Hi Matt,
The summits don’t have to be ‘flat-topped’ to use a portable chair – a flat-ish area of about 40cm x 40cm is enough for a portable chair (with ground mat) to be stable, although – as I indicated above – many summits I visit don’t even have that or at least not where I want to operate out the wind.
From your description – “clinging to a steep face below a pointed peak” with limited space to place equipment down, most of us might conclude it probably wasn’t safe – for us at least - to operate the radio from there, and would either seek to find a more-suitable location within the activation zone or, if not available, not activate the summit at all. Maybe I’m more risk adverse than my younger self but, as they say “Prudence is the better part of valour”.
You probably have mountain climbing skills and experience (as opposed to just mountain hiking) and are better able to judge whether it’s safe or not, but it would rash for non-mountain-climbing experts (probably the majority of activators) to offer advice as to how to go about it.
Sitting on a foam mat. I try to find a rock / peat hag or other feature, or just sit on a slope with my feet lower down.
I’m not comfortable kneeling or standing still for more than a few minutes.
Yes, getting up can be difficult! I either roll sideways and get up on “all fours”, or, if it’s wet, tuck heels as far under bum as possible and roll weight forward over feet, with some arm flailing, then stand up. Neither is a very elegant spectator sport.
Recent regular (every morning) excercises recomended by my physiotherapist involving squats and lunges has improved my “getting up” ability to a noticeable degree, so I’ll keep up with that!
From what I see in pictures on here, moving to DL would aid greatly in that pursuit!
==
Funding a summit with a nice cozy DOC hut in the AZ, billy on the boil, cup of tea on the way, sitting on the bench, radio on the table in front of me, looking out through the window at the view beyond. Now that really would be gold.
EDIT
Looks like I’m in luck - only have to travel the length of ZL to get there:
# SELECT a.code, a.name, b.code, b.name FROM assets a
INNER JOIN assets b ON ST_Within(b.location, a.az_boundary)
WHERE b.asset_type='hut' AND a.asset_type='summit';
code | name | code | name
------------+-------------+------------+-----------------
ZL1/WK-086 | Kohukohunui | ZLH/WK-004 | Kohukohunui Hut
ZL1/HB-011 | Manuoha | ZLH/HB-043 | Manuoha Hut
ZL1/HB-159 | Puketapu | ZLH/HB-055 | Panekire Hut
(3 rows)
and HEMA:
# SELECT a.code, a.name, b.code, b.name FROM assets a
INNER JOIN assets b ON ST_Within(b.location, a.az_boundary)
WHERE b.asset_type='hut' AND a.asset_type='hump';
code | name | code | name
-------------+-------------------------+------------+-------------------
ZL1/HBP-148 | Otamatuna Ridge (south) | ZLH/BP-023 | Mangaone Hut
ZL1/HHB-013 | Parks Peak | ZLH/HB-056 | Parks Peak Hut
ZL1/HWL-013 | Elder | ZLH/WL-017 | Elder Hut
ZL3/HMB-132 | Dun Mountain | ZLH/TM-026 | Dun Hut / Shelter
(4 rows)
The last gives me the biggest laugh: I set up on the summit of Dun Mountain, midwinter in the freezing cold, on a bitter, dark, windy night - believing the hut to be outside the AZ!
I usually send the report by ear, because I’m too busy copying the other station remember to look at the meter until they’ve stopped sending, when it is too late.
I sit on a 130g foam kneeling pad, sold for gardening. It might be on a log, a rock, or the ground. Although I am sorely tempted to get a folding chair…
When I’m calling CQ and working stations, I don’t really need to pay much attention to the radio - it can sit on the ground beside me, or under my legs. I have long enough cords for my paddles (attached to my logging clipboard) and headphones. It’s more awkward when using the CW memories for things like my summit identifier, as the buttons are on the front of the radio. When tuning the bands, I often sit with my knees up and the rig held between them, where I can see it to tune the dial and change bands. The K2 is rather large for hand-held use.
None of my radios have S-meters so my reports are always an educated guess.
I have been regularly working a European chaser (in the 20m QRP CW golden hour before VK sunset) who gives me 599 every time while all other Eu chasers give 339 to 559. If he has a low-noise QTH and stacks of antenna gain then maybe I am 599 to him.
No need to over-science this signal reporting. If people want accurate remote signal reports they should use WSPR (over many sessions and average the results).
I can’t see myself getting organised whilst stood up - though I was forced to, operating 2m at GW/SW-001 for example (not enough coax).
Not sure if being sat down induces some sort of pavlovian ‘desk’ behavior, which leads to better organisation…. or whether being able to write on a pad/clipboard resting on my knees is the ticket.
Yes, sitting - especially in a well designed portable chair so that your thighs are horizontal - lends itself to having a clipboard for your logbook, Morse key/paddles, etc.
However, I’ve learnt through experience always to ‘unplug’ myself, i.e. take off headphones and place the clipboard down carefully before standing up lest the wires drag the rig onto the rocky ground.
In case I should forget that, I always put the rig low down and on something soft like my rucksack beside the chair.
Also, sitting down with your back to the wind helps stop the logbook/sheets being scattered over the hillside by strong winds as is apt to happen when standing.
With a few rare exceptions, I sit in a comfortable chair crazy creek chair. After walking all the way up a peak, I want to rest my legs and feet . The chair sets up instantly, no putting together parts, and also works well on snow, sand, or other soft ground. And has pretty good back support. I’m usually sitting there 1-2 hours without getting up. The chair weighs 12oz and my whole pack with all gear, except water weighs about 8-10 pounds.
I strap a clipboard to my leg and strap the KX2 to the clipboard, or with the KH1, I strap the rig directly to my let so my hands are free to operate. Add a Bothy bag if windy, cold, or wet.
And yes, getting back up after an hour or two is a gradual, painful process.
I like to get as many chasers as I comfortably can accommodate, so I carry an REI Trail Boss foldable chair and a small table on all but the most arduous activations. My SOTA pack averages about 25 pounds, which is good conditioning for backpack trips:
Usually a sit-mat. Although when I activated Cyrn-y-Brain GW/NW-043 I forgot the mat and sat on the ground, got a bit comfortable and almost fell asleep! In my defence it was warm and the walk up had worn me out!
I also do this, sitting on the ground (and preferably finding a lump to sit on downwind of a bigger lump) and make use of the 25m rule to get some shelter from the wind. This also gets me away from most visitors to the top and reduces interference (audio) with the adjacent operator. The radio usually goes on the sack along with the clock so that they are easy to see without twisting.
I always look for a comfortable rock or something to sit on or rest my back on. If there’s nothing, I lie down on the ground, if the little critters aren’t too intrusive.
OT but a huge G7 for you this weekend! Mets fan since '84 here so a neutral spectator. Spent a few years living on both coasts of .ca so wouldn’t be averse to a Blue Jays win tonight after their 32 year wait!
