ACØPR, ham radio blog: Yellowstone Mesa W7A/NM-062

The top of the mesa

This is one of the first activations I do during Arizona's summer bonus season. It's a little ways out, but not far across the border into AZ from UT. Being a mesa, there's no vertical climb. I usually get out earlier in the morning before it gets too hot. Some years there's rattler's or flies--this year was clear of both.

Trail report:

Access is gained from Highway 59 in Utah, which becomes Highway 389 in Arizona. The turn off is a few miles south of Colorado City, AZ onto county road 239 which heads due south for about 11 miles. This county road is a nice dirt road the entire way and can be taken by pretty much any vehicle. The road ends at an old gravel pit which is a mere 150 yards to the high point, and it's
basically just climbing out of the pit. There are three benchmarks at the top. Flat and rocky with a few short trees and a nice view from the edge. There are rattlers in the area.

The experience:

This is a great time of year to go, the flowers are blooming and it's not terribly hot until about noon. It really shows the beauty the desert can have. There's a rock formation that creates a little shelf that's perfect for setting up. A few rocks nearby to steady the mast and all is ready to go. This was the fourth activation using the Te-Ne-Ke as my main key as a test of how it holds up and how much I like it.

There was lots of activity so I ended up staying longer than usual. Probably less than half the time I try 30 meters to see how it goes. Normally I do well enough on 20m and 40m that I don't even bother. I thought I would try it out this time--I only ended up with one contact on that band.

Because I had been on so long this time, I went back to 20m to see if there were others out there and I got quite a few more (I had started earlier than normal for me to begin with). The highlight of the morning was getting Lars in Sweden, SA4BLM.

Video of the four activations using Te-Ne-Ke

Date:05/06/2020 | Summit:W7A/NM-062 (Yellowstone Mesa) | Call Used:AC0PR | Points: 6 | Bonus: 3

Time	Callsign	Band	Mode
14:27	KI4TN	14MHz	CW
14:45	K6KM	14MHz	CW
14:48	AB4PP	14MHz	CW
14:49	KH2TJ	14MHz	CW
14:49	AC7P	14MHz	CW
14:49	N7EDK	14MHz	CW
14:50	K6YK	14MHz	CW
14:51	N0RZ	14MHz	CW
14:52	K4MF	14MHz	CW
14:52	NG6R	14MHz	CW
14:53	N6TVN	14MHz	CW
14:53	N4MJ	14MHz	CW
14:54	K1LB	14MHz	CW
14:54	K3TCU	14MHz	CW
14:55	KI5WA	14MHz	CW
14:55	WU7H	14MHz	CW
14:56	K7TP	14MHz	CW
14:57	KA5PVB	14MHz	CW
14:58	AD5TF	14MHz	CW
14:59	WD4CFN	14MHz	CW
15:03	W7RV	7MHz	CW
15:04	KE6MT	7MHz	CW
15:05	WA6KYR	7MHz	CW
15:05	WW7D	7MHz	CW
15:06	K6HPX	7MHz	CW
15:06	W0NF	7MHz	CW
15:07	K8FB	7MHz	CW
15:08	K6QCB	7MHz	CW
15:09	K7SO	7MHz	CW
15:15	WA2USA	10MHz	CW
15:20	K9OZ	14MHz	CW
15:20	W0ERI	14MHz	CW
15:23	K0FX	14MHz	CW
15:24	NG7A	14MHz	CW
15:25	WB2FUV	14MHz	CW
15:26	W2AFE	14MHz	CW
15:28	K0LAF	14MHz	CW
15:28	N4LAG	14MHz	CW
15:29	W0MNA	14MHz	CW
15:30	SA4BLM	14MHz	CW
15:33	N4EX	14MHz	CW
15:34	W0NF	14MHz	CW