ACØPR, ham radio blog: Winter Field Day and SOTA on Sand Mt (W7U/SU-061)

WFD 2021 Jan. 30th on Sand Mountain

I've done Winter Field Day in a different location each time for new experiences, but I do like to have at least a little snow. There wasn't much and it didn't last all day, but it was a good location without having a bear of a hike and it had just snowed so higher summits were pretty covered. It was a good choice for this year.

In the area:

Sand Mt. is an ATV haven and is literally a huge pile of sand, so it's a fun place to ride to the top. There wasn't really any hiking involved with this one. There were a few people out and about, but I imagine the storm the night before kept many from coming out so I had a few pass by, but not many and no one came over to see what was up with the weird setup and wires.

As usual, the plan was to activate the summit and then take a break and participate in Winter Field Day. I never go into trying to reach a certain level, but I feel it's important to participate and support the idea of WFD.

On the air:

It was a good day with plenty of contacts to be had (43 total). I was in a comfortable position so operating didn't get tiresome. I also had four summit-to-summit contacts which is always nice. Early on I got into France which of course is a good sign that things would be going well.

After the SOTA portion, I took a break and had some hot cocoa (my own little tradition for WFD).

Video of the activation

Date:30/01/2021 | Summit:W7U/SU-061 (Sand Mountain) | Call Used:AC0PR | Points: 1 | Bonus: 0

Time	Callsign	Band	Mode	Notes
17:50	NE4TN	14MHz	CW
17:51	W5GDW	14MHz	CW
17:52	K9OZ	14MHz	CW
17:52	F4WBN	14MHz	CW
17:53	W5ODS	14MHz	CW
17:53	K4MF	14MHz	CW
17:54	W4KRN	14MHz	CW
17:54	W0MNA	14MHz	CW
17:55	N5PJ	14MHz	CW
17:55	W0ERI	14MHz	CW
17:56	NE2P	14MHz	CW	S2S W4T/SU-022
17:58	VA2EO	14MHz	CW	VE2/ES-048
18:01	AC7P	14MHz	CW
18:01	K0LAF	14MHz	CW
18:02	W2SE	14MHz	CW
18:05	K7SO	7MHz	CW
18:06	K6TUY	7MHz	CW
18:08	K6YK	7MHz	CW
18:08	NG6R	7MHz	CW
18:09	W7RV	7MHz	CW
18:10	NB6M	7MHz	CW
18:10	NW7E	7MHz	CW
18:11	K6HPX	7MHz	CW
18:11	K7GT	7MHz	CW
18:12	AE0XI	7MHz	CW
18:12	KB7TJI	7MHz	CW
18:13	N6PKT	7MHz	CW
18:13	NS7P	7MHz	CW
18:14	K6QCB	7MHz	CW
18:14	WW7D	7MHz	CW
18:15	N0RSR	7MHz	CW
18:50	KD0YOB	14MHz	CW	S2S W9/WI-040
18:54	KI4SVM	14MHz	CW	S2S W4C/CM-101
19:14	K5LG	14MHz	CW	WFD
19:15	K5CM	14MHz	CW	WFD
19:16	AB0TX	14MHz	CW	WFD
19:24	K5EDM	14MHz	CW	WFD
19:27	NC1CC	14MHz	CW	WFD
19:33	K8AJS	14MHz	CW	WFD
19:35	NS0R	14MHz	CW	WFD
19:37	K4NMR	14MHz	CW	WFD
19:41	VE3KP	14MHz	CW	WFD
19:42	N5RGH	14MHz	CW	WFD