Scott…it is very important that you study all six of the resource write-ups on the Red Hill page. Lots of clues about anchoring your antenna. Also, if the Republicans shut down the government, you can’t go up there. That happened to K1JD
Elliott, K6EL
Elliott,
Yes, I have read them all and even emailed a couple of the recent activators.
Anchoring the pole is one thing but getting a spot out is another. AT&T cell serve is spotty on the summit and may only be available from the north or west side. I would prefer to lash my pole to the sign post, but I am not sure if I will have cell coverage at that location. APRS was used by one activator who set up at the sign post, but I prefer not to use APRS if I don’t have to as it is cumbersome and unreliable (in my experience).
I have been to the summit of Haleakala at least twice before, but never as a SOTA activator. If the government shuts me down I will be disappointed, but the main purpose of this trip is a family vacation. I am getting a hall pass for half a day to go do this.
73,
Scott
AK5SD
A workable alternative to spotting is to post an alert with a realistic time and very specific frequencies, Scott. We will hang out on those freq’s and wait for you. That’s what we geeks are for.
Little known fact… there would be no KH6 association if is wasn’t for DF3MC, who used to go to Hawai’i yearly on vacation. We activated together in W6 on his way there in 2012, and he wished for Sota in KH6. I have relatives there, so I took a shot at it. It took me a year to put it together and find an AM, with lots of help from N7UN. KH6 is in the Oceania continent, so lots of folks quickly qualified for an award that requires working three continents. The first contact in that association was an s2s between me on Diamond Head and KH7AL on Kohelepelepe at 00:01 UTC on the first day. N7UN was not happy about that, as he wanted to be first and planned to go a few months later. He got his revenge, though, becoming the only person on the planet to activate both high points on the islands of Oahu and Maui.
We collaborated again in establishing the three Alaska associations, a truly massive undertaking, with me doing 5 percent of the work and N7UN doing the rest… to the point of burning out.
EL