see below, the performance was
great. I reached Alberta Canada,
Georgia, and Tucson AZ. I heard a guy in
Belfast Ireland and I was hoping for a QSO but the band dried up before his
conversation was over. I was use to
tuning the antenna on the 817 to get the max out but I think I’m good to
go. I’ll still need the tuner if I use
the Packtenna in end-fed mode or the CHA MPAS verticle.
I learned that rather than tune around and get
contacts from others that are calling out “CQ, CQ” I should put my own line out
and catch a fish. Today was my first
“pileup”. A pileup is when every time
you finish one conversation several other people try to contact you at once to
log a contact. It was fun and I got my
necessary contacts quickly... and I quickly went way over the required 4 to get
my “points”. I’m not really in it for
the points (so he says) but what the hec, might as well... Woo hoo, I’m up to
17.
Lastly, I was reminded that it isn’t just
about me. My purpose in life is to live life and where possible,
live WITH other life. In many things
that we do we are really here so that others can do their thing. Without homeowners, there would be no need
for plumbers, etc. Without Ham geeks,
guys at Yaesu wouldn’t have a job... It turns out that without SOTA activators,
SOTA chasers wouldn’t have anything to do.
I didn’t register my planned expedition on the SOTA Watch list so that
others could try to chase me and collect their points. You see, there are other people that aren’t
as fortunate as me to be able to either hike, or have the weather that I have
to get out in, so they like to get points by “chasing” other SOTA “activators”
like me.
QSOs
I had the following contacts on this quick
expedition.
Time
(UTC) |
Callsign
|
Band
|
Mode
|
Notes
|
18:30
|
W0N
|
14MHz
|
SSB
|
|
18:30
|
AD4XT
|
14MHz
|
SSB
|
|
18:30
|
VO1RAC
|
14MHz
|
SSB
|
|
18:40
|
K7WDA
|
14MHz
|
SSB
|
|
18:40
|
K5RWD
|
14MHz
|
SSB
|
|
18:50
|
W8JBM
|
14MHz
|
SSB
|
|
19:00
|
K7RG
|
14MHz
|
SSB
|
|
19:00
|
W4ACY
|
14MHz
|
SSB
|
|
19:10
|
KC7ZZ
|
14MHz
|
SSB
|
Portable
|
19:20
|
VE6RYS
|
14MHz
|
SSB
|
Alberta, it was -40 there last night!
|
19:20
|
K6OWS
|
14MHz
|
SSB
|
|
19:30
|
N6MM
|
14MHz
|
SSB
|
|
19:35
|
W5DRR
|
14MHz
|
SSB
|
|
19:40
|
AI6RX
|
14MHz
|
SSB
|
He was mobile on the I5 and check in.
Cool!
|
Today’s loadout:
● DDT Ops Anti-Venom field pack with food
●
2 L of water
●
SOTA Dog
●
iPhone with alltrails and MotionX
GPS
REFERENCE
-- Chris Claborne, N1CLC
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