I chose to go to Seegmiller (W7A/AW-035) to field test my newly built QCX Mini since it's close, I could get a summer bonus for it, and it's basically a drive up activation. Testing showed I was only getting 2.5 watts out of the mini, so there's some tweaking needed, but enough to try it out. I got there at the time planned, got setup and then I could not spot myself. I was afraid this was going to be a failed activation.
In the area:
I've gotten a flat tire on this route before, so didn't want to go too fast. It's about a 40 minute drive to the parking area I like and then about a 20 minute ATV ride to the summit. From there, just a short hike to get away from the antennas on the mountain. The ATV was acting up though, made me nervous about getting stuck out there and then the heat of the day coming in. It made it ok though.
The summit has a new, large antenna with a building, then there's the ham shack and antennas, and then the original, large antenna array as well. I found the place I usually setup with rocks to stabilize the mast, and got everything ready. I was pretty excited to see how the QCX Mini would do on a mountain top. I reconfigured my pack to hopefully just use the QCX Mini in the future and lighten the load. The black case pictured replaces all the other stuff on the right. It goes from 5 lbs. 4 oz. to now being 2 lbs. 13 oz.. New radio, one-band dipole, smaller battery, etc. Of course, it also goes down to one band (20m). See below for closeup photos, FYI the case is a travel jewelry case 9 x 6 x 2.75 inches.
On the air:
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You can see from 14:14 to 15:34 no spots
I was on from 14:30-15:09 |
Once I was setup and the radio up and running with all the settings I needed, I went to spot myself. It gave me an error. I thought maybe my internet wasn't strong, so I tried the SMS (text) route. Nothing there either. OK. I always set up an alert before I go, that way if I have no internet or cell coverage, the Reverse Beacon Network will pick me up and spot for me. I saw that RBN was getting me, but it wasn't spotting. At least I knew the radio worked and was getting out. I called CQ for quite a while, hoping to ask the first contact to spot for me. Nothing. I was using an app before to try and spot, so I went to the actual SOTA website, in case the app was having issues. Nope, the site was down. (It was working again by 15:34, just bad luck on my part).
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| Plenty of stations picked me up on RBN |
Since I did have some internet connection, I went to the SOTA Facebook page and asked if it was down. I went back and added my contact information in case someone could see that and try. Not long after (continuing to call CQ) I got Gary and Martha Auchard (W0MNA and W0ERI) who are my most avid chasers (probably true of most activators), and they came in great. I was halfway done.
I kept calling and then got W0EBB and a minute later KS0LV. When they called, I suspected they were Gary and Martha's club calls--the tone was the same, same strength and "style" of CW (for those who don't do CW, a person's fist or CW can be as distinctive as voice). Plus one call came right after the other. I later found that I guessed right. Since by then the website was still down and because of them I was officially activated, I called it a day and shut down to get going before the heat got bad. They totally saved me by checking out FB and having extra callsigns (completely "legal" to reach the number of qso's). Thanks guys!
What would I have done otherwise? Most likely tried some search and pounce of anyone I could find on the band. Perhaps email/text a couple of CW friends to try and get them to get on. If that didn't work, I probably would have called it a day--I wasn't planning on staying long as it is. I do ALWAYS have an HT (with APRS and non-stock antenna) for emergencies, but I have never used it to make a SOTA contact--all CW since I started five years ago.
No map or even log needed this time. Just the four contacts mentioned! Not what I had hoped for the first time with the QCX Mini, but it's still 11 points (8 for summit and 3 summer bonus). I'll try the new radio again before long. Every experience has its own unique characteristics.
20m dipole, homebrewed
Pico Paddle
Fishing pole mast
Earbuds
Other gear:
Clipboard
Android MotoZ (US topo map app, spotting, UTC time, recording)
Misc. items (for repair, food, water, etc.)
Thanks for reading!
72,
Mike ACØPR
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