Portable/Mobile on Mt. Vaca

Today I drove up to near the summit of Mount Vaca (SOTA W6/NC-151), put my Yaesu ATAS-25 antenna on the roof of my car, and "tuned the bands" to see what I would come up with. I didn't operate as a Summits-On-The-Air activation; I was operating from my vehicle--a SOTA no-no, plus I already activated the summit this year.

I logged four contacts:

• On 20 meters (14.340 MHz), I chased KD0YOB, who was activating Iron Mountain (SOTA summit W0C/MZ-031) in northern Colorado, gaining four chaser points for myself. The distance was approximately 822 miles (1323 km).
• On 14.275 MHz, I chased N4CD, who was conducting a National Parks on the Air (NPOTA) activation at Carlsbad Caverns National Park (NP10) for a distance of approximately 1,079 miles (1736 km).
• On 17 meters (18.125 MHz), I responded to a CQ from Norm, NH6I, on the "Big Island" of Hawaii (approximately 2,419 miles [3893 km] away). This is my longest-distance contact thus far.
• On 40 meters (7.230 MHz) I logged another NPOTA contact, this time with K6WDE, who was operating from the Mojave National Preserve (PV13) in the Southern California desert, a little over 400 miles (644 km) away.

On the first three contacts, I needed to run 75 watts to be heard; 50 watts was sufficient for the last one.

My trusty Yaesu FT-857D is ready for action in the back of my RAV4.

Looking east, with Sacramento and the Sierra Nevada mountains in the distance.

Looking northeast; in the distance, the Sutter Buttes can be seen rising from the floor of the Sacramento Valley.

These are just a few of the many radio towers that line Blue Ridge.

Looking west toward San Francisco Bay, with Mt. Tamalpais in the distance at right center.

Activation Report: SOTA W6/NC-151

Today's activation of Mount Vaca was probably one of the easiest that I'll have in the course of my SOTA activities. I was able to drive to within 100 yards or so of my activation point on the summit. The road up Mix Canyon is very steep, winding, and narrow, but at least it's paved. There are multiple radio tower sites strung out along the ridge line, including several of the region's most popular ham radio repeaters. Fortunately, they didn't seem to interfere much with my operation.

One of my goals has been to log contacts on some of the bands that don't see much SOTA activity in this region, specifically 6 meters, 1.25 meters, and 70 centimeters (FM). I am happy to report that I logged contacts on each of these bands today. Granted, there was only one QSO per each band (and two of those were with the same chaser); it was quite satisfying to hear someone on the other end, though. Elliott, K6EL, in San Francisco, answered my call on 52.525 MHz (and also on 146.520, later). Dave, WB6DTB, in Oakley, was kind enough to follow me over from 446.000 to 223.500. Nine QSOs on 2 meters (146.520) made up the balance for a total of twelve.

I used my Yaesu VX-6R on 2 meters and 70 centimeters, a Wouxun KG-UV5D on 6 meters, and a TYT TH-UVF9 for my 1.25-meter contact. As an experiment, I tried my homebrew portable 2-meter antenna on 6 and 1.25 meters and it seemed to work well. I used a Maldol MH-510 whip for 70 cm.

The most distant contact was with Steve, KK6BNJ, approximately 70 miles to the southeast in Jenny Lind. I find this somewhat remarkable because I was situated just over the edge on the west side of the summit, with two very large (active) radio towers between us.

Looking east, toward the Sacramento Valley

Looking west, with Lake Curry below

Far to the south, Mt. Diablo sticks out through the haze.

Looking north, with one of the numerous radio sites

Portable station KK6ZLX. The homebrew antenna gave a stellar performance.

SOTA Alert: W6/NC-151, Mount Vaca

19 May 2016, 1800 UTC (11:00 a.m. local time)
52.525 MHz, 146.520 MHz, 223.500 MHz, 446.000 MHz (all FM)

This should be a pretty straightforward activation. There is a decent road almost all the way up to the summit. Mt. Vaca is the high point of a major ridgeline on the eastern edge of the Coast Range, visible from a large swath of the Sacramento Valley.

This time around, I'm hoping to log at least one contact on 1.25 meters (223.500 MHz), as well as my first summit contact on 70 cm (446.000). More 6-meter contacts would be nice, too. 146.520 will be my fallback frequency in case the other bands don't pan out.