20-11-26 Twin Peaks with some DX

Well I’ve got the day off, it’s Thanksgiving day, I thought I would get some exercise, work the radio, and see if I can get a little DX.  The solar conditions are finally improving, mainly the solar flux mainly caused by bright regions on the sun improve the ionization of the upper atmosphere, providing better skip for HF signals.  I thought if I got up early, I might be able to work stations in Europe.  I’ve already done this hike and activation for SOTA this year, so no points but it’s close to the house, RF quiet and simple. 

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I was up on the summit by around 830 local and fired up the KX2 on 20m.  The bands were definitely improved.  Everyone was blasting in with a really strong signal, from the east coast to Canada.  I had heard that 17m into Europe was possible so I fired that up and was rewarding with a bunch more contacts including Spain, France, and New Zealand.  I also worked 3 other stations on summits.

All in all I was pretty happy with the outcome.  I set out to work Europe and... mission accomplished.  To prove things were really popp’n, I also worked John in New Zealand.  I’m pretty stoked about the outcome.

Expedition Summary

SOTA summits:W6/SC-453 (Twin Peaks)
Points:0 (normally 1 but I’ve already done this one)
Activation Date: 2020-11-26 (UTC)
Unique: No
Activation No: 220
Call sign used: N1CLC
Radios: KX2
Antennas: K6ARK random wire
Band/Modes used: 17m 20m, 30m, 40m, CW (morse) SSB (voice)
Cell Data: AT&T
Miles Hiked: 2.74 mi
Hiked Elevation Gain: 666

Contacts

Date:26/11/2020 | Summit:W6/SC-453 (Twin Peaks) | Call Used:N1CLC | Points: 0

Time	Callsign	Band	Mode	Notes
16:39	KG3W	14MHz	CW
16:40	WW7D	14MHz	CW
16:40	W0MNA	14MHz	CW
16:41	WB7BWZ	14MHz	CW
16:42	W0ERI	14MHz	CW
16:43	WB2FUV	14MHz	CW
16:43	KT5X	14MHz	CW
16:44	K3TCU	14MHz	CW
16:46	N4LAG	14MHz	CW	Summit-to-summit
16:47	KD8DEU	14MHz	CW
16:48	K7MK	14MHz	CW
16:48	WG0AT	14MHz	CW
16:49	WA2USA	14MHz	CW
16:50	W5ODS	14MHz	CW
16:51	W7JKC	14MHz	CW
16:52	AB4PP	14MHz	CW
16:53	K6ARK	14MHz	CW
16:54	VE7HI	14MHz	CW
16:54	W9MRH	14MHz	CW
16:55	K0LAF	14MHz	CW
16:56	N0RZ	14MHz	CW
16:59	EA7GV	14MHz	CW	Granada Spain
17:00	KB6VME	14MHz	CW
17:01	N0DNF	14MHz	CW
17:08	WD9F	18MHz	CW
17:10	F4WBN	18MHz	CW	France
17:11	N0RZ	18MHz	CW
17:12	W4PH	18MHz	CW
17:13	AE0XI	18MHz	CW
17:15	WD8KDB	18MHz	CW
17:16	NU7A	18MHz	CW
17:16	N0TK	18MHz	CW
17:17	ZL1BYZ	18MHz	CW	New Zealand
17:18	KK0U	18MHz	CW
17:19	AC7MA	18MHz	CW
17:22	K6MXA	7MHz	SSB	Summit-to-Summit
17:27	AC7FF	7MHz	CW
17:28	WA6KYR	7MHz	CW
17:29	KN6EZE	7MHz	CW
17:30	K6QCB	7MHz	CW
17:38	N0MTN	14MHz	SSB	Summit-to-Summit
17:43	N0WAE	14MHz	SSB
17:43	K7GT	14MHz	SSB
17:44	K6KMH	14MHz	SSB

 Loadout:

●      GoPro Hero8

●      Gregory Zulu 40 backpack

●      First aid kit.  Make sure it’s a good one... like ability to patch up an impalement wound. 

●      Elecraft KX2 10 watt HF Radio

●      The K6ARK Spider Thread Antenna

●   30’ of coax feed line (not needed

●      Slim Jim dual band antenna for my HT.

●      3 L of water (8 lb)

●      iPhone with All Trails, MotionX GPS and sota goat

●      Trekking poles (not today)

●     LNR End Fed multi-band antenna

●   SOTAbeams Tactical 7000hds Compact Heavy-Duty Telescopic Mast TAC7000HDS

●    MFJ MFJ-1714 144 MHz 1/2 Wavelength Antenna for my HT

●   AnyTone AT-868UV DMR radio for testing.

●   Custom wine bottle cork paddles for CW (crafted by K6ARK)

●   American Morse Ultra Porta Paddle for CW

●   Delorme Inreach satellite tracker and communicator.

●      Jetboil MicroMo cooking system (left at the car this trip)

●      Yaesu FT-2DR HT (backup left in the car)

●     Packtenna. (did not take)

●     CHA MPAS with spike and additional MIL mast (and version 2 of the top section) (left in car)

●      Yaesu FT-891D HF Radio at 100 watts  (left this in the car :) )

●    Extra LiFePO Battery (not needed)

●     Helinox Chair Zero Ultralight Compact Camping Chair.

 

73,

N1CLC

Christian Claborne

(aka chris claborne)