Like last year, I'll be heading over to Apple Orchard Mountain to support the annual APRS Golden Packet Event. My friends Dave KB3RAN and Steve N3IPN are once again part of the team with the addition of Ed KC3EN joining us for the long slog up the mountain.
In addition to operating APRS, we'll also be active on HF and VHF+. You can watch for spots from us on the SOTAwatch2 site.
Changes from last year
Last year we didn't quite know what to expect; we ended up bringing way too much stuff and it was all way too heavy. This year weight is a primary concern and we don't plan on making the same mistake again.
My friendly postal carrier dropped off a box just yesterday
which contained the new heart of my station. I've heard good things
about these new LifePO batteries so I figured I'd get one to try it out
for myself. So far I'm impressed. I've not really put it under a load
test, yet, but if it really gives me the watt-hours that it says it will
at ~3 lbs, I'll be ecstatic!
Another change is that I'll be bringing my Elecraft K1 with SOTABEAMS Band Springer Midi antenna. This is an extremely lightweight HF setup and has proven itself to work quite well (you can read about my adventure activating Emmaville Mountain North up in Pennsylvania with this setup).
Listen for us!
We'll be on the air from the summit starting Saturday, 15 July 2017, morning (likely around 1400Z) and will stay on the air until early to mid afternoon. I'll be chirping on APRS (WG3K-7) if you need to get a message to me while we're up on mountain!
73!