After 3 years of SOTA activations, I finally purchased the SOTABEAMS 2m Bandpass Filter and used for the first time on Devils Mtn W7W/SK-163. Very impressed and great tool to have, especially when experiencing 2m VHF interference on summits. Devils Mountain has multiple towers, and using the same radio (Yeasu FT3D) and antenna (Elk Log Periodic) was unable to hear a Seattle area summit last year…while he heard me 59. This year I was surprised to make 2 long distance VHF contacts from this summit, including my longest VHF contact at 273 miles (449 km) with Tim N7KOM! Initially very impressed, and great tool when needed on future activations! 73, James WA7JNJ
Great activation and video! This reminded me of a similar S2S QSO with @K7IW during the S2S party in 2020, therefore I looked up the summits. They (and our reactions) were the same as yours! Well, at least to W7O/NC-072. I made a bunch of contacts that day but nothing else like it, and now your QSO just added to the mystery.
We were using 5W HTs – I used a roll up J-Pole and I think he was using an Elk.
Thank you Jason K7III, and for sharing your story… it is always fun to be surprised by those longer distance contacts! Quick fyi that I heard you on C4FM from this summit and tried to make contact… heard you mention my signal wasn’t strong enough to decode. Glad we made C4FM on Squak Mtn a few days later, and looking forward to more this year. (-: Thank you. 73, James WA7JNJ
