What a great day to get out on the trails, find a summit, and see who can hear you. E and I ventured out to South Mountain State Battlefield, near Frederick, Maryland, and hiked up the Appalachian Trail about a mile to the Rocky Run Shelters where we camped Saturday night under a star-filled sky. In the morning, after breakfast, we packed up all our gear and headed for the car to exchange our camping gear for radio gear. A few minutes later we were atop Lambs Knoll stretching wires and getting set up for a run.

It’s been a while since I have done an HF SOTA/POTA so I didn’t even remember exactly what bands my EFHW antenna would handle. I started on 60m and was surprised that it tuned right up. Cellular connectivity wasn’t an issue on the summit but I wanted to try something new (to me). A while back I set up an account on SOTAmat which allows one to spot to the SOTA and POTA communities using FT8 (or other digital modes) without needing any Internet connectivity in the field. SOTAmat requires some configuration before going out in the field, which I had done months prior. So, with the app pulled up, location and frequencies entered, I found the 40m FT8 calling frequency (7074kHz) and held my microphone close to the speaker on my phone. SOTAmat transmits in the blind three times, varying the audio frequency slightly each time, hoping that your signal will get through. And, the system works!

After transmitting my spots on 40m, I tuned back down to 60m to find W4ABD waiting for me. A few minutes later I had N1DV in the log and we were off to the races. I tuned up to 40m only to find my planned frequency (+/- 7034 kHz) to be in use by a TON of stations operating for the Pennsylvania QSO party. It was very surprising to find CW signals every 500 Hz from 7030 through 7036, and they were busy! I moved up to the quiet 7048 and started calling. In short order I had eight (8) QSOs in the log, including some familiar calls.

After exhausting 40m, I moved up to 20m just to see who else was around. By this time E had tired of the games on her phone and had chased every cute animal in a 20m circle and was getting antsy. But the stations kept coming! With eleven (11) new QSOs in the log I told E that I was packing it in. I signed SK SK and almost had the rig turned off when I heard a station calling "S2S". Well, of course I had to make that contact! Another familiar call, AC1Z, was QRV from Tiger Mountain (W4G/NG-060)! A man of my word, as soon as I had AC1Z in the log I pulled the plug and started packing up.

After operating for a little over an hour, E and I headed off the mountain and to a pizza place that we had frequented in the past. I had twenty-two (22) stations in my log including two S2S contacts (VA2EO/W2 on Loon Lake Mountains HP in New York and AC1Z on Tiger Mountain in Georgia) and one P2P (KX4BE in Bledsoe State Forest in Tennessee).

All-in-all, I’m quite happy with this activation. I found a loud, intermitting noise on 60m (5348 kHz) that left the frequency not completely unusable but also not really great for making contacts. I also think that if I hadn’t had my time watched so closely that I might still be up there making contacts (do restaurants deliver to summits?). The weather was absolutely perfect for getting out and playing radio.

This is also my third time activating Lambs Knoll. The last time it was quite snowy and hiking to the top wasn’t that easy. That said, I’m looking forward to my next trip up the mountain.

All logs have been uploaded to SOTA, POTA, and LoTW.