K9PM planning multiple 10-point W7A activations for May 12-15

Activation Reports Pre-Planning
1

I’m heading to the White Mountains of Arizona this Friday to activate as many 10-point summits as I can from late morning Friday to mid-afternoon on Monday. Barring unforseen circumstances, I’ll activate as many summits as I can over a 4-day period which will include 10+ hours of driving.

Dates and times of operation
I anticipate the first activation to commence around 1800 UTC on Friday, May 12 and the last activation to end by 2200 UTC on Monday, May 15. Operating hours will generally be between 1300 UTC and 0100 UTC (6 AM–6 PM local time in AZ).

Target summit list

  1. Mogollon Rim (W7A/GR-001)
  2. Timber Top (W7A/AP-015)
  3. South Mountain (W7A/AP-010)
  4. Noble Mountain (W7A/AP-007)
  5. Coyote Hills (W7A/AP-037)
  6. Wahl Knoll (W7A/AP-005)
  7. Antelope Mountain (W7A/AE-022)
  8. Pole Knoll (W7A/AP-003)
  9. Greens Peak (W7A/AE-009)
  10. Saint Peters Dome (W7A/AP-006)
  11. Whiting Knoll (W7A/AP-014)
  12. Cerro Trigo (W7A/AE-026)
  13. Cerro Montoso (W7A/AP-031)
  14. Wolf Mountain (W7A/AP-032)
  15. Lake Mountain (W7A/AE-030)
  16. Wishbone Mountain (W7A/AP-027)
  17. Porter Mountain (W7A/AE-043)

Possible frequencies and modes (edited 11-May)
This will be an all-cw operation. On each activation I will generally start on 60m, then QSY up in frequency to 40, 30 and/or 20m (or possibly higher as time and conditions permit). My primary goal is to activate the maximum number of summits on the above list rather than to see how many QSOs I can make on each summit.

Hopefully we’ll have propagation to support NA<>EU contacts for the Saturday NA<>EU S2S event.

5.332 (primary) or 5.348 (secondary)
7.032-7.034
10.110-10.115
14.061-14.065
18.095-18.100
21.061-21.065
24.910-24.915
28.061-28.065

Equipment
KX3 and EFHW

Callsign used
I’ll be signing K9PM/P

Alerts (edited)
I posted one alert for each day of operation. However, the summit reference shows as W7A/XX-XXX. If I have cell service I will post spots with current summit information as I commence operation on each band. [Note: Thanks to WA7JTM and VK3ARR for input]

Tracking
If you are interested in tracking my progress and whereabouts, my Garmin inReach will send GPS coordinates every 10 minutes via satellite to update the map here.Clicking on the little blue dots on the map will enable you to see data such as date, time, course, elevation, and latitude/longitude.

Weather
The mountain weather forecast predicts mostly sunny skies with daytime temperatures in the range of 40-50F (5-10C) with winds up to 45mph (70kph) which may become a limiting factor during planned operations.

I’m looking forward to making contacts with lots of chasers and activators!

Cheers!

Paul K9PM

3 Likes
2

Paul,

Put an alert in that shows the summit as W7A/PK-TBD, or xx-xxx, or W7A/10-PTS.

Then add S+96 after your comments on the ALERT, and u will be spotted all weekend on CW. All u have to do is give out your summit info on whatever peak u are on at the time.

Good luck up there

I will be on a summit Saturday morning, but no 60M

Pete
WA7JTM

2 Likes
3

This sounds like such a great adventure! I’ll be listening for you as often as possible.

Keith KR7RK

4

Pete,

Thanks for the tip on how to set an alert for multiple activations. The “S+96” is very helpful too!

73,
Paul K9PM

5

Thanks Keith! I’m looking forward to hearing your signal from the summits.

73,

Paul K9PM

6

Paul,

Yes, the S+ ## feature helped me out when I activated up in the same area for a week.

Pete

7

Have fun and be safe!

Paul

8

Not sure if I’ll be around chasing or stuck at work (it’s a weekend and we seem to only run trains on the weekends and at night anymore) put I just placed an alarm into CCUser for you here at the QTH so when the RBN picks you up, I’ll spot you if RBNhole hasn’t spotted to sotawatch. Have fun and be safe!

73, Todd KH2TJ

9

Thanks Paul!

10

Thanks Todd!

11

Wow! That is a serious SOTA expedition! I wish I could chase – I’ll try to listen in on some of it, but my CW skills aren’t up to par yet.

I’ll be doing a similar, but much smaller, expedition to the White Mountains here in California. But it’ll only be 5-6 peaks, and SSB. Haven’t figured out the dates yet.

Have fun!

12

You’ll do better to reverse the logic. Post later in the weekend, and use S-96. As alerts pass, they eventually drop off SOTAwatch, and so RBNHole may lose sight of it before your weekend is out.

13

Hi Rex KE6MT,

I put together a long list of possible summits to motivate mysel! We’ll see how many I’m able to do. :slight_smile:

Wishing you good success on your activation in CA!

73,

Paul K9PM

1 Like
14

Hi Andrew,

Thanks for your comments about alerts dropping off SOTAwatch/RBNHole. I decided to post an alert for each day. I hope that will prevent my dropping off prematurely.

All the best,

Paul K9PM

15

Hello Paul,
Kay and I will be out and about as well; will try for some S2S’s if we can see spots or hear hear you on.
Will send you In-reach also.
Ken, K6HPX

16

Paul, I’ve sent you an email, but to summarize… Good luck and hope to work you!

Dave, AE9Q