How to Fail at SOTA and POTA

Failing at SOTA

Yesterday morning, I got an interesting email from k0nr. In it, he was talking about an easy Front Range SOTA. I was inspired since it was so close to home and it was a nice day for a walk. So I grabbed my Baofeng, SignalStick antenna and set off. I also grabbed my Xeigu G90, Junkapotamus laptop, and a small 6AH battery. My MFJ 20 and 40 meter hamsticks were already in my car along with the magmount I normally use with them.

I got to the parking lot, which was pretty full since it was nice out. I threw some water, a granola bar, and my HT in my backpack, along with my puffy just in case. The hike was relatively easy (if you’re acclimated to our elevation). There were plenty of people walking their dogs, riding them mountain bikes, as well as pushing their mountain bikes. On the trail, which is along the ridge, it was pretty gusty.

While I did bring my fedora, I had to put it in my backpack because it wasn’t staying on. No sun protection for my head. Like a dufus, I didn’t bring any other sort of head gear so I also now had zero wind protection. Something I didn’t think about in the parking lot.

It was only about 1.5 miles up to the summit of this Green Mountain (why are there so many Green Mountains in the same area?) and I think I got up there around 1 PM local time. It was pretty windy the whole time. I could see some 14 ers to the west as well as well past Denver onto the plains. I could also see multiple antennas and probable repeater sites for the many Front Range ham clubs’ repeaters.

I started calling CQ SOTA on 146.52. Crickets. I tried 446.000. Crickets. Was my radio working? I tuned to a few local repeaters. Yup. I could hear them. Of course I didn’t read the SOTA rules (which are kinda hard to find since the whole SOTA site is not user friendly) so I didn’t know if it was kosher to tell people on repeaters to monitor the national calling frequencies.

I wondered if my SignalStick (which was pretty floppy at 45 degrees Fahrenheit) was the problem, so I put on the Baofeng antenna and scanned to see if it would pick up repeaters or get out more than the Signal Stick. Nope.

I also tried to call CQ Sota on 146.580 – the national “adventure” frequency. Nothing. I tried in the windy weather for about 30 minutes. Surely SOMEONE has to be monitoring 146.52. Nope. Perhaps everyone was working in the DX context this Sunday afternoon. Or, like me, no one monitors 146.52 on a normal day.

Oh well. A failed SOTA for multiple reasons – no contacts plus not protected from the elements.

Next time I try this SOTA I will for sure bring the normal clothing that one should bring on the mountain, as small as it seems. I’ll probably also bring along an HF radio with a small battery and a vertical antenna that can support itself like my SuperAntenna MP1-C. There’s no trees so wires are out since there’s really no way to even support my 7 meter fishing pole up there.

Failing at POTA

We were near Roxborough State Park so I decided to try to activate that park. It was a new one for me and I was close to my next award – 20 parks.

We drove over there and tried to pick a spot to activate. There are not many parking lots. We picked a picturesque one amongst the rocks.

I tried 20 meters. Nope – it was wall to wall with the DX contest. I used the amazing built-in tuner to try 15 meters. Nope. That was wall to wall, too. I found a quiet spot on 17 meters since it was a WARC band which you can’t use for contests. I supposedly had 1-2 bars of LTE but realized that was a lie. I had no way to spot myself. I called CQ for a few minutes. I really wished this radio had a voice keyer, like my iCom 705. After getting tired of calling CQ on 17 meters, I got out the 40 meter hamstick.

40 meters was quiet. I tried calling CQ on 40. Nothing. I tried to go outside and see if I could hold up my phone to be able to spot myself. Nope.

Dangit! Not being able to spot myself was a real damper. Everyone was busy on the DX contest and probably ignoring POTA today. I wouldn’t know because of lack of cell service.

So I packed it up and started heading for home, looking around and realizing that due to the rocks, I would need a 45 degree or more take off angle and this is probably why no one could hear me in the first place.

I felt so stupid thinking about takeoff angles. I should have just operated in the non-picturesque spot (they’re all picturesque – this is Colorado) that would have lent itself to HF take off angles.

So there you go. Another lesson learned. You ain’t doing NVIS POTA with a vertical 40 meter hamstick.

I contemplated continuing to learn CW enough to spot on RBN for POTA or SOTA..or bringing along stuff to do FT8. But that’s not as fun to me while I’m out in the park – unless its something like DX.

I’ll be back, better prepared.

Winning

Now all was not lost. After failing…errr…learning at SOTA and POTA, we headed over to New Terrain Brewing.

So it wasn’t a bad day after all! The sun was out, beer was flowing. Pretty girl at my side. There were probably more puppers than humans, and that’s just fine with me.

73,

KV0N