This morning I was able to go for an 11-mile loop (about 3000 ft elevation gain according to my watch) that covered 3 SOTA summits (in order) W6/CT-004, W6/CT-005, and W6/CT-246. The conditions were fantastic, and I caught 3 DX stations on 20 meters: @EA7GV@SA4BLM and @G4OBK
SA4BLM had an amazing signal that was easier to copy than some east coast stations. I had to work a bit to pull out EA7GV, but we got it done, and England was an easy copy and a first for me on a SOTA summit. In all, I had about 55 QSOs in total across all three summits using my MTR 5b and SOTA Beams linked dipole.
Weather was near perfect as well: overcast in the morning and pleasantly warm as I finished my last activation.
I am really happy that the bands seem to be opening up a bit, and early morning DX seems to be great to Europe on 20.
As always, TU chasers and TU to the DX stations that worked with me to get the QSO. This was one of the better activation days.
Thanks for that info! I’m 23 points from 1/2 goat or the W6 award. I’ll reach out to Rex, thanks for telling me about it. Next week @N0OI are going to attempt Baldy via Pine Mountain and the North Backbone. That’s a tough route, about 4500ft gain over 8 miles rt. If we get those and I hit a drive up (Table) on the way out of Wrightwood I’ll cross the 500 point mark. I’m trying to get set up for a nice goat finish in 2021. Thanks again for the information much appreciated.
