Our first SOTA/POTA of 2023 is this Sunday, May 7th. Bring a sweater or fleece and a rain jacket just in case it can get pretty breezy and cool in the mountains even if we manage to get bright sunny skies. I will be monitoring the Henniker 147.195 machine as well as 147.555 simplex on the ride-up.
The plan for Mt. Kearsarge activation is to meet at the picnic grounds at the end of the auto road. The physical address for Rollins State Park (the location of the auto road) is 1066 Kearsarge Mountain rd. in Warner. I just went to their website here and they recommend a reservation so plan on visiting the link for a pass.
Anyone that wants to hike up from the other side and meet us here is the physical address of Winslow State Park 475 Kearsarge Mountain Rd, Wilmot, NH 03287. Check The nhstateparks.org website you may need a parking reservation on this side of the mountain as well.
We will most likely be operating from the picnic area at the end of the auto road. If anyone wants to operate from the actual summit it is only .5 miles away. I’m not sure how long a hike it is from Winslow State Park. In addition to SOTA/POTA chasers the New England QSO party will be going on so, there should be plenty of opportunities to make QSO’s.
As far as radios an HT with an upgraded rubber duck can get you surprising performance from even a modest rise in altitude so if that’s all you have bring it and try it out. I’ll have my 6-meter QRP rig and a new homebrew Moxon antenna.
Hope to see you on Mount Kearsarge on Sunday!
73′ K1BRM
Hi all late breaking information The Rollins State Park entrance is closed. The parking area is too wet so they closed down the auto road.
We will have to move over to the other side of the mountain to the Winslow State Park entrance. There is a picnic area and bathrooms there as well so we should be good. If you want to Summit Kearsage for the SOTA it is important to note that the trail from Winslow to the summit is 1 mile long . It is still advised to get a parking permit for Wnslow State Park to be sure they let you in.
I plan on being there for 11:00 but come by anytime I should be there till at least 4.