A Random Blog for a Random Reason

Category: sota

  • A Snowy Spring FA: W7I/NI-274

    A Snowy Spring FA: W7I/NI-274

    Summit: W7I/NI-274 “Hill 3860”
    Miles: 3.42
    Gain: 687ft
    QSOs: 6
    Points: 1

    For April 4th the weather was prime, though I should’ve started earlier in the morning when it was colder—more on that later. The turn off for the FS roads/trails was completely snowed in (see photo), so I parked off of the hwy a hundred yards up at a better pull around.

    Gate for the road up was locked and I’m not sure if it’s seasonal or if it’s just perma-locked. The snow was relatively deep at a good 4-8″ for a majority of the hike. Luckily, I was staying on top of the crust as I didn’t bring snowshoes or even more regrettably, gaiters. The path up is a forest road, making it easy to follow and I assume that holds true in the summer. As I gained altitude and the road became more exposed, the post-holing started.

    At some point I could tell that I was just below the activation zone but my planned route had another half mile or so to go. The post-holing was becoming obnoxious so the decision was made to just ascend through the trees straight up the hill. Lots of animal sign up there.

    The AZ was relatively clear and made for a nice place to set up an antenna and operate. Not much of a view but I was happy to have some sunshine and a little bare ground.

    Band conditions seemed sub-optimal so after making six contacts and not hearing much else, it was time to head back.

    At this point the temps had warmed and the sun was high. While 80% of my steps on the way up stayed on top of the firm snow crust, now 80% of my steps were breaking through and I was sinking ankle-to-knee deep. That was tough going and I badly wished I had brought my gaiters. A lesson learned.

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  • First QSL Card

    First QSL Card

    For the non-ham, a QSL card is basically a postcard-sized print copy confirmation of an on-air contact. Dating back to the days well before we were confirming contacts on the internet, QSL cards are a bit of a historical relic, or more appropriately, a tradition that is unfortunately not just modernly uncommon but also seemingly an afterthought.

    Last year was my first in ham radio. I made just over 100 contacts during my SOTA activations (100 is not that many) but I only received one QSL card—a less than 1% return. And actually that’s not even true, because my first card received was from an activation I did in Jan of 2025… but the point remains, it doesn’t seem to be common.

    I was excited to receive my first QSL card. Most of these cards are quite personal, with a photo of either an operator’s radio shack, hobby, or nearby landscape scene. This card was a nice picture of Mount Hood, as KD7J lives just north of Portland in Scappoose, Oregon.

    This was the nudge I needed to make my own card. I began to research how because I naturally wanted to know what expected information to include, if there was a preferred size, etc. and I was greatly disappointed to have returned to me videos and write-ups such as “The simplest easiest cheapest QSL Cards” and “Get One Thousand Custom QSL Cards for $61!” and “QSL Cards in 2 Minutes”.

    Kindly fuck off. Or, more eloquently, as a great Jedi Master once said, “Do or do not. There is no try.”

    To be clear, I understand that as a graphic designer / photographer / artist I’m an anomaly. But for a crowd that purports itself as a one that carries traditions forward… this anti-QSL card mentality feels, quite frankly, hypocritical.

    Anyhow. This is my realm and my opportunity to accurately represent my own scruples. So here’s my process:

    1. During the approach and activation of the summit, photos are taken with both a 35mm and 120 format camera on, typically, black-and-white Ilford HP5+ film.
    2. Post-activation, the film is developed and scanned into the computer at home.
    3. If a QSL card is received from a contact on that SOTA activation, a representative photo from that trip is chosen and printed out on Hahnemühle 4×6 photo cardstock.
    4. Overprinted on the photo is a rubber-stamp of my callsign along with icons of the Cascade Radio Club and SOTA organization.
    5. On the back of the card, I print out the pertinent information (date, mode, etc, rst, summit code, etc.) with a fountain pen using a Sailor state-specific ink color.

    Could I possibly make this any more of a pain-in-the-ass, cost-prohibitive exercise in pretentiousness? I think not. But if you receive a QSL card from me, know that I truly valued our contact, your chase, and hold a deep respect for the hobby.

    To fair, my first QSL card is a bit sucky. But one shouldn’t hide their imperfect work. If you put in the effort and learn something, it’s solid. My next will be better.

  • Smoot Hill W7W/WE-033

    Smoot Hill W7W/WE-033

    It’s been a mild January thus far and this weekend, although windy, was a prime 42F. Running a bit short on time, a close-to-home hill would be on the menu and Smoot was today’s flavor.

    To be honest, I’m not exactly sure about the accessibility of this summit. Some fencing along the nearby gravel road has Washington State University signs declaring no trespassing—but I’ve spoken with two individuals who have assured me that as long as you are traveling by foot and being respectful there is no issue.

    Parking is obvious at the Rose Creek Nature Preserve. Considering the above, I booked it rather quickly up the hill until slipping into the trees where I’m a little less exposed to the road. The summit approach is rather unremarkable. There’s a lightly groomed path, probably for researchers to access the wildlife preserve, which meanders the ridgeline towards the summit. It’s straightforward until eventually reaching an intersection. Now heading south you’re less than a quarter mile and under 200ft elevation from the AZ. Plenty of trees there for a bit of a wind break (or shade).

    This was the first activation using my new mast, the “POTA Explorer” which is a rather stout 33ft carbon fiber pole. Because it’s so much taller, with thicker diameter segments, than my trusty SOTA Beam 6 (19.6ft), the Explorer’s penchant to tip is more significant and I had to prop it up in a tree to keep it from falling over. I’ll be adding some prusik cord for next time if I need to guy it.

    The activation was relatively smooth with a dozen contacts including a summit-to-summit.

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    Also this year, I am planning on photographing all of my activations on film. This was a bit of a test run as I haven’t shot much film in the past 20 years and I haven’t developed film myself since college circa 2001-2003. I’d say this turned out to be a success and am looking forward to the added pain in the ass this will all surely be.

    Nikon F2 | Ilford FP4+

    Thanks to all of my chasers, this was a good solid run as I shook the dust off my SOTA skills. The S2S with K7FOP and K7ATN was especially a treat, as always.

  • Smoot Hill

    Smoot Hill

    Another weekend with decent weather. Another first activation.

    This time it was Smoot Hill, super-close to home and the only reason I hadn’t tackled it until now: I wasn’t exactly sure anyone was allowed up there. It’s technically on WSU property as it is a nature preserve, but after speaking a cycling buddy who mountain biked up there a couple of years ago and spoke to someone who manages the land, as long as we’re respectful and not on motorized vehicles they’re generally okay with it.

    Good enough for me.

    The walk was quite pleasant via a cut path through fields. A lot of predator scat along the path and a large footprint (see photo below) that might just be a big dog but I’m not exactly sure. It was a brisk but bright November afternoon in the upper 30’s. Parking at the Rose Creek Nature Trail, I crossed the road then crossed the fenceline making my way about 1.5 miles to the AZ.

    Up top, the wind was a thing and the clouds began to roll in. Thankful that I always keep a spare jacket in my SOTA bag, I layered up before getting the antenna rigged and on the air. Not wanting to waste much time, I spotted myself on 40m and after a couple of minutes the chasers came in hot. Eight of ’em, one right after the other and signal reports 5.5+ all around.

    Giving the SOTAwatch feed a look to see if there were any S2S possibilities (nothing that materialized), it was time to get going. I was starting to get a little chilly and knew that Corrie was waiting for me to get back so we could pick up apples at the WSU organic farm. The hustle back down the hill was uneventful besides a mule deer sighting.

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  • Another Dual F.A. Day: W7I/NI-268 + W7I/NI-269

    Another Dual F.A. Day: W7I/NI-268 + W7I/NI-269

    The temps have officially dipped and we’re in the shoulder season of unpredictable and generally unfavorable weather. Saturday looked to offer a bit of a window, so I dug out a rough plan to work two more unactivated W7I summits: NI-268 and NI-269.

    This pair was super close to one another and road access seemed open, and it was indeed. The drive in via Winfall Pass Road was downright pleasant with some of the widest, smoothest dirt I’ve been on all year. I parked in a saddle right between the two summits which I internally referred to as the ‘ham cleve’ and flipped a coin on which to tackle first.

    The southern summit, 268, was a nice roadwalk up to the very top. There had been some active logging recently as I passed multiple smoldering burn piles. The AZ was wide open with a few standing trees and plenty of downed branches to which I could attach the ends of my antenna wire.

    After 5 QSOs I packed up and started booking it to 269. The initial approach was much the same but this summit was still heavily treed and the roads suggested by the historical maps were no longer there. Things got thick quick, and once I found myself within the AZ I began looking for somewhat of a clearing in order to get a wire up.

    Due to limited space, I opted to just run my EFHW as a 20/10 sloper (rather than the usual 40/20/10 inverted-v). It got the job done with 5 QSOs on 20m (including 2 summit-to-summits) and 2 more QSOs on 10m. Clouds rolled in and the temps really dipped during this one, so after exhausting the quiet 10 meter band I tore down and got back down the hill to the car.

    Next time, I would follow the two-track as far as I could towards 268 before bushwhacking a little as possible straight up the hill. Not sure it’s really worth it for 1 point, but everything else about this activation was pleasant so I’m sure I’ll do it again next year.

  • Dual Idaho F.A. Day: Moses Mountain NI-207 + Tensed Benchmark NI-223

    Dual Idaho F.A. Day: Moses Mountain NI-207 + Tensed Benchmark NI-223

    Found a couple of not-yet-activated summits just north of me and across the state line into Idaho: Moses Mountain W7I/NI-207 and Tensed Benchmark W7I/NI-223. The two activation zones are only about 5.5km from eachother and the weather for this day was looking prime so I figured this would be a good opp for my first two-summit day.

    The drive out wasn’t too bad. AWD definitely needed and the clearance on my Honda Element was plenty. It was logging country and whether or not people were supposed to be out there was a little questionable, but nothing explicitly posted no trespassing, so I parked down the hill from Moses Mountain and bit off the main road.

    Tensed BM was first and very nice hike along two-track trail pretty much the entire way. At the summit a big rock cairn and that felt like a good spot to set up the radio and get cracking. After 8 QSOs I packed up, at my slice of leftover pizza from earlier in the week, and headed back towards Moses Mtn.

    The trail up towards Moses’ peak fizzled out quickly it became a bushwhack up the side of the hill. Nothing impassable, but I got some good leg scratching today. After getting 7 QSOs in the bag, I decided it was probably time to start my way back down. The air was chilling and the sun was going down on this early fall day.

    Big thanks to WW7D, my #1 all time chaser, who sought me out on both summits today.

    The ridge hike up to Tensed Benchmark.
    AZ of Moses Mountain.
    Tensed Benchmark cairn.
    Post-activation cheers.
  • Krell Hill W7W/WE-021

    Krell Hill W7W/WE-021

    Popping up to Spokane to drop my mom off at the airport after her visit; might as well get in a SOTA. Krell Hill W7W/WE-021 was in a familiar area, I’ve hiked the Rocks of Sharon before and this AZ was just the next hill over from that. A quick 1.7-ish miles up (it was steep) led me to an area below a bunch of quite large teevee antenna towers.

    The day was WINDY and warm, probably upper 60s. I found a good spot to park it next to some very large rock structures that I hoped might act as a bit of a windbreak. Mast deployed, wire up, and away we go.

    The 20m band was rocking. I bopped around a bit to try find some POTA activators looking for contacts and nabbed three of ‘em, getting relatively decent signal reports in return: 42, 59, 59. I wasn’t sure how much the giant antenna array directly above me was going to affect my waves, man.

    The 40m band, however, was dead quiet. Odd. I went ahead and spotted myself and quickly was hit up by my #1 chaser, WW7D who gave me a not-so-great 3-1 report; I guess there was a reason this band wasn’t seeing any action. I then heard N7KOM call loud and clear, whom I acknowledged but never heard a reply. Again, I’m blaming the band. A couple of more hunters connected with me and that was about it.

    I got all I needed, wasn’t hearing anyone else, and needed to hit the Trader Joe’s before making the 90-minute drive back home. Packed it all up and called it a day.

    This was a super easy summit to access, both trailhead and hike-wise. I’ll remember it early next year as I think it would make for a good winter SOTA.

  • Salmon Run 2024

    Salmon Run 2024

    This upcoming weekend is the Washington State QSO party fondly known as the Salmon Run. For the uninitiated, a state QSO party is a friendly radio contest where operators try to make contacts with all or as many of the counties in the state as they can. Some counties would naturally be more difficult to contact based solely on low numbers of participants. This is all new to me so I’ll be learning via the trial-by-fire method.

    And because bikes, I’m going to be doing this “expedition style” by cycling around dirt roads & trails with my radio gear. I have identified a good general area to operate from that spans a couple of high-demand counties: Whitman and Adams. Rock Creek Recreation Site has a couple of water falls, a rough but relatively flat trail system, and allows for camping so I can crash overnight.

    Once arriving to the parking/camping area early Saturday morning, I’ll head north about six miles to Revere Wildlife Area which happens to be a POTA activation spot in Whitman County. As this is nothing I’ve ever done before, I’ll probably sleuth around the frequencies a bit and make a few random contacts in order to get the exchange down. Then I’ll go ahead and spot myself for the park and see what happens.

    At some point I’ll probably get tired of sitting there and will move west into Adams County; there are a couple of lakes around that might be nice to set up at. Once I’m feeling mostly done for the day, I’ll ride back to the car for dinner and get camp set up. As the evening comes and the band conditions change, I’m hoping that I can get onto 80-meters and make some close-proximity contacts… we’ll see how successful that is (I’ve yet to get on 80 meters).

    Sunday morning will be a drive south towards Washtucna where I’ve found a SOTA summit in Franklin County. This is going to be a bike (maybe a little hike) activation. I don’t know how much time I can commit to hanging out here but we’ll just see how it goes.

    The Gear List:

    Radio Equip.Camp ComfortsConsumables
    ICOM 705Crazy Creek chairhomemade sandwiches
    Dually 80–10 EFRW + 40/20/10 EFHWNRS Snooze Padjerky & gorp
    Wolf River Coils SOTA SpecialThermarest 20F down bagbreakfast oatmeal
    MFJ-1976 120″ whipJetBoilbottle of wine
    Bioenno 3AhBirkenstock EVA sandalsspf 50 sunscreen
    Dakota 7AhHarbor Freight 400W invertertea & instant coffee
    ICOM 50A handheldPaperback

    +++

    Done and dusted. The weekend was a success in that I got on the air, made a bunch of great contacts and thoroughly enjoyed myself. There was some good riding and a few minor mishaps, but that’s what field work is! In the end I logged 82 QSOs in 32/39 counties and made my very first 80m contacts. Also spotted about two dozen mule deer and three coyotes over the two days.

  • Gravel Bike SOTA: Prospect Peak W7I/NP-265

    Gravel Bike SOTA: Prospect Peak W7I/NP-265

    Naturally, I’ve been spending a fair amount of time looking at the map of my surrounding summits, plotting my next weekend. Prospect Peak W7I/NP-265 was this past weekend’s target; my brother-in-law was in town with his gravel bike so I selfishly plotted a rideable activation and invited Pete, my local riding buddy. The three of us met up in nearby Potlatch, Idaho where we refilled water bottles and watched the near-distant storm lightening and thunder.

    The ride from Potlatch was about 14 miles with 2,350 ft of gain taking us near the activation zone. It was a surprisingly good route with good amount of climbing but nothing depleting. Once we got near the top, we stashed the bikes in bushes and shwacked the last 200 ft or so up to the summit.

    On top I unrolled the Packtenna 20m EFHW, got it up in the air, spotted myself and almost immediately nailed down five contacts. The calls dried up and, without any other bands to work (and with riding buddies starting to look bored), I packed up and we rolled back out.

    This was my 5th SOTA activation and, besides some 2m VHF, all of my HF contacts have been on 20m because… well that’s the only antenna I have. This is something I want to change so that I can work more potential chasers. There’s a project in my future.

    Thank you to my chasers: KI7QEK, KJ7NDY, WB6POT, AG5HV, KF9D

    https://www.instagram.com/reel/C-QWbUzPA0D

  • Scotchman Peak: An Ungulate Activation

    Scotchman Peak: An Ungulate Activation

    Some friends invited us along for a Northern Idaho weekend to hike the famed Scotchman Peak, just outside of Sandpoint. It didn’t take much convincing, that with the challenge of the hike, mountain goats at the top, the promise of beers with friends afterwards… oh and it’s SOTA summit. Go figure.

    The trek to the top was steep but uneventful, at least until you break through the treeline, then the views start to hit. It was right about that point when our group paused when I took off ahead knowing I had some setting up to do. At the summit there was plenty of space to hang out so I found a little rock perch to operate from, strapped my mast to a snag, and got to work.

    This was only my fourth SOTA activation; contacts seemed to be a little tricky that afternoon and I had friends waiting at the top, so I made QSOs and after no further chasers came forward I called it good. The mini bottle of Cabernet from the AirBNB tasted mighty fine at 7000ft, and the view wasn’t too shabby, either.

    Thanks to my chasers: WA6KHK, WA7G, W0MNA, WV0X, K3ENE