I will be in Puerto Rico next week and I hope to activate several summits, primarily on Tuesday and Wednesday. There is very little information on the internet regarding access to PR summits, so my itinerary will be driven by some hasty recon once I get there. I will try to activate two summits each day and there is a chance of another activation on Monday afternoon if my recon trip proves successful. Keep an eye out for my alerts!
If there are any Puerto Rican hams that would like to join me for an activation, please let me know. Other than KP4/CE-001 - El Yunque, these will probably all be first activations of these summits and I think it would be great if the first activations were by a native operator.
Ed assisted the local KP4s in SOTA document preparation so I’m sure he can help you with the names/emails of some local SOTA folks who I’m sure would be happy to assist or accompany you on some local outings.
Yes, good idea to let a local get the first activation honors!
You may want to email the KP4 Association Manager Hector NP3IR, he maybe able to help. I worked with him on getting the ARM published for KP4 and he was good at responding to emails.
Thanks everyone for the contact suggestions. I probably should have mentioned that I had previously contacted several of the guilty parties, but I will reach out to the others as well. This is definitely new and exotic territory for me, so any local guidance or company will be greatly welcomed.
My general game plan is to try to get out early and activate KP4/CE-001 on Tuesday and KP4/CC-001 on Wednesday around 1200Z. I will try for a second summit in the afternoons, access and WX pending. I will be running up to 50W depending on the summit and antenna so that should help some. Of course, propagation usually takes a nosedive as soon as I step onto an airplane, so let’s hope I have decent conditions and power for once.
Hi Pat,
hope to hear you soon. I was the first to activate kp4 CE-001 El Yunque.
The trail to the summit takes about 45 to a hour of hiking. You can get trail maps form the visitor center. Some of the summit you need a permit or permission from the Natural Resources Office in San Juan. Hector Morales can help you with more information. GOOD LUCK.
I would like to find an easily accessible summit to do each afternoon after these summits, and I am open to suggestions. If nothing suitable is close by, I will be happy with an extended activation of both of these summits. Depending on our touristy activities during the rest of the week, I may be able to squeeze in another activation.
Hello Pat,
Thanks ( and Hector) for the further detail. Will you go through the bands like you normally do? I will get things sorted here (mast up) in the hope I can make a contact.
Of course I will be playing the bands, Mike. So you had better get your gear ready!
I think I should be able to setup the 88’ doublet on both of these summits and be able to run 50W. If I use a PAR EndFedz, we might just see how much juice it takes to melt the matchbox!
Hi Pat,
I know you are not a bragger/big me up person so a public applaud from me for the two new summit activations. Well done and also +1 for not complaining too much when rain arrives in a rain forest
Take care & best wishes.
Mike
Thanks for the contacts on both summits. Hopefully I helped with putting you out on the DX Cluster. Hope you enjoyed the recordings I sent you. I sure enjoyed the pictures that you texted me. Congrats on the first contact on KP4/CE-001, which was a summit to summit with Mike 2E0YYY/P. Can’t wait to see your pictures on Flickr.com
Thanks guys! Both of these activations had many highlights and I will have to do a proper activation report when I get home. Here’s a couple of teaser photos for now.