SOTA Quasi-Failure, Or At Least We Got A Point…
We realized pretty quickly that a 30-point Summits-On-The-Air day by utilizing the autoroads of some prominent Vermont ski resorts was probably fantasy. So it did not seem too unrealistic when we finally decided to simply drive up the toll road of Mount Mansfield and hike the mile ridgeline trail from the parking area (elevation 3850′) to the summit (4395′). In fact, hiking Vermont’s tallest mountain and SOTA 10-pointer the easy way seemed like a fun way to spend a Sunday.
Of course, once we reached the entrance of the Mansfield autoroad in Stowe, VT, we were met by a shut gate with a sign saying “Closed for an Event.” What the event was was never clarified. The relaxation of the scenic 3 1/2 hour drive from our qth in Boston quickly dissolved into frustration. AA1F, Nellie (our dog), and I were left with a couple of packs full of gear and no mountain to climb…at least none that we dared to start up at 2:30pm on an already foggy, drizzly day.
We found a market and ate in AA1F’s truck trying to decide how to salvage the trip. Figuring the best course of radio action 200 miles from our home on a Sunday afternoon was to do a quick Parks-On-The-Air activation. We discovered POTA entity Allis State Park in Brookfield VT was more or less on our way home.
Furthermore, Allis State Park had a lookout tower you could drive up to and climb.
Which struck me as odd. Why would there be a watch tower on this particular track of land? Unless, the land was by chance a mountain. Turns out..it was! Allis State Park was Mr. Wallace Allis’ “Bear Mountain Farm” that he bequeathed to the state of VT for use as a campground and recreational area. It also happens to surround the summit of Bear Hill. Which also just so happens to be a SOTA summit! A 1 point summit, but who’s counting? (Me!)
The 20M end-fed halfwave antenna was quickly set up as a sloper, with the free end attached to the tower at approximately 40 feet and the balun suspended at about 15 feet. And AA1F quickly got to work making his first qsos.
I was on the air next. In total we made over 20 unique contacts for both Bear Hill (W1/GM-169) and Allis State Park (K-3099), SOTA and POTA respectively.
I then took a moment to hook up my Zachtek WSPR unit which I had pre-programmed to transmit on 20M. It would be the first portable use of this radio, and I was hoping for some good results! See this post if you want to know more about it.
While the WSPR transmitter silently sent out its signals, I re-climbed the watchtower. My view from the top was limited to say the least; we were pretty much in a cloud. On a sunny day, I would have been able to see Mt. Mansfield, the mountain that cost me 9 points.
The 20M WSPR showed some fascinating results with abundant signals received in Europe, the West Coast of the U.S., Texas, and Florida. Even some stray RF was heard in Sao Paolo, Brazil. Our transmission paths were quite long with the shortest distance 1175 miles (Forida), the longest distance 4987 miles (Sao Paolo), and the average 3034 miles.
Indeed, this matched our SSB contacts quite closely. Here you can see our combined phone conversations (red pins) overlying the WSPR map of the U.S. We also each made SSB contact with France, although I do not show it below. I think the phone qsos are extremely well-matched to the WSPR spots. The WSPR transmissions ran from 21:48 to 21:54 UTC at an elevation of 2030 feet.
So, this was both a rare SOTA failure and a happy RF success! I am glad to get a SOTA point, and even more glad to see the results of the WSPR transmitter operating in the field…I can’t wait to do more with this data!
Soon,
KM1NDY