Our next SOTA hike is this Saturday, August 14th. We will be activating Pitcher Mtn. A very short hike (less than 20 min) will lead us to the open summit of this diminutive mountain. The summit is festooned with blueberry bushes so bring a suitable container if ham radio isn’t the only thing bringing you here.
John KB1EEU’s operating position on Mt. Kearsarge
The parking lot is off of route 123 in Stoddard and is a little over an hour’s drive from the Nashua area. My plan is to meet at the parking lot at 10:30 am. We will take the Pitcher Mountain trail (blazed white). If you want a bit more challenge you can take the blue-blazed trail which is a bit steeper. We had a great time activating Mount Kearsarge last month come on out and give SOTA a try. If you have any questions you can email me at [email protected]. I hope to see you there!
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.
The Nashua Area Radio Society held our first face-to-face event since the start of the pandemic when we gathered at Keyes Memorial Park in Milford, NH for ARRL Field Day from June 25th – 27th. Field Day 2021 was a great success! It was great to see all of the members who attended, especially those new members who we have previously only met over Zoom.
Station Setup
For a successful Field Day operation, it is important to have a detailed plan for stations, antennas, operating schedules, transportation, and even food. 3 weeks before Field Day, we met at AB1OC‘s and AB1QB‘s QTH to setup the stations, logging computers, and the network to make sure they all worked together. Similar sessions were held to test antennas and also train the teams on how to set up the antenna, tower, and stations and how to operate.
Doug, KC1OUY, Jon, AC1EV, Jim, K1BRM and Fred, AB1OC test out the Field Day Stations
As chairperson of the Station Team, I created detailed documentation of all of the station equipment and connections, trained the team on how to set up stations, and assigned specific roles. We were responsible for setting up the following:
4 HF Stations including coax connections to the antennas
The Satellite Station
The Network and all ethernet connections
The Generators and power distribution
Overhead lights and desktop lights and fans
The Food and Public Information Tables
The Station Setup Team included Jon, AC1EV, Jack, WM0G, Ryan, KC1MAJ, Jeffrey, KC1LWE, and Doug, KC1OUY. We had a great, hard-working team and got the stations set up in record time. We appreciate everyone’s hard work with set up as well as takedown. Special thanks go out to:
Jeffrey , KC1LWE for setting up the Satellite station based on my documentation – few if any changes were needed for Fred to get it to work once the antennas were connected.
Doug, KC1OUY for running all of the cables and making them neat enough so that they were not a hazard for all of the club members and visitors.
Ryan, KC1MAJ and Jack, WM0G for setting up “NARS P&L” – the power and lighting.
Jon, AC1EV for donating his station and helping to set up the HF stations.
Tower Team
Tower and Antenna Setup
The Tower and Beam teams did an equally great job at setup and N1FD was on the air before dark! We tested FT8 before sundown and were able to hear JA stations on 15 meters!
HF Tower with 10m-15m-20m Yagi and 40m and 80m Inverted-V Dipole Antennas
Mentoring and Training
Abby, AB1BY Provides Training on Fox Hunting
Training and Mentoring are an important part of Field Day. We have helped many new members to become licensed in the past year, but it important to help them get on the air as well. Field Day is a great opportunity for new Hams to help out with building stations and develop operating skills. The Nashua Area Radio Society accomplishes this through training and hands-on opportunities during Field Day. Before the official start of Field Day Operations at 2:00 pm Local time on Saturday, we held 2 Training Sessions, one on Satellite Operation and another on Fox Hunting.
Satellite Station Training
Field Day Operations
Our members enjoyed operating and kept the stations busy throughout the Field Day Operating period.
Jack, WM0G Operating at Field DayThe Trost Family -Thomas, KT0MAS, Ted, W1TED, Tory, K1VATAbby, AB1BY and Dave, KM3TJohn (W1MBG) and Joyce (KC1JMK) KesloJamey, AC1EV – Better known as “Abby’s Dad” Competes with her for the Top SSB Operator
Brian Quick, W1XMM was instrumental to the tower team before settling in to work digital during Field Day
During Field Day we made a total of 1,895 QSOs. Our final estimated score is 7,408.
Field Day 2021 Final Results
Overall, Field Day 2021 was a great success. Everyone attending had a great time and it was wonderful to see our members in person.
Radio Amateurs Developing Skills Worldwide
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