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Hi All,

Thanks to everyone who encouraged and helped with my 1st SOTA attempt.??I went for a 1 pointer near my QTH - W0C FR097 Sheep Mountain.

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I’ll qualify this outing as only a partial success.

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The day was beautiful - sunny and high 50’s with very little wind.??George, KX0R’s summit report on Summit Outings was spot on with navigational info.

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I had estimated around 1 mph hiking speed and made it to the summit 15 minutes early for my planned activation at 1300 MST / 2000 UTC despite some deadfall and slippery melting snow along the route.

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I used the GAIA mapping app to confirm the most efficient route and SOTAGoat’s tracker feature to confirm the activation zone.??Apparently this works with the phone’s GPS which is pretty cool.

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Setup of my SOTABeams tactical mini and dipole was straight forward - lots of rocks to tie into and others to provide a sheltered operating position.

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Because of excellent advice from several of you, I was able to register for SMS spotting via mm0fmf in advance, and it was the only way I could get a spot.

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Although I thought I was well prepared, I think I made a critical error - the 20M band was alive with powerful stations in full-on contest mode.??As soon as I would find a clear frequency and attempt to self spot, a pileup would occur and I’d chase another opening, only to have it get slammed seconds later.??(I found out later that my 1st SOTA attempt coincided perfectly with the ARRL W/VE DX contest.??Darn the luck!)??Lesson learned - I’ll check for contesting and plan around those times.??Maybe I’ll try for activations on weekdays instead of weekends or on WARC frequencies (30, 17, and 12MHz?).

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I was able to take down my mast and adjust the links on my dipole for 40M, setup again, and try for a new spot, but couldn’t hear any chasers responding to my CQ.??At this point I was already about 1.5 hours on the summit.??I ended up tuning to various rag chews and nets hoping for a break in the action, trying to grab the required 4 QSOs.??Despite my best efforts,??at three hours on the summit I had only secured 3 QSOs, the most notable of which was a Parks on the Air to Summit on the Air from KE0YOA in Leavenworth KS.

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Mark, N0MTN let me know that he could hear folks chasing me from his QTH in Broomfield, CO, but he couldn’t hear my call.??Thanks, Mark!??20M was so slammed with contesters that I couldn’t pick out any chasers.??On 40, I was probably tuning around too much to be consistent for chasers to find me.??Sorry to those who attempted.??Probably operator error on my end!

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I had no joy using my Yaesu FT60, but to be honest, I really spent almost all my time working HF.??

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I have to say I’m very happy with my Lab599 TX500.??It was very intuitive to use, received well with some very nice filtering, and the signal reports from my 3 QSOs were quite complimentary.

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Although I didn’t pick up the 1 point for Sheep Mountain, I am far from discouraged.??I was able to enjoy a wonderful hike with my family, conduct a proper field test of my equipment, and make a few QSOs.

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I have a lot of lessons learned, and I am looking forward to my next attempt!

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I truly appreciate all those in this hobby who share, teach, encourage, activate, and chase.? Thank you!

73,
Mike AE0IH

Hi Mike, nice effort. Week-end was brutal for SSB :)
I was ~50mi South of you on W0C/FR-081 hoping for my first TX-500 to TX-500 S2S contact. I saw your spot but could not hear you at all... there is always next time ;)
73, Mtt/K?MOS

I would HIGHLY recommend one of these (diy QRP micro EFHW) for SOTAs where there are trees available.? I've built a couple of these for different bands.? The weigh nothing and allow you to eliminate the weight of feedline, and they are VERY effective!? All you need to carry with you is some arborist line and a throw bag.? This is what I'll be taking with my TX500 on my AT section hike this fall.? I've put a link to the YouTube video on how to build one below?


https://youtu.be/s-_LyhdGapM

Matt,

Thanks. ?I'll be looking for you out there. ?Would be great to get a TX-500 S2S one day!

73,
Mike

Justin,?

Thanks. ?I'm experimenting this week with various EFHW designs for 17 and 15M. ?This looks interesting.

73,
Mike AE0IH

Justin, I'm curious which case that is?? It looks like it'll hold everything I could imagine for the TX-500...

nevermind, I saw your post in the other thread.? Thanks!

Thanks for sharing your gear recommendation. What type of mini-laptop is that? Looks ideal for digital modes.

Good report Mike,?

Could you advise what brand/model laptop is shown in the photo.
Want to downsize mine and this looks perfect.?

73,
Bob WB6AGE?

Looks like it may be a GPD Pocket 2 mini touchscreen laptop.
https://gpd.hk/gpdpocket2