There is a SOTA (Summits On The Air) summit just north of Tincup Pass with an elevation of 13,538 feet. The SOTA database (W0C/SP-127) says the name is Mount Emma but all of my maps indicate that it is Emma Burr Mountain. (I contacted the W0C Association Manager and we’re working it out.)
Joyce/K0JJW and I did the first activation of this summit in late September. The weather was wonderful except for the wind that pounded us anytime we were exposed on a ridgeline, which is to say it happened a lot. We started our ascent from Tincup Pass, which is at 12,154 feet on the Continental Divide (see photo). I’ve seen trip reports of people hiking this summit from the northeast (Mineral Creek area) accessible by South Cottonwood Road (FS 344), so that may be another option.
We started our ascent at Tincup Pass, which is accessible via a moderate 4WD road.
At Tincup Pass, there is an obvious trail leading off the the east. We followed this trail uphill for a while and then diverted off to the north towards the north/south ridgeline and Tincup Peak. Tincup Peak is not a SOTA summit and is not shown on all maps. It is a13,345 foot bump on the ridge heading north. Our entire hike followed the Continental Divide, always a real treat.
The blue line is our climbing route, up over Tincup Peak to Emma Burr Mountain.
We followed the top of the ridge for the most part, occasionally dropping down a bit on the west side to avoid obstacles. Occasionally we followed a faint trail but for the most part this was off-trail hiking, often with significant rocks to climb over.
This is the view of the ridgeline and Tincup Peak looking from Tincup Pass. The bad news is that Emma Burr Mountain is not visible from this location.
Once we got on top of the ridgeline, we could see our actual objective of Emma Burr (see photo below). The saddle between Tincup Peak and Emma Burr dropped down more than I expected from viewing the topo map, so we soon realized that we’d have to lose substantial elevation and then climb to get it back. Oh, well.
View of Emma Burr Mountain from the Tincup Peak ridgeline.
Once on the summit of Emma Burr, I pulled out the 2m FM station and started calling CQ on 146.52 MHz. We had no mobile phone coverage at Tincup Pass but once we got on the ridge, Verizon was working pretty well so I spotted us on Sotawatch. Our best DX was Dave/N0KM near Center, CO for a distance of 70 miles. Other stations worked: W0BV, W0RW, N1TEW, K0MGL, K0TG, KB0QEP, KL7GLK, N0EVH, KD0VHD and W0DLE. Lots of stations on 2m FM that day. I tried working W0RW on 1.2 GHz FM but we could not quite make it. I definitely heard him right at the noise floor but my 1 watt signal was not readable on his end.
Bob/K0NR working 2m FM with a 3-element yagi on Emma Burr Mountain.
My GPS app on the smartphone says that the one-way climb is 2.4 miles with 1600 vertical feet. The elevation difference between Tincup Pass (12,154) and Emma Burr (13,538) is 1384 feet, but the saddle costs you another 300 vertical feet of climbing.
Overall, it was a great day in the mountains. We knocked out two 13ers in one day and did a first SOTA activation. However, the wind pounded us quite well so we were plenty tired when we got back to our vehicle.
While exploring northwest Wyoming, Joyce/K0JJW and I were looking for a suitable mountain for a Summits On The Air (SOTA) activation. A little bit of research identified Pass Benchmark (W7Y/TT-122) as a good option. This summit is accessed from the Teton Pass trailhead, which is on a paved road (Route 22) heading west out of Jackson. There is substantial parking available at the pass and it appears to be a popular trailhead for hikers and mountain bikers.
Bob/K0NR and Joyce/K0JJW hanging out on the summit of TT-122.
The sign at the trailhead refers to this summit as Mount Elly, but I have not found that name on any of my maps or other sources. SOTA refers to it as “Pass Benchmark”.
The sign at the Teton Pass trailhead shows an overview of the trails in the area.
We hiked south from the pass on an obvious gated road which later turns into a trail. We encountered several groups of hikers and mountain bikers so the trail definitely gets used and is in good shape.
The red line is our actual hiking track, which shows a few switchbacks not indicated on most topo maps.
We followed the trail past a radio site (and checked out the various antennas). The good news is the radio site is not on the SOTA summit, so not much chance of radio interference.
A typical section of trail.
We continued south on the trail until we were due west of the summit. There is a marker there for the Black Canyon Trail, which leads off to the south. Don’t follow this trail, instead turn left (east) towards the summit. A few switchbacks will get you to the top in good shape. The one-way distance for the hike was 2 miles with 750 feet of elevation gain. Very pleasant.
On top, we started calling on 146.52 MHz with the Yaesu FT-90 putting 30W into a 3-element yagi antenna. We both worked Sam/WY7EM, Jim/K7AVL and Mick/W7CAT on 2m fm. We also caught WY7EM and W7CAT on 446.0 MHz. Thanks for the QSOs!
This was the first activation for this summit but given its easy access and inviting trail, I’m sure there will be more.
It is always fun to do the first Summits On The Air (SOTA) activation of a peak. Most of the Colorado peaks have been climbed by someone along the way but there are still many that have never been activated for SOTA using amateur radio.
Bob/K0NR takes shelter from the wind behind the rocks on the summit of 12306.
I noticed that an unnamed summit not too far from our cabin, referred to as 12306 or W0C/SR-129 had not been activated. At first glance, I thought this was because it was difficult to access. Further investigation revealed US Forest Service info on the Hayden Gulch Road (FS 396) that goes to the Hayden Gulch Trailhead at the west edge of the Buffalo Peaks Wilderness area.
Note that this area is closed to motor vehicles seasonally.
Joyce/K0JJW and I approached the trailhead from the west, starting at Granite, CO on Hwy 24, turning east onto FS 397 (marked at the highway) and then quickly looking for signs for FS 396. The San Isabel National Forest map is somewhat helpful but the Latitude 40 recreational map for Salida/Buena Vista is much better. The road is mostly easy 4WD but it is narrow in many places and moderate difficultly in a few spots. We saw crossover SUVs carefully driving the road with success. It was easy-peasy in our Jeep Wrangler.
The trailhead sign at the edge of Buffalo Peaks Wilderness.
Starting the hike, we followed the Hayden Gulch trail to the east. We actually had to search a bit to make sure we were really on the trail as we left the trailhead, as it was not super obvious. Hint: stay to the north (left) of the trailhead sign.
Our GPS track followed the Hayden Gulch trail into the wilderness area, then diverted north toward the summit.
The trail follows an old road that was likely closed when the wilderness area was formed. Once we cleared the trees (shown accurately on the map above), we left the trail and traveled off-trail towards the summit, trying to follow the contour lines and not lose a bunch of elevation. The hike promised to be very pleasant except that we had 30 to 40 mph winds from the west. This was not enough to stop us but certainly made the hike less enjoyable. The views were spectacular but a little difficult to enjoy with the wind blowing.
Our first view of SR-129 from the Hayden Gulch Trail, just as we emerged from the trees.
The hike was 1.8 miles one-way with about 1000 feet of vertical gain. Once on the summit, we got out the standard VHF SOTA gear: Yaesu FT-90 transceiver, LiFe battery and 3-element Arrow yagi. We both quickly worked Bob/W0BV, Walt/W0CP, Steve/WG0AT and Brad/WA6MM. WG0AT was on his way down from Eagle Rock (W0C/SP-113) so we missed a Summit-to-Summit opportunity with him. (We did work him earlier when he was on the summit but we were not.) WA6MM was a successful S2S contact from Mount Logan (W0C/FR-017).
This turned out to be a successful activation and a fun hike. We both concluded that we need to do it again…with a little less wind.
I’ve been up Pikes Peak (W0C/FR-004) a zillion times via the Pikes Peak Highway and the Pikes Peak Cog Railway (currently out of service) doing SOTA activations, working VHF contests, participating in the Colorado 14er Event, maintaining repeaters and escorting visitors from out of town. See my previous post on activating by driving up the mountain: How To Do a SOTA Activation on Pikes Peak.
Joyce/K0JJW and I had Pikes on our SOTA activation list for 2018 but wanted to do a hike to access the summit. The classic climbing route up Pikes is via Barr Trail, a 13-mile trail that ascends 7800 vertical feet. This is a difficult climb for most humans but I will note that serious runners routinely run up the mountain just for fun. See Fred/KT5X’s comments on the SOTA database about running up the mountain and then doing a SOTA activation.
Another hiking alternative on the northwest side of Pikes Peak is the Crags Trail, also known as the Northwest Slopes route. This route starts about 4 miles south of Divide, CO at the Crags Campground. This hike is 7 miles one-way with 4300 vertical feet. This is easier than Barr Trail but still a significant climb.
The hiking route from Devils Playground to the summit of Pikes Peak.
Devils Playground
There is a shorter option that does not get much attention (except from some of the locals). The Northwest Slopes route crosses the Pikes Peak Highway at Mile 16 at a popular spot called Devils Playground. There is a large parking area there and the Northwest Slopes trail can be accessed at this point. Just cross the road, step over a cable fence (intended to block vehicles, not people) and follow the obvious trail to the summit.
Note: currently access to the summit by car is restricted due to summit house construction and Devils Playground is a staging area for free shuttle buses that take visitors to the summit.
This trail is 2.6 miles one way and 1300 feet vertical (mostly uphill but some up and down action). The last quarter mile before the summit is rocky and steep. The trail becomes more difficult to follow at this point but careful attention to the cairns will keep you on the right path. As shown on the map, this trail tends to stay close to the road so you will see vehicles along the way. All in all, this was a nice hike on a good trail.
Once on top, we set up our standard 2m FM station: Yaesu FT-90 and the Arrow 3-element yagi antenna. We quickly had a pileup on 146.52 MHz. It is kind of crazy up there when everyone starts calling because you are hearing everyone but the chasers are not.
Bob/K0NR using the Alinco HT and the PC board yagi to make a 1.2 GHz radio contact.
It was great to work Steve/WG0AT on Mt Herman (W0C/FR-063) and Brad/WA6MM on Mount Morrison (W0C/FR-092). I also worked Paul/W0RW on 1.2 GHz with my Alinco HT driving a two-element yagi PC-board antenna. (A quick comparison between the rubber duck and the yagi confirmed that the yagi does have some gain.) We ended up in a bit of a hurry as the clouds moved in but tried to work everyone we could. Our best DX on 2m FM was Dave/N0KM near Del Norte, about 100 miles away. On our way down, the clouds were in and out but no storms or lightning.
All of the usual warnings apply for hiking above treeline: start early and get off the mountain before the storms move in.
This photo of Mount Princeton was taken in spring time with plenty of snow still on the summit.
For the Colorado 14er Event, Joyce/K0JJW and I decided to activate Mount Princeton (W0C/SR-005). I had climbed this summit many years ago, well before Summits On The Air (SOTA) was a thing. Princeton is a majestic peak that towers over Buena Vista and the surrounding area. We see that mountain quite often when we are up at the cabin, so I kept thinking it would be great to activate it for SOTA. Despite it being a popular 14er, it had only been
activated 2 times before (now 4 times with Joyce and me).
Hiking route to Mount Princeton shown on map (click to enlarge).
For complete information on climbing this summit, spend some time studying the 14ers.com web site. You will see references to the upper trailhead and the lower trailhead. A 4WD road leads to the upper trailhead which is where we started our hike at 11,800 feet. The lower (or main) trailhead is way down at the bottom (8900 feet) which makes for a much longer hike. Also, you end up hiking on the road, which tends to be boring.
The Road
The 4WD road is mostly “easy 4WD” with some challenging spots inserted along the way. It was no problem to drive the road with our Jeep Wrangler. A crossover-style SUV would have trouble in several spots but can probably make it with very careful wheel placement. The road has sections that are very narrow, so be prepared to back up if you meet someone coming from the other direction. We parked very close to the upper trailhead, just pulling off to the side of the road, but there is not much room there. There is a lot more parking near the communications towers shown on the map but you have to hike another mile or so on the road. We made sure we had a parking spot by arriving at the upper trailhead at 5:30 AM; we were the first ones there.
Joyce/K0JJW on the trail to Mount Princeton.
The trail starts out very distinct and is easy to follow. Later, the terrain turns to talus (fields of large rocks) which continues for the entire climb. In some spots, the trail fades and is difficult to follow. Even when you are “on the trail” you get to do a lot of rock hopping. There is a reason they call these the Rocky Mountains. By my GPS app, the distance was 2.1 miles (one way) with 2360 vertical feet.
Summits On The Air
For radio operating, we focused on 2m FM using the Yaesu FT-90 Transceiver with LiPo battery, putting out 30W into a 3-element Arrow yagi antenna. I did have my very first DMR SOTA contact with Terry/KE0HNW, using my Tytera MD-380 handheld on 70 cm. I also made a few calls on 446.0 MHz but never got a reply.
Obligatory summit photo of Joyce/K0JJW and Bob/K0NR.
Here’s my log…Joyce’s is about the same but with fewer QSOs.
UTC Band Mode Callsign
15:38 144MHz FM KD0VHD mobile
15:40 144MHz FM KS0E Jefferson
15:42 144MHz FM KI6YMZ Maroon Peak (W0C/WE-002)
15:46 144MHz FM N0MTN Mt Sherman (W0C/SR-061)
15:47 144MHz FM K0ETT Huron Peak (W0C/SR-010)
15:48 144MHz FM WA6MM Mt Bierstadt (W0C/PR-015)
15:49 144MHz FM KN0MAP
15:50 144MHz FM KD0YOB on his way up Mt Flora
15:53 144MHz FM KE0HNW
15:54 144MHz FM KE0RMY
15:55 433MHz DV KE0HNW My first SOTA DMR contact
15:57 144MHz FM W0AJO
16:17 144MHz FM K0BLL Mount Belford (W0C/SR-006)
16:30 144MHz FM W0ASB Mount Antero (W0C/SR-003)
This extra large cairn (trail marker) is placed such that you don’t miss an important turn.
We worked six other mountaintop stations, all of them 14ers. I also worked a few more summits on our way down the mountain but we were outside the activation zone, so I submitted those as a chaser log.
Mosquito Pass is a popular 4WD road in Colorado that takes you to 13,185 feet in elevation. It also provides access to two excellent SOTA summits, both over 13k feet: Mosquito Peak (W0C/SR-068) and London Mountain (W0C/SP-025). Joyce/K0JJW and I activated both summits on the same day. Fortunately, the weather cooperated nicely.
K0NR operating 2m FM on the summit of London Mountain.
The Road
We drove the road to the pass from the east (via Highway 9, heading north out of Fairplay then turning west onto County Rd 12 / Mosquito Pass Road). Consult the Pike National Forest map for more detail.
We’ve driven over this pass many times over the years and the condition of the road has varied quite a bit. Right now, I’d call this a moderate 4WD road. You will find trail descriptions online that call Mosquito Pass “easy 4WD” but I think that information is out of date. Our stock Jeep Wrangler had no problem with it but I would not recommend driving the road with a Subaru-class crossover SUV.
Map of the area shows driving tracks in orange and hiking tracks in blue.
Be aware that this road is closed by snow early in the fall and opens late in the summer. It is very unlikely to be passable in June and typically opens sometime in July. We decided to wait until August. Did I mention the road exceeds 13,000 feet in elevation? Check BushDucks for usually reliable pass information.
Mosquito Peak (W0C/SR-068)
Mosquito Peak as seen from the summit of London Mountain.
At Mosquito Pass, we took an unmarked 4WD north towards Mosquito Peak. This road is not shown on the Pike National Forest map. The road was in good condition but is a narrow shelf road with limited opportunities to turn around. We parked the Jeep at an obvious turn-around spot and hiked on up the south ridge to the summit. No consistent trail, but a few cairns here and there. The one-way distance was about half a mile with 500 feet of vertical gain, so not very difficult.
It was quite windy on top so we hunkered down behind some rocks to provide some shelter. Using the Yaesu FT-90 transceiver and the 3-element Arrow 2m yagi, we worked these stations without much trouble: W0BV, N0EMU, KN0MAP, W0DLE, KD0VHD and W9GYA. Our best DX was N0EMU near Calhan, CO at about 100 miles.
London Mountain (W0C/SP-025)
London Mountain as seen from Mosquito Peak. Note the Mosquito Pass road at the bottom of the mountain. Our hiking route followed the top of the ridge starting from the right (west side).
To hike London Mountain, we drove back down the pass to the west end of the mountain and parked the Jeep at the point another 4WD road heads off to the south (see map). This road was gated closed and marked “no trespassing”.
We followed an obvious but unmarked trail leading from this small parking spot up the ridge of London Mountain. For the most part, we were able to follow this trail all the way to the summit. In a few spots it faded out but we stayed near the top of the ridge and always found it again. There were times when we really wondered if the trail’s route was the best option but it worked out fine. There are a few steep sections and places where we used our hands on rocks. The variety of rocks on this mountain (including marble) made it an interesting and fun hike. Following the top of the ridge also provided some ups and downs and many small false summits. The one-way distance is 0.85 miles with 600 vertical feet.
On top, we worked W0BV, W0DLE, N0EMU, KC0PBR, KN0MAP and KL7GLK on 2m FM. The wind dissipated a bit so it was more pleasant to hang out on this summit. We left the summit around 1 pm local with blue skies and a few puffy clouds all around.
Joyce/K0JJW and Bob/K0NR hanging out on London Mountain.
These two summits are a great double-summit opportunity, as long as you have a capable 4WD vehicle. I suppose you could hike up the road but you probably can’t do both of the summits in one day.
Here are some operating tips that I have found useful when doing Summits On The Air (SOTA) on VHF. I’ve been using VHF and higher frequencies for SOTA exclusively and have activated over 100 summits in Colorado (and other states such as California, Wyoming, New Mexico, North Carolina and Tennessee.)
The challenge with VHF and higher is that the radio range is limited compared with HF. (It really does help to bounce those signals off the ionosphere.) VHF propagation will vary depending on a lot of factors but for SOTA activations our range is typically 50 to 100 miles. In the backcountry of Colorado, a 50 mile radius may not include very many active radio amateurs, so you may come up short in terms of radio contacts. For your first activation(s), you may want to stay close to a metropolitan area.
Next, here are some additional tips to having a successful activation:
Send Invitations
Get the word out to people that may be within range. I try to keep track of who I’ve worked in the past or know to be in a particular area and let them know when I’ll be activating. In some cases, I’ll go ahead and make a specific sked with a station. That is, we’ll meet on a particular frequency at a particular time, perhaps on CW or SSB for maximum weak signal performance.
Create an Alert and then Spot yourself on the sotawatch.org web page (using smartphone app).
Make Your Call
By the rules, SOTA contacts are always simplex, so on 2 meters the place to try is usually 146.52 MHz, the National Simplex Calling Frequency. (Some areas have established other 2m simplex frequencies to use for SOTA, so inquire locally.) This is the place to try calling.
Who are you going to find there? Hard to say. SOTA chasers will often listen to “five two”…that’s where they find SOTA activators. Also, there are radio hams that just like to hang out on 52…they like 2m FM operating but they don’t like repeaters so they listen here. You will also find that many mobile stations monitor 146.52 as they drive through rural areas. Basically, they are listening for anyone around but aren’t flipping from repeater to repeater as they change location. I’ll often hear 4WD enthusiasts, hikers, boaters, campers, etc. using Five Two.
We usually say something short and sweet one operating FM repeaters (“K0NR Monitoring”) but for SOTA we need to make a longer call. Realize that not everyone knows about SOTA so they may not know what the heck you are doing. Make a call such as this: “CQ CQ this is Kilo Zero November Romeo operating from Pikes Peak – Summits On The Air – anyone around?” Or “CQ 2 meters this is K0NR on Pikes Peak – Summits On The Air.” Do a little bit of “selling” when you make your call. Sound like you are having fun.
Sometimes people have their radios to set to scan multiple frequencies with 146.52 MHz set as one of the channels. If your transmission is too short, they will miss it. Also, it is helpful to mention the frequency you are calling on…sometimes I’ll say “CQ Five Two This is Kilo Zero November Romeo…”
Be Patient
Be patient. Sometimes it just takes time to accumulate your 4 QSOs to qualify for activator points. The few times I have been skunked on QSOs were when I did not have enough time, usually because storms were moving in. Keep calling every few minutes, taking a break once in a while to enjoy the view.
Try Other Frequencies
You may want to try other simplex frequencies, so know the band plan for the area you are activating in. Another trick is to get on a local 2m repeater and ask for someone to move over to simplex to work you. I have not had to do this very often but it does work. Have some of the local repeaters programmed into your radio.
Most of the SOTA VHF activity is on the 2 meter band, so that will be the “go to” band for most activations. However, it is fun to try other bands such as 6m and 70cm. I’ve been playing around with 1.2 GHz also (23 cm).
Improve Your Station
Hopefully by now you know that using an HT with a rubber duck antenna is a bad idea. Get at least a half-wave vertical or roll-up j-pole antenna. Better yet, get a small yagi antenna to add 5 or 6 dB to your signal. It can make a big difference on who you can work. I’ve even started carrying a small 2m/70cm transceiver to get my 2m transmit power up to 30W. The objective is to extend your operating range.
Another angle is to use SSB and CW, which are much better for weak signal performance (compared to FM). This sets you up to work the serious VHF stations which tend to use these modes and have large high-gain antennas (horizontally polarized). Think about extending the range of your communications from a 50 mile radius to 200 miles, what a difference! (My best 2m distance on SOTA is 229 miles, using 2m CW on Capulin Mountain.)
Most of our Summits On The Air (SOTA) activity is here in Colorado but every once in a while, Joyce/K0JJW and I get the opportunity to branch out to other locations. It’s a fun thing to do with SOTA…do a little hiking, sightseeing and ham radio operating. On this trip, we decided to visit the Black Hills region of South Dakota, a place we had enjoyed many years ago.
Bob/K0NR operating 2m FM using a Yaesu FT-90 driving a 3-element yagi antenna.
Our general approach was to identify a list of SOTA summits that were not too difficult, with reasonable activator points (>6) and in locations we wanted to visit. (One good method is to use the SOTA database to sort summits by points, then look for ones that have been activated the most. Those are usually easy to access.) I noticed that Gary/KT0A had activated all of the summits on my list so I emailed him and received some great advice. Gary has also provided most of the activation notes in the SOTA database, which proved to be helpful. Thanks, Gary.
We use VHF and UHF exclusively for our SOTA activations, so I was a bit concerned about whether we’d find enough VHF activity in the area. Typically, we can work 100 miles or so on 2m FM from a summit without too much trouble but if no one is out there, it’s kind of difficult to make radio contact. South Dakota is not the most populous state, so it was a concern.
We spent three days in the western South Dakota area: did three summits the first day, three summits the second day and two summits the third day. The Black Hills are about a 6 hour drive from the Denver area, which makes for a good SOTA destination from Colorado.
Hey, wait a minute, this one is in Nebraska, not the Dakotas. It turns out Nebraska (W0N) has 15 SOTA summits, most of them in the pan handle of the state. Scotts Bluff (4649 feet) is located in Scotts Bluff National Monument and has historical significance as an important landmark on the Oregon Trail. This is an excellent example of the SOTA program providing that extra incentive to visit a new location that we otherwise would have skipped.
Joyce/K0JJW, Bob/KC0OZ, Bob/K0NR and Leeloo on the summit of Scotts Bluff.
We drove to the parking lot near the summit followed by a short hike to the actual high point. (You can hike up from below if you’d prefer more of an ascent.) We ran into Bob/KC0OZ who is a volunteer at the national monument (and his dog Leeloo). I wasn’t sure how much VHF activity I would encounter on a weekday but we found quite a few friendly folks lurking on 2m FM in the area. I think Bob knew everyone that we worked on the 2m band.
Inside Wind Cave National Park, Rankin Ridge is a 1-mile (200 feet vertical) loop trail in good condition, providing an easy hike to a lookout tower. (The lookout tower was marked “no entry”.) This was a very enjoyable hike and should be on the “must do” list for this area.
Mount Coolidge is a drive-up summit (good gravel road, 2WD), easily accessible from Highway 87 in Custer State Park. It is the site of an historical rock lookout tower which is now encroached on by many radio towers. The Custer State Park web site says the road to Mount Coolidge is generally open 9 am – 5 pm from Memorial Day into late September.
Mount Coolidge lookout tower
This summit is easy to access and provides some very good views of the Black Hills. Even though I’m a fan of radio towers and antennas, the way they surround the historic lookout tower really detracts from the summit. Don’t come here expecting a wilderness experience.
At 7210 feet, Odakota is the second highest summit in South Dakota. This summit is a relatively easy bushwhack hike through grass and over some downed timber, less than a 1/2-mile in distance and only 100 feet vertical. You’ll want to have the Black Hills National Forest map guiding you to this summit. Actually, that map is useful for all of these summits in South Dakota.
Bob/K0NR cranking out CW on the 2m band using the FT-817.
Next up was Bear Mountain, another summit that has a lookout tower now accompanied by radio towers. (Not as bad as Mount Coolidge.) There is a good gravel road to the summit suitable for 2WD vehicles. Again, the Black Hills National Forest map is a great resource for access information.
This summit was a reasonable bushwhack hike with lots of tall grass and significant downed timber. My GPS app measured the distance at 0.45 miles with 450 feet vertical.
Joyce/K0JJW standing near the summit of Atlantic Hill.
We followed KT0A’s instructions from the SOTA website which took us to the west side of Atlantic Hill. Again, use the Black Hills National Forest map for guidance. The map below shows the road as “297 1G” but it was just labeled “G”. Also, note that the road is gated closed for part of the year. The “G” road looked a bit sketchy but turned out to be easy to navigate with our crossover SUV. The map below shows the track we took. There was no trail and at times the grass was very tall. All things considered this was a good hike and the summit is quite pleasant.
Cicero Peak has a rocky road (FS 338) to the summit, OK for high clearance 2WD vehicles. There’s a small radio site at the summit. The views are probably wonderful but we did not see any because of the low hanging clouds when we were there. This road also has a gate at the bottom and is closed seasonally.
Custer Mountain was the toughest hike of the trip…a bushwhack through tall grass, downed timber and plenty of rock near the summit. Actually, the worst part was the swarms of gnats that followed us everywhere — they were out in full force after some rainy weather. Actually, I think it was the gnats that wore us out…difficult to step over rocks and logs when you’re swatting the little buggers.
Bob/K0NR on the summit of Custer Mountain.
Again, we followed KT0A’s activation notes on the SOTA web site. There is really no “good” way to ascend the mountain but the map below shows the track we used to descend the mountain. It has a few less rocks and downed trees to climb over. The key is to approach the summit from the west/northwest. The distance recorded on my GPS app was 0.83 miles and 650 feet vertical.
Hiking route up Custer Mountain.
Radio Operating
Our radio gear varied from summit to summit but we always carried a Yaesu FT-90 2m/70cm transceiver, an Arrow 3-element yagi for 2m, dualband j-pole for 2m/70cm and a gaggle of handheld transceivers. On most of the summits, we also had the FT-817 so we could work CW/SSB on 2m and 6m. As usual, most of the contacts were on 146.52 MHz FM, using the FT-90.
NC0K and W0FUI were listening a lot and worked us on 5 summits, KE0LXT snagged us on 4 summits (and met us in person on Bear Mountain). We worked KD0UST from 2 summits.
Our longest distance QSOs were with Jim/WD0BQM in Mitchell, NE (grid DN81cw). From Scotts Bluff we both worked Jim on 2m FM at relatively short range. On Odakota Mountain, we worked Jim/WD0BQM in Mitchell, Nebraska (Grid DN81cw) on 2m at a distance of 139 miles. I initially worked Jim on CW with very good signals. Joyce also worked him on SSB but she had to work a bit to complete that contact. From Bear Mountain, I worked Jim on 2m CW again with some difficulty because signals were clearly weaker but Joyce was not able to complete using SSB. Thanks for getting on the air with us, Jim!
I made one 6m ssb contact with K0CX from Bear Mountain. Other stations worked during the trip: KC0WVE, N8XBD, WB0VAO, KB0ZXH, KL7MH, N0SQ, W0SSB, KD0QDG, KD0ZIP, AF0DJ, KD0ZIR, W0NIL, W7REA, K0CX, WB0PZQ, N0DUX, N0DUW, KC0GWU, W3MEB, W7LFB, W0LFB, KF0XO. We managed to make at least 4 QSOs on each summit without too much difficulty by calling on 146.52 MHz. On Custer Mountain, we got impatient and went over to the 146.85 MHz (Bear Mountain) repeater to beg for a simplex contact. Thanks, KF0XO.
It was a great trip to a beautiful part of the western United States. We met some really nice hams along the way. Thanks to everyone that took the time to work us on the summits.
This view of Signal Butte shows the classic conical shape of the summit.
Signal Butte (W0C/FR-165) is a popular Summits On The Air (SOTA) summit about 8 miles north of Florrisant, Colorado. Joyce/K0JJW and I had this one on our SOTA list for a while now and finally got around to activating it. At an elevation of only 9459 feet, it is not a big mountain but it provides a spectacular 360 degree view of the surrounding area. Signal Butte is within the Hayman Wildfire burn area from June 2002 and you can still clearly see the effects of that fire.
The well-established trail starts at the end of FS 362A. The red line shows our hiking route as recorded on my GPS app.
To get to the trailhead, consult the USFS Pike National Forest Map. Drive to the trailhead using FS 362, then turning onto FS 362A which leads to a well-used parking area. These roads are easy-peasy 4WD and high-clearance 2WD is probably sufficient.
This is the view of Signal Butte from the trailhead.
The well-constructed trail is only a half mile long and 540 feet vertical, with many tight switchbacks and rock steps. I’d call this a good visitor hike because it will get most people huffing and puffing so they feel like they really did some climbing but then reward them with outstanding views on top.
A look at a typical section of trail with Pikes Peak in the distance.
On the Air
We both operated mostly on 2m FM (146.52 MHz) with the Yaesu FT-90 cranking out 30W into an 3-element yagi antenna. The best DX for the day was Dave/N0KM about 107 miles away in the San Luis valley (DM67vr). Note that our signals had to find their way across several mountain ranges for us to make contact. Who says VHF is only line of sight?
Steve/WG0AT showed up on Mount Herman (W0C/FR-063) for a summit-to-summit SOTA QSO. Then later, Doug/KD5OUG called us from the summit of Mount Evans (W0C/FR-003) for another summit-to-summit contact. Apparently Doug was just playing tourist and decided to pull out his 2m HT and give a call. Thanks to these stations that contacted us: K0LJW, W0RW, WG0AT, KC0PBR, K0MGL, KD0MRC, N0KM, N0EMU, KD0VHD, K0PV, K0PWO, W0BV, WB0TGE, K0GPA, K0TPC, WZ0N, KD0OUG
Bob/K0NR cranking out the 2m FM contacts with Pikes Peak in the background.
As you can see from the photos, the weather was excellent so we really enjoyed the activation. We both had a great time with it and we will undoubtedly be back. This SOTA summit is highly recommended because of the easy access, reasonable difficulty, established trail and excellent radio and optical horizons.
Amateur Radio operators from around Colorado will be climbing many of Colorado’s 14,000-foot mountains and Summits On The Air (SOTA) peaks to set up amateur radio stations in an effort to communicate with other radio amateurs across the state and around the world. Join in on the fun during the 27th annual event and see how many of the mountaintop stations you can contact. The covers the entire weekend but many mountaintop activators will hit the trail early with the goal of being off the summits by noon due to lightning safety concerns.
Now including Summits On the Air (SOTA), which adds over 1700 potential summits! If you aren’t up to climbing a 14er, there are many other summits to choose from (with a wide range of difficulty). See the Colorado SOTA web page at w0c-sota.org
Radio operators who plan to activate a summit should post their intent on the ham14er Yahoo Group. To subscribe to the “ham14er” email list, visit the Yahoo groups site at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ham14er/ . Also, be sure to check out the event information at http://www.ham14er.org It is also a great idea to post an ALERT on the SOTAwatch.org website.
Frequencies used during the event Activity can occur on any amateur band including HF and VHF. The 2m fm band plan uses a “primary frequency and move up” approach. The 2m fm primary frequency is 147.42 MHz. At the beginning of the event, operators should try calling on 147.42 MHz. As activity increases on that frequency, move on up the band using the 30 kHz steps. Don’t just hang out on 147.42 MHz…move up! The next standard simplex frequency up from 147.42 MHz is 147.45 MHz, followed by 147.48 and 147.51 MHz.
Frequency (MHz)
Comments
Frequency (MHz)
Comments
147.42
Primary 2m FM Frequency, then up in 30 kHz steps
7.032
40m CW Frequency
147.45
Alternate 2m FM frequency
7.185
40m SSB Frequency
147.48
Alternate 2m FM frequency
10.110
30m CW Frequency
147.51
Alternate 2m FM frequency
14.060
20m CW Frequency
446.000
Primary 70 cm FM frequency
14.345
20m SSB Frequency
446.025
Alternate 70 cm FM frequency
18.092
17m CW Frequency
1294.50
Primary 23cm FM frequency
18.158
17m SSB Frequency
144.200
2m SSB calling frequency
21.060
15m CW Frequency
50.125
6m SSB calling frequency
21.330
15m SSB Frequency
28.060
10m CW Frequency
Other Bands/Modes
Standard calling frequencies and/or band plans apply.
28.350
10m SSB Frequency
Warning: Climbing mountains is inherently a dangerous activity.
Do not attempt this without proper training, equipment and preparation.
While on a canyon country hiking/Jeeping trip in Utah, Joyce/K0JJW and I decided to do a couple of Summits On The Air (SOTA) activations. Abajo Peak (W7U/SU-014) showed up as a suitable target, being an easy-access drive-up summit at 11,360 feet, just west of Monticello. While the forest service map shows this as a 4WD route, it turned out to be a well-maintained road that most 2WD vehicles can handle.
The radio site on the summit of Abajo Peak
The map below shows the area. The only real challenge was finding B102 heading south/southwest out of Monticello. This later turns into route 0087, which swings south of another SOTA summit: South Peak (W7U/SJ-003) and up over Dickson Pass. (South Peak could be a second summit for a double activation.)
Abajo Peak is an excellent summit for VHF/UHF propagation with a good radio horizon in all directions. There is a substantial radio communications site on top which did create some local interference on 2m and 70cm. Moving a bit away from the actual summit caused the interference to mostly disappear.
I was concerned that we would not find enough activity on VHF in this rural location, so I put the word out to some of the hams in Utah and western Colorado with capable 2m SSB stations. Our equipment was a Yaesu FT-817 (all mode, 5W) driving a 3-element yagi antenna. We also had a 50W Yaesu FT-90 that can provide a bit more power out on 2m FM. And we had the usual collection of HTs.
The longest distance contacts for the day plotted on a map (click to enlarge).
Around noon, we started calling on 146.52 MHz and worked N7VWX in Nucla, CO (about 57 miles away). We switched over to 144.200 SSB and worked W0DSW in Cedaredge, CO (113 miles). Then we worked Bill/K0UK in Grand Junction (95 miles) on 144.200 SSB…not real strong but we made it. A bit later we came across KB7REB on 146.52 FM who said he was out hiking in a canyon and was surprised to hear anyone. We also worked KB7TRA on 146.52 (I think he was mobile east of us). We also worked W0DBB in Montrose, CO. I kept beaming to the west looking for W7DHH and I eventually heard him calling on 144.200 CW. I tried getting back to him but he was apparently not hearing me. N7KMK (same vicinity as W7DHH) came on the air and I was able to copy him on SSB. He also had trouble hearing me, but for a few seconds the signals came up a bit and we made the contact. N7KMK was my best DX for the day at 154 miles.
Four contacts are required to get the SOTA activation points and we probably would have been successful just randomly calling on 146.52 MHz FM. However, taking along the SSB transceiver and alerting the 2m weak-signal crowd certainly paid off with some longer distance QSOs. It is always a blast to be working over 100 miles on VHF QRP.
Back in the summer of 2013, I did the first Summits On The Air (SOTA) activation for W0C/SP-094. This is an unnamed summit (10350) near Trout Creek Pass not far from our cabin. Although I did activate it, I only made two radio contacts from the summit (so no activator points awarded). A thunderstorm had moved in and I decided to abandon the effort. Actually, I don’t recall much from that activation other than getting skunked due to weather.
Joyce/K0JJW on the summit of W0C/SP-094
So today, Joyce/K0JJW and I returned to the summit to set things right. Following Walt/W0CP’s suggestion, we drove the Jeep from the south (Hwy 24) taking FR 305 to FR 376 and parked just off the road at 38.86967, -106.03146. FR 305 is a good 2WD gravel road; FR 376 is easy 4WD (or high clearance 2WD). (Be aware of the seasonal road closures from Dec 1 to April 15.) A winter storm warning was in effect the night before we hiked, so I wondered if the weather was going to win again. As it turns out, we had 3 or 4 inches of new snow on the ground which was not a problem.
Hiking route shown in blue.
From the parking spot, the hiking route is not critical. Just head for the summit. We decided to swing slightly to the east which gave us a little less slope. It also provided us a nice walk across the top of the ridge that extends out to the southeast. As you can see from the photo, the summit is flat with a reasonable number of trees. Round trip distance is 1.5 miles with 700 feet of vertical. Easy peasy.
Once on top, we called on 146.52 MHz and worked Bob/W0BV, Skip/W9GYA, Jim/KD0MRC, Walt/WZ0N, Dave/N0KM and Ken/WA6TTY. We also made a couple of 446.0 MHz contacts with some of the same stations.
Summit-to-Summit
Earlier, as we left for the trailhead, I got an email from Steve/WG0AT that he was headed up Mt Herman (W0C/FR-063). This sounded like a great summit-to-summit opportunity! I figured we’d need our best 2m fm station, so I got out the Yaesu FT-90 and the Arrow 3-element yagi. I saw him spotted on SOTAwatch so I called him multiple times on 2m fm. Finally, I heard someone else talking to him on 146.52 which caused me to swing the antenna back and forth. Sure enough, I could hear him…barely…with the antenna pointed way south of his location. This often happens in the mountains…the direct path is not always the best path on VHF. I just barely worked Steve and got him in the log.
We stayed on the summit for a while, enjoying the view of Mt Princeton, then hiked down. It was a wonderful activation…much better than the first time.
Operating from countries outside the US can be a lot of fun. I just completed another another Slacker DXpedition, this time to the Cayman Islands. The formula for this type of operation is simple: identify an interesting vacation spot that is also considered DX, travel there with friends & family, take along some compact radio gear and get on the air. A key point is to not overdo the radio operating or the friends & family will veto any radio activity on future trips.
Licensing for the Cayman Islands is relatively easy if you hold a US FCC amateur radio license. Complete info can be found on the OFREG web site. Licensing for the Caymans is typical of many Caribbean countries: fill out the application form, send it to OFREG by email along with a copy of your US license, passport and $25US. Visitor call signs have the prefix ZF2 and you can request your favorite two-letter suffix. That’s how I got ZF2NR.
I was issued a Class A license which has all operating privileges. My spouse Joyce/K0JJW holds a US General Class license and was issued a Cayman Class B license, which has limited HF privileges (no phone on 40m, 20m, or 17m). So keep that in mind if you have a General Class license. [Update: ZF1EJ told me that this was an error, she should have been issued a Class A license.]
Grand Cayman is in grid EK-99 and is IOTA NA-016.
My equipment strategy was the same as my V29RW operation on Antigua (see V29RW: Slacker DXpedition to Antigua). The basic kit is a Yaesu FT-991 driving a end-fed halfwave (EFHW) wire antenna for the band of interest. Never underestimate the power of getting a halfwave antenna up into the air. The FT-991 fits in my carry-on bag and it covers all bands from HF through 70cm.
There is a 2m repeater (146.76 MHz) on Grand Cayman that works quite well. We received a friendly welcome on the repeater from Phil ZF1PB and several other Cayman hams.
Vacation Home
Our group rented a nice vacation home near Rum Point on the north side of Grand Cayman. This place is right on the water with an excellent sand beach. Denny KB9PDF/ZF2PF and I put up the EFHW 20m antenna supported by my SOTAbeams pole strapped to a palm tree. This setup worked quite well and we soon had a nice pileup of stations calling us on 20m. We did have some issues with local noise sources, the worst of which was traced to some dimmer switches in the house. This is one of the problems with a portable setup like this…you never know what RFI problems you’ll encounter. Later in the week, we put up a 40m EFHW and made a few contacts on that band, too.
Denny KB9DPF/ZF2PF watches as Bob K0NR/ZF2NR operates 20m ssb at the vacation home.The view from the vacation home. Look closely and you can see the SOTAbeams pole attached to a palm tree supporting the 20m EFHW antenna.
ZF1A
Bruce/K0BJ suggested that I check into using the Cayman Amateur Radio Society club station (ZF1A) which they make available to visiting hams. I connected with Eden/ZF1EJ who confirmed that the station was available later in the week. Again, I did not want to overdo the radio thing, so we settled on operating at ZF1A during the middle of the day on Wednesday.
The HF log periodic antenna at ZF1A.
This turned out to be a great move. ZF1A has multiple towers with some very capable antennas. Like I always say: Never underestimate the power of using a large directional antenna on top of a big tower. Eden/ZF1EJ met us at the station (it is literally in his backyard) and helped us get situated. Our operating strategy was simple: use the highest HF phone band that had good propagation and work as many stations as possible. We were also prepared to use FT8 if things were really bad but that was not needed. It turned out that 15m was dead but 17m was open into North America and Europe, so we did most of our operating there.
Bob/K0NR operating as ZF2NR at the ZF1A club station
Here’s a short video to give you a taste of the pileup.
I did work some of the folks back home, which was a treat: K0AV, W0CP, K0BJ, W0RLY, W0GAS, WG0AT, KD0RQU. I had noticed that Steve/WG0AT was doing a Summits On The Air (SOTA) activation on Crooked Top Mountain (W0C/SP-090) and I gave him a call. Being QRP, his signal was very weak at my location but he could hear me with no problem.
Here’s the QSO audio that Steve recorded on his end:
Satellites
We worked two OSCAR satellite passes (AO-91, AO-92) using a pair of handheld radios and an Arrow 2m/70cm yagi antenna. The pair of handhelds gave us full-duplex capability: I ran the 70cm uplink on my HT while Denny ran the downlink on 2m. No surprise to find the FM satellites quite busy and a bit frustrating to work. I logged these stations from ZF2NR: KI0G, K3SV, TI2CDA, TI4DJ, HP2VX.
Results
My ZF2NR log shows 376 HF QSOs, most of them made by me. Joyce K0JJW/ZF2JW braved the pileup to make a few contacts. Denny/KB9DPF had some additional contacts as ZF2PF. QSL to our home callsigns.
I’ve loaded the ZF2NR log into Logbook of The World.
Band Mode QSOs
7 LSB 5
14 USB 65
18 USB 306
Total 376
In retrospect, I realized that we had the antenna pointed north most of the time and we probably should have looked in other directions. In particular, we only worked a few South American stations.
Most important is that a good time was had by all. Thanks to everyone that worked us while we were in the Cayman Islands.
It is time for another W0C (Colorado) Summits On The Air dinner!
2017 W0C SOTA Dinner: (left to right) Wayne AD0KE, Brad WA6MM, Caleb W4XEN, Carey KX0R, John N0TA, Curtis KC5CW, Mark N0MTN, Joyce K0JJW, Steve K7PX, Al KH7AL, James KI0KN, Walt W0CP2017 W0C SOTA Dinner (left to right): Joyce K0JJW, Steve K7PX, Al KH7AL, James KI0KN, Walt W0CP, John N1OIE, Steve WG0AT, Wayne AD0KE, Brad WA6MM, Caleb W4XEN and Carey KX0R.
Last year, we had 15 people get together for an informal dinner in south Denver (Lone Tree): Steve WG0AT, Wayne AD0KE, Brad WA6MM, Caleb W4XEN, Carey KX0R, John N0TA, Curtis KC5CW, Mark N0MTN, Bob K0NR, Joyce K0JJW, Steve K7PX, Al KH7AL, James KI0KN, Walt W0CP and John N1OIE. It was so much fun meeting people and swapping SOTA stories that we are going to do it again this year.
Wednesday March 21th at 6 pm Chili’s, 10460 Park Meadows Dr, Lone Tree, CO 80124-5413
Dinner details: No agenda, no organization, just have fun, pay for your meal
Please wear something with your name/callsign (name tag, shirt, cap, etc.) to aid in making connections
Please send this to anyone you know that might be interested. RSVP back to Bob K0NR: bob@k0nr.com so we have an accurate count for the reservation.
The world is divided into two groups: Bag Guys and Not Bag Guys. (I am using “guy” as gender neutral.) I am a Bag Guy. I am always looking for just the right backpack, computer bag, luggage or duffel bag. For example, I’ve got this special bag, a backpack, that I use for hauling my portable VHF/UHF radio gear. You might call it a Go Bag but it really only has radio gear in it.
My gear for Summits On The Air (SOTA) has expanded a bit, so obviously it was time for a new bag. I decided to buy this backpack because it has solid construction and plenty of pockets. I don’t plan to actually use this as a backpack, it will be more of a “toss the gear into the back of the Jeep” bag…but having backpack straps on it will come in handy. This bag will carry a variety of radios, cables, chargers, batteries and stuff that I keep with the radios but won’t take on the trail.
USA and Colorado state flags
I chose the “Coyote” color for two reasons: 1) my kids keep making fun of me for always buying black bags and 2) it doesn’t show the dirt as much. This bag came with a US flag attached to it, which was a nice bonus. I kind of like patches but I don’t actually attach them to my gear or clothing very often. My interest in any particular patch changes with time and location. And I don’t want to put on so many of them that I look like a Boy Scout with a sash full of merit badges.
Well, the military has solved this problem through the use of hook-and-loop attachments (“Velcro”) on tactical gear. Feel like a little flair? Slap on a patch. Get tired of it, just take it off. Brilliant. For a little background on proper flair, see this video clip from the movie Office Space.
Label your bag
I thought the US Flag was pretty cool, so I found a Colorado flag to add to the collection. Then I got to thinking about using patches to label the bag. I noticed the many vendors that make custom text patches (often referred to as “Name Tapes”). These work great for labeling bags, pouches, etc. I ordered mine from a third-party on Amazon: 3 Inches/Hook Fastener/ Personalized Custom Name Tape
Of course, another option is to put my name on the patch. By name, I really mean name and call sign. If there are a pile of radio bags, everyone will know which one is mine. This is where it can get tricky because my call sign has a zero in it and not all vendors know how to handle the slash-zero thing. I decided to give it a try by just inserted a slash-zero character into the entry field on the web page. As you can see in the photo, it worked out just fine.
Do a little websearching and you’ll find plenty of military/tactical gear that has hook-and-loop fasteners built into the design. But, you may already have your favorite backpack that doesn’t have this feature. No problem, go ahead and attach a strip or two of the fuzzy (loop) material to it and you can slap your favorite patch on it.
I can already see how this may will get out of hand. There are so many packs, pouches, bags, hats, jackets that could use some proper labeling, or maybe just a little flair.
During a discussion of various VHF radios and antennas on the SOTA reflector, Phil/G4OBK recommended this antenna: TWAYRDIO RH 770 SMA-Male Dual Band Telescopic Handheld Antenna. I was mildly skeptical in that the antenna looks like cheaplowcost economy stuff from China. However, for $16.55 (free shipping), it seemed like something I should try out.
I’ve since used this antenna on several SOTA activations and have found it to work quite well. Not having to worry about whether I’m operating on 2m or 70 cm is a big plus. I liked the antenna so much, I now have three.
Recently, I wondered how well the antenna is really performing so I did a side-by-side comparison with the Smiley 2m halfwave. Now this kind of comparison is always a bit dicey unless you have a calibrated antenna range but simple comparisons are useful. I got on 2m fm with another ham running a home station some distance away such that I was not pegging his S-meter. We did several A/B comparisons between the Smiley and the RH 770. Much to my surprise, the RH 770 performed significantly better than the Smiley. That is, the other ham saw his meter deflect higher with the RH 770. I can’t give that to you in dB but I can say it’s a little better. I actually thought that the single-band design might win out due to less complexity in the antenna but the opposite was true. Your mileage may vary. No warranty expressed or implied.
The only thing I don’t like about the RH 770 is that the telescoping sections slide up and down really easy. Too easy for my taste. I’d rather have some stickiness to it so that I am sure it will remain fully extended. But I admit this is more of a personal impression than actual problem.
The antenna is available with a male SMA connector, a female SMA connector or a BNC. That should pretty much cover it.
So thanks Phil/G4OBK for pointing out this antenna. I also highly recommend it.
Joyce/K0JJW and I had intended to hike Pikes Peak this year for a Summits On The Air (SOTA) activation but somehow the plan never came together. I still had my eye on it as a drive-up activation before the end of 2017. The road to the summit is open year round now but closes frequently due to snowstorms passing through. Saturday morning the road was open to 13 miles (out of 19 miles) with the promise that it would be open to the summit later in the morning. (Call 719 385-7325 for a recorded message on road conditions.) By the time we got to the toll gate around 10 am, the road was open to the summit.
K0JJW and K0NR caught on the Pikes Peak webcam, courtesy of Paul/W0RW
When we reached the summit, the weather conditions were 20 deg F with 20 mph winds, creating a windchill of 4 deg F. We were prepared for that having loaded up on the winter clothing. Still, it was freaking cold up there. As you can see in the webcam picture, there was only traces of snow on the summit.
To be SOTA-compliant, we had all of our gear loaded into our packs and walked some distance away from our vehicle to set up. Because of the wind, we chose the observation platform, tucked in behind one of the walls. Normally, that platform is to be avoided because its overrun with tourists but with the cold weather we only had a few people to contend with.
K0NR hunkered down out of the wind
Joyce set up on 2m fm (146.52) using a handheld transceiver (HT) with a vertical antenna. Even with her headset (foam protection on the microphone), the wind noise on her signal was significant. I started out on 2m fm but quickly moved up to 223.5 MHz and worked a few stations there, then on to 446.0 MHz. I had HTs and small yagi’s on both of those bands. Then I fired up 1.2 GHz with an Alinco HT (just 1W on that band) and a 16-element yagi. I worked Paul/W0RW, Gary/WB5PJB and Wayne/N0POH on that band. My QSO with N0POH in Aurora was a new personal best for distance on 23cm/1.2 GHz, at about 90 km.
I tried 2m SSB using my FT-817 but made only one contact: Jim/WB0GMR. Shortly thereafter, I switched back to 2m fm using the 25W mini-mobile rig with a 3-element yagi to work many more stations. Again, just running a bit of power and having a decent antenna on 2m fm was very effective at making radio contacts. I expected the Tytera radio to be overloaded with signals on the summit of Pikes but it actually held up well with just occasional bursts of interference.
Overall, we made 54 QSOs (not too shabby): 43 QSOs on 2m, 5 QSOs on 70cm and 3 QSOs on both 1.25m and 23cm. Our best DX was Jeff/N0XLF near Akron, CO for a distance of about 130 miles (on 2m and 70cm).
Walt/W0CP had recommended this Summits On The Air (SOTA) summit (W0C/SP-076) to me a while ago. Somehow it had escaped my attention, probably because it’s an unnamed peak and not that well known. Joyce/K0JJW and I decided to give it a try today and it turned out great.
A wonderful panoramic view from the summit of SP-076, with Joyce/K0JJW looking on.
We followed Walt’s directions on the SOTA website, using the southern route. We were pleasantly surprised to find a pretty good trail most of the way to the summit. There were a few spots with downed timber, where people have diverted around the logs, but generally the trail was easy to follow. The trail is not shown on many maps, including the USFS San Isabel Forest map. Thus, I was expecting considerable bushwacking to get to the summit.
Follow FS road 273 until it ends and park there
The route to the trailhead is via FS Road 273, easily accessible from Highway 285 south of Buena Vista and north of Salida. See the San Isabel National Forest map for orientation. The road is narrow in spots. Our Jeep Wrangler fit OK but a wider vehicle would get to deal with the brush on both sides of the road. The road is easy 4WD and should be passable with a high-clearance 2WD vehicle. The road had some snow on it (Nov 25, 2017) and with a few more snowstorms may not be passable.
Bob K0NR taking a snack break on the summit.
The road continues a little further than indicated on our topo map but it is obvious when it ends. After that, the road turns into a nice trail (our route shown on the map above). The trail has a few broad switchbacks that made for easy hiking. When we got near the summit, the trail was covered by many small snow drifts, so we opted to go off trail and just head for the summit. So our last quarter mile or so is probably not optimal for summer hiking. There are several mines at or near the top of the mountain. My GPS recorded the one way distance as 1.54 miles with 1330 feet of vertical.
We had quite a variety of radios with us, for 2m, 1.25m, 70 cm and 23 cm, FM only. We started on the workhorse band (2m FM) with the 25W Tytera radio and a vertical half-wave antenna. It seems that someone (me) left the 3-element 2m yagi antenna at home. We quickly made contacts with KD0MRC, W0BV, KD0VHD, KE0DMT and KL7GLK on 2m and/or 70 cm. I used my Alinco 222 MHz handheld to work KD0MRC on 223.5 MHz, which is apparently the first 222 MHz SOTA contact in Colorado. (Yeah, not a popular band.)
For the most part, it was pleasant on the summit, about 40 degrees F, but it got cold whenever the wind picked up. Without the wind, it was great. With the wind, kind of cold.
This is a great hike and a great summit. Only a few people have activated it for SOTA, so I wanted to write it up for others to consider. We will definitely return to this one due to it’s excellent combination of easy accessibility, good trail and wonderful views.
73, Bob K0NR
01 Jul 2018 Update
We returned for a summer activation and have a few more tips.
Access from Hwy 285: Use County Road 270, heading west. CR 270 will intersect with CR272. Keep going straight ahead onto CR 272 as CR 270 turns right and goes north. Then take CR 274 which will keep going roughly west (as 272 turns south). Then take a left onto FS 273 and follow the map shown above. The San Isabel National Forest map is very helpful.
Trail route near the summit: In the original trip report, I mentioned that we exited the trail due to snow and headed for the summit. This turns out to be a good path in the summer, too. The trail heads to an abandoned mine on the north side of the summit. Once you get to the mine, you have to go straight up to the summit, via a steep climb. It is much better to leave the trail earlier and follow the ridge line heading east to the summit (which is the path shown on the map above).
Here’s the SOTA activator scores for Colorado (W0C). I have to admit that I like checking this to see how everyone is doing. Some of it is friendly competition but mostly its enjoying the accomplishments of my fellow SOTA enthusiasts.
We’ve got 10 “Mountain Goats” in Colorado now, with 1000 or more points. Carey, KX0R just never stops activating. It seems like he is out there on a summit every day. My friend Brad WA6MM just made “Mountain Goat,” by activating only Colorado summits, never repeating any, with many difficult climbs. Note that his average points per expedition is 8.65, higher than any of the other MGs. (W0CCA comes close at 8.21) Congratulations, Brad!
It looks like K7PX and KD0YOB are next in line for Mountain Goat, while I am still a ways back. My hiking partner Joyce/K0JJW is coming on strong, having accumulated 200 points. I just cleared “half a Mountain Goat” at 500 points, so I requested a certificate for that accomplishment. At my current rate of progress, I am about 2 years away from Mountain Goat. I keep telling myself to be patient, keep at it and (most of all) enjoy the journey.
For years now, I’ve been doing Summits On The Air (SOTA) activations using VHF and higher frequencies. The GO TO band/mode for VHF SOTA is 2-meter FM because of its overall popularity. Just about everyone has a 2m FM radio (well, almost everyone). Still, if you are on a remote peak you may not find anyone within range to work. Because of this, it really helps to optimize the performance of your portable VHF station.
Antennas
I’ve already written that the first step is to upgrade the rubber duck antenna to something that actually radiates. My measurements indicate that a half-wave antenna performs 8 to 10 dB better than your typical rubber duck. That’s a big difference. I tend to favor the collapsible half-wave antennas because they are compact and don’t require any support. Another option is the J-pole or Slim Jim antennas, typically build out of twin lead or ladder line.
The next step up is to use a small yagi antenna, such as the 3-element Arrow antenna. Although Arrow does not specific the gain of this antenna, it has been measured at the Central States VHF Society conference as having ~6 dBd of gain. I’ve been on the lookout for a higher gain antenna but I have not found one that has significantly more gain while still being backpack portable.
Modulation
Frequency Modulation performs very badly when signals are weak. The well-known threshold effect means as the signal level decreases at the receiver it simply crashes into the noise. Linear modes such as CW and SSB work much better when signals are weak, which is why they are popular with the serious VHF crowd. I’ve used my Yaesu FT-817 to make SOTA contacts on both 2m and 70cm SSB and CW. My all time best distance on 2m during a SOTA activation was 229 miles, a QSO with N7KA from Capulin Mountain using CW. However, the problem with SSB/CW is that there are much fewer radio amateurs that operate that mode. I estimate that on a typical day, there are 10 to 100 times more hams on 2m FM than are on 2m SSB/CW.
More Power on FM
I’ve noticed that I sometimes hear stations on 2m FM but they cannot hear me. Further investigation revealed that they were typically running more power than me. I had my little HT putting out 5W and they were running a 50W mobile. That got me thinking about whether I could increase my power while still having a backpack-compatible station. SOTA operation is typically QRP, around 5 or 10 W of power. However, SOTA does not specifically state a required power level…it’s really driven by the need to operate backpack portable. Hence, there are very few 1 KW amplifiers in use on SOTA summits.
Tytera TH-8600 2m / 70cm transceiver
Some of the Chinese manufacturers now offer compact dualband (and even quadband) VHF/UHF transceivers that output 10 to 30 watts of RF power. I purchased the Tytera TH-8600 based on my experience with other Tytera products. The radio’s specified output power is 25 watts on 2 meters. The DC power current is rated as 0.2 A on receiver and 4A on transmit, not too bad for battery operation. I paired it with a 13.2V LiFe battery rated at 4300 mAH. In theory, that would provide over an hour of transmit time or 21 hours of receive. That should be plenty for the typical SOTA activation. The size is a slightly larger than 4″ W x 1.5″ H x 5″ D and it weighs about 2 pounds. All in all, this setup is very compatible with the typical backpack portable operation.
Let’s do a little math to understand the difference in transmit signal. The TH-8600 puts out 25W compared to the 5W from FT-60. The difference in dB is 10 log (25/5) = 7 dB. Someone said to me “hey, that’s only a little more than one S unit, which is normally defined as 6 dB. Is that really enough to make a difference?” To which I responded, “yes, 7 dB can make the difference between making the radio contact or not…when signals are near the noise floor of the receiver.” For strong signals, it just doesn’t matter.
I’ve used this configuration on three SOTA activations and I like the results. On two of the activations, I compared the TH-8600 (25W) to the Yaesu FT-60 (5W) that my hiking partner (Joyce/K0JJW) was using. Both radios were connected to 1/2-wave vertical antennas, operating on 2m FM. The radios performed the same on receive, as expected. But the weaker stations we were working had trouble hearing the FT-60. Again, if signals were strong, it didn’t matter but the extra power made the difference when near the noise floor.
I checked out the basic performance of the radio on my test bench and found it to be adequate. The transmit frequency was spot on, the harmonics and spurious on 2m were about 60 dB below the carrier. The receiver sensitivity was about 0.2 microvolts. The RF output power was low, 22.4 W on 2m and 17.7W on 70cm (compared to the specs at 25W and 20W).
I was hoping the receiver performance would be better with regards to rejecting adjacent channel signals and intermodulation. I don’t have a good test bench for that but I can tell you that I noticed some unwanted interference from transmitters that were not close to my location.
How Many dB’s Is That?
So let’s summarize the dB situation by comparing all of the potential improvements to the standard handheld transceiver (HT) with a rubber duck antenna. Note that the yagi gain is specified as dB relative to a 1/2-wave dipole, which has roughly the same performance as a 1/2-wave vertical.
5W HT with standard rubber duck antenna 0 dB
5W HT with 1/2-wave antenna +8 dB
3-element Yagi antenna (Arrow or similar) +6 dB
25W transceiver (vs 5W output) +7 dB
Total improvement (25W with yagi vs HT/duck) +21 dB
Wow, I can improve my signal strength by over 20 dB by making these improvements! I should point out that the antenna improvements help on both transmit and receive, while the increased transmit power only improves your stations transmitted signal.
My conclusion is that this type of mini-transceiver can be a good way to go for 2m FM SOTA without adding too much of a load in my pack. I expect that I’ll still do some HT-only activations but the higher power option is very useful on remote peaks.
73, Bob K0NR
Added 2 Nov 2017: Some folks have found my table of dB calculations to be confusing, so here’s some more info. I arbitrarily started with the 5W HT and rubber duck at 0 dB. My measurements in the past showed that a 1/2-wave vertical is 8 to 10 dB better than a rubber duck. I decided to use the 8 dB number…it is not a precise measurement anyway and will vary with the specific duck antenna. So that means that the 1/2-wave vertical is +8 dB relative to the rubber duck. The yagi gain is about 6 dB relative to a dipole (6 dBd). The standard dipole is a 1/2-wave radiator and performs roughly the same as the 1/2-wave vertical, so we’ll consider them equivalent. That is, the yagi is 6 dB better than the 1/2-wave vertical. Finally, the 25W power vs 5W power adds in 7 dB. Add them all together and you get 0 + 8 + 6 + 7 = 21 dB.
Added 12 Feb 2018: On our most recent SOTA activation, the Tytera TH-8600 became intermittent on both transmit and receive. Fortunately, I had other radios with me that allowed be to verify the TH-8600 failure and complete the SOTA activation. Of course, it is past the 90-day warranty period. It turns out I have a very compact Yaesu FT-90 that I will start using for SOTA.
Added 08 Feb 2019: I finally got around to troubleshooting the TH-8600 and I think I found the problem: a loose cable/connection. I’ve used it a few times since and it seems to be working OK. Because it was an intermittent problem, I remain vigilant about whether I really repaired it.
because it has solid construction and plenty of pockets. I don’t plan to actually use this as a backpack, it will be more of a “toss the gear into the back of the Jeep” bag…but having backpack straps on it will come in handy. This bag will carry a variety of radios, cables, chargers, batteries and stuff that I keep with the radios but won’t take on the trail.
