Well, it’s fast approaching that time of year again!! W7A 10-POINT S2S MADNESS is getting closer.
The 2020 version of the W7A 10-POINT s2s MADNESS Event will be held on October 3rd, 2020 …a Saturday morning this year.
This is the event were we activate as many 10 Point Arizona Summits as we can at the same time on Saturday Morning . This s2s event runs all day, but most Operators finish up by early afternoon 2100 or so UTC. By then they are exhausted, and their batteries are dead. A few may even start activating Friday evening (UTC Saturday at 0001).
In 2018 we had: Twenty Five 10 point summits on the air with 35 activators, making 1104 contacts
In 2019 we had: Twenty Three 10 point summits on the air with 27 activators, making 1059 contacts
Chasers and Activators from other states are obviously welcome to join in the s2s fun from a summit or from home . If u are out of state and can get on a summit do so…if it’s a 10-pointer even better!!
We operate HF, VHF, and Microwave depending on what each stations capabilities are.
I will have all HF bands from 80-10 Meters (sorry no 60M on my FT817), and then 6M thru 1296 MHz (50/144/222/432/902/1296). May not use them all, but they will be on the summit with me.
So if u are bored give us a call or two, or head for the hills so we can all rack up more s2s points than you can shake a Yagi at!
Hi Pete, the date coincides with the FMH Portable Operations Challenge, so expect lots of company on the bands (both portable and home stations) - the more the merrier, now if we can only arrange some good weather …
Pete, If possible I’m going to fly out there as I’ve planned since my first hiking and activating in Norther Arizona last late October. The scenery was great and you have a great activity level in W7A. If I can’t get out there I will plan on participating from closer to home.
Are you going to compile a list of the planned summits to be activated before the event again? I probably won’t alert until much closer since I’m not sure work or family will work out.
Great on coming out to AZ in October. The official list is the SOTA ALERT page on SOTAWATCH3, so u can see who is planning to go where on that page.
I will send u a list of who went where last year, as those stations have first dibs on the same peaks this year. If I can help with 10-point peak selection let me know.
Where are u staying during your visit? Maybe there will be a peak close to you…
I was going to try to find a peak with a decent hike, good views, not very active, and hopefully with cell service. The hiking part is important to me as I enjoy it and would like at least somewhat of a challenge. If enough time I would like to go back up toward Flagstaff after flying into Phoenix. I was considering W7a/CS-006 (O’Leary Peak). I saw some others not having a lot of other activations including some you’ve done, so if you have a suggestion I would like to consider it.
As of this morning Sept 3, 2020, I see 16 summits chosen so far for this event.
It looks like KR7RK has already chosen O’Leary CS-006 this year, so Kendrick Mtn is now open AE-008.
Kendrick Mtn is a 4.5 mile hike with a good trail…and one of the highest peaks up by Flagstaff. KR7RK did that one last year, so it is open now.
It is West of Flagstaff a few miles, so u might want to put in an alert for this one…if u bail out later that is not a problem. If that mileage isn’t a problem u will like this hike.
Thanks for the suggestion. Sounds great. I alerted But if someone local wants it they can have it as I’m not 100% certain I can get out there. Will drop the alert if the trip falls through.
Last year late October it was Very gusty and around 40 Degrees on Elden when I visited. Should I expect the same or is this a buffer period where weather can go either way?
Is 144.410 the go-to frequency for FM simplex in Arizona? I don’t have a lot of experience VHF from peaks but I’ve always used 146.52, albeit I’ve never activated VHF near population centers. Is there a typical backup frequency if 144.410 is busy?
We use 144.410 for SOTA mostly. Some ops use 146.52, but that freq is always busy (non-SOTA activity) in Phx Metro. 144.430 is also used when things get busy.
The secret is to jump in and work the station u want quickly and try to keep 410 as clear as we can.
It will get busy this Saturday…especially when a new summit shows up on that freq, and everyone wants to work them.
27 Arizona 10 point summits on the air tomorrow with 31 operators
10 non Arizona 10 point summits on the air tomorrow also
and lots of non 10 point summits on also from USA/Canada
Is this event for summit to summit contacts only and chasers should not interfere? This is the first S2S event since I joined the group thanks for your information on this event Bud.
For s2s contacts in this event only, it is strongly recommended you not give your summit reference on CW unless the alert is wrong or someone requests it. No time. No brainer. Trust me. If a caller has doubts, he or she can check your log in a couple of days.
As usual, I will be on W6/NC-298 looking down on UC Berkeley, the alma mater of K7SO and K6EL. I will alert, but going to be full time chasing s2s. Sixty watts into doublet with LDG auto tuner. DSP in the IF and also in the AF… Praying for propagation.
My wife is gonna kill me for sitting in the shack all day tomorrow.
I can see it now…
Wife: What are you doing?
Me: Oh, nothing.
Wife: You did that yesterday.
Me: I wasn’t finished.
OK…it’s getting crazy now.…this is my last update before heading out…and I expect the number of stations on 10 point summits may be even higher in the morning.
RIGHT NOW: Looks like 28 AZ 10 point summits, and 12 out of state 10 point summits.
Some stations are doing multiple peaks, so I am not exactly how many summits we will end up with but It looks like over 40 10 point summits nation wide tomorrow, and all sorts of other lower pointed summits.
So good luck to all…it’s likely to get “interesting” in the morning.