On Good Friday I was able to get out and make another attempt at a Summits on the Air (SOTA) activation. This time I was successful, making a short run of contacts on 15 meters into Europe and activating summit W3 / PO-23. It was windy and cold with some occasional snow flurries, but I was able to setup the station in a rock outcropping to shield myself from the wind.
My rocky QTH
My portable station: an FT-817, BLT tuner, and modified Whiterook paddle
At this rate it will take some 250 summits to get to the famed Mountain Goat status, not considering bonus points for winter activations. There are only 220 summits in the W3 SOTA association, so quite a bit of travel and planning would be necessary to pull this off. But I’m in no rush :-)
Radio Artisan 