The HF shack on “Buzzard’s Roost”
KG6MZS SUMMIT ACTIVATION
10 FEBRUARY 2021 W6/SC-229
My last trip up this mountain was last year before I had HF gear. Making the required 4 contacts to claim the two points was pretty difficult with only a 5 watt UHF/VHF handi-talkie.
This time I carried a 28 pound pack with all the goodies: camp chair, table, SLR camera, tripod, several antennas and my new Elecraft KX2. I left the car in the dark, just before 6AM.
The sun rose shortly after I got to the activation zone. My Verizon cell coverage was in and out. I had no luck on 40m at all. Zero contacts. While my 20m doublet tunes on 40m, I don’t think it radiates very efficiently on that band. I’m thinking about making a 40m doublet out of lighter wire.
20 meters was much more fun. I made 14 contacts including Quebec, Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Kansas, Texas, Montana and Washington State.
On 2 meters I had a summit-to-summit with Dan, NA6MG over on Flint Peak and, of course, Jon K6LDQ was crystal clear from Torrance,
More information about the Summits on the Air program.
