ACØPR, ham radio blog: Big Mountain W7U/SU-051, lots of contacts!

Cool spring morning!

Big Mountain, which actually isn't all that impressive to be honest, is an easy one since there is an access road to reach all the tower on the top. They do cause a lot of interference though, so I go as far as I can away in the activation zone to minimize the static. There's a nice view of the little town of Enterprise.

Trail report:

From Hwy. 18 between Enterprise and Central, FR-198 turns off to the west. This is a pretty good road to the north of the mountain that leads all the way to the very top, where all the towers are located. Of course, for purposes of activation, you can park at the first tower reached (lower elevation) and hike down then proceed to the top to have an actual "hike" (few parking areas available until that is reached). The numerous towers cause a lot of QRN on certain bands.

In early spring the road is often snow-covered in parts and may be blocked (especially by regular pickup).

The experience:

As I usually do when possible, I parked at the bottom and rode the ATV to the top. This late in spring the snow is all gone. In the past, when I was obsessed with points, I would do this one in March to get the bonus points. Now, I just like the experience and would rather enjoy the activation a little more. In fact I went a little later to make sure it wasn't too cold.

I setup along the remains of a fence line, which did have a nice post I could secure my mast to. The antenna setup went quickly and I was on the air. 47 contacts in 40 mins! I had four S2S (summit-to-summit) contacts, with Steve wGØAT in Colorado, Mike KE5AKL in New Mexico, Amy AG7GP in Oregon, and Bill NØDNF in Idaho--all avid activators. Plus I got Danny ON4VT in Belgium for my farthest contact of the day. I went home plenty happy after this activation!

Date:24/04/2020 | Summit:W7U/SU-051 (Big Mountain) | Call Used:AC0PR | Points: 4 | Bonus: 0

Time	Callsign	Band	Mode	Notes
16:25	W0MNA	14MHz	CW
16:26	KF9D	14MHz	CW
16:27	W0ERI	14MHz	CW
16:27	NE4TN	14MHz	CW
16:28	KG3W	14MHz	CW
16:29	WA2USA	14MHz	CW
16:29	K7PD	14MHz	CW
16:29	K4MF	14MHz	CW
16:31	ON4VT	14MHz	CW
16:31	WB2FUV	14MHz	CW
16:32	WU7H	14MHz	CW
16:33	WD4CFN	14MHz	CW
16:33	W4KRN	14MHz	CW
16:34	KI4SVM	14MHz	CW
16:34	AC1Z	14MHz	CW
16:35	KE9AJ	14MHz	CW
16:36	K0EAP	14MHz	CW
16:37	AB0BM	14MHz	CW
16:37	K0LAF	14MHz	CW
16:38	AC7P	14MHz	CW
16:39	WF4I	14MHz	CW
16:39	VA7VJ	14MHz	CW
16:39	K3TCU	14MHz	CW
16:40	K7GT	14MHz	CW
16:41	ND1J	14MHz	CW
16:50	W7RV	7MHz	CW
16:50	K7MK	7MHz	CW
16:52	KE5AKL	7MHz	CW	S2S W5N/SE-035
16:53	KR7RK	7MHz	CW
16:54	KE6MT	7MHz	CW
16:54	AG6GP	7MHz	CW	S2S W7O/SC-267
16:55	NW7E	7MHz	CW
16:56	WA7JTM	7MHz	CW
16:56	N6WT	7MHz	CW
16:57	NA6MG	7MHz	CW
16:57	NG6R	7MHz	CW
16:58	KH2TJ	7MHz	CW
16:59	N0DNF	7MHz	CW	S2S W7I/SI-217
17:00	WA6KYR	7MHz	CW
17:00	KD7WPJ	7MHz	CW
17:01	K6KM	7MHz	CW
17:02	WG0AT	7MHz	CW	S2S W0C/FR-063
17:03	N6AN	7MHz	CW
17:03	W0NF	7MHz	CW
17:04	K7PD	7MHz	CW
17:04	W2RS	7MHz	CW
17:05	K7GT	7MHz	CW