All posts by Jim Lajoie

Activities, Featured, General

2021 Mt. Kearsarge SOTA/POTA – July 17th

1 Comment

Our first SOTA hike of 2021 is this Saturday. It’s looking like we may get some rain for our 2021 Mt. Kearsarge activation but I’m holding out to at least get some decent propagation  I will get together with Fred Thursday or Friday evening to make the final call If Saturday is a total washout then Sunday is the rain date.  You can follow the comments on this story for the word on whether the hike is a go or no go. 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.

Fred AB1OC and Anita AB1QB’s Mt. Washington operating position

The plan for our 2021 Mt. Kearsarge activation is to meet at the base of the auto road at Rollins State park 1066 Kearsarge Mountain Road Warner, NH 03278. I just went to their website here and they recommend a reservation so plan on calling them at this number  Phone: 603-456-3808 as walk-in parking spaces are limited.

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.

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.  Fred will have his 6-meter station with him and I’ll have my  6-meter QRP rig and a new homebrew Moxon antenna ( I haven’t even had a chance to check it on an analyzer) I’m itching to try this antenna out. If we’re lucky and get some e-skip on 6 it could be an interesting day.

Anita AB1QB and Curtis N1CMD SOTA operating

Here’s the rest of the 2021 schedule:

  • August 14  – Pitcher Mtn.
  • September 25 – Mt. Kearsarge
  • October 9 – Pack Monadnock
  • November 6 – Kidder Mtn.

Hope to see you on Saturday! If the club breakfast was any indicator we can expect a good-sized crowd.

73′

Jim, K1BRM

General

SOTA / POTA Hikes For 2021 Start July 17th

Great news for fans of our SOTA / POTA hikes. If you made it to our June membership meeting then you already got the lowdown but for anyone that might have missed it then  I’ve got the schedule here for you and it begins in just a few short weeks.   Covid is mostly in our rear mirror so we can finally meet in groups and start having some fun.

What’s that you haven’t heard of SOTA  and POTA  well then you should put July 13th, 2021 on your calendar and plan to attend our Tech Night. Jamey AC1DC will be our guest speaker and his presentation will be on Mountain Topping and Portable Activations. Summits On The Air (SOTA) and Parks On The Air (POTA) are point schemes to make participating in ham radio in the mountains and parks more enjoyable.

Abby AB1BY portable operating from the summit

ok with that primer out of the way let’s get to the main thrust of the article. July 17th, 2021 we will be going to Mount Kearsarge in Warner N.H. We plan on taking the auto road from Rollins State Park  1066 Kearsarge Mountain Road.(let’s plan to meet at 10:00 am at the start of the auto road) The 3 1/2 mile auto road terminates at a parking lot and picnic areas. You can choose to operate here or hike a .5  mile to the summit. If you’re a purist you can start on the other side of the mountain at  Winslow State Park and hike the whole mountain with only modest effort and meet us.

As far as operating from Kearsarge you can operate anything from an HT to the newest and best that is commercially offered or your own home-brewed rig. Seeing the range of what others brought is part of the fun of these activations. I’m hoping to be able to have the time to cobble together a 6meter Moxon antenna that I will pair with an  MFJ  QRP rig.  I’ve run this rig before but haven’t had any luck yet so I’m hoping to have better luck with an antenna with some gain to it.

Here is the rest of the SOTA / POTA scheduled for 2021

  • August 14  – Pitcher Mtn.
  • September 11 – Mount Kearsarge
  • October 9 – Pack Monadnock
  • November 6 – Kidder Mtn.

Hope to see a lot of you on Kearsarge in a couple of weeks!

Jim Lajoie K1BRM

 

 

Radio Amateurs Developing Skills Worldwide