Sparks's Journal - Summits on the Air (SOTA)

2020 Golden Packet Event on Apple Orchard Mountain

SOTA Stats

When: 2020 from 1442Z to 1600Z
Where: Apple Orchard Mountain - W4V/RA-001
Who: Just me
Ascent: Hike Up
Equipment: Kenwood D-700, Opek HVU-500 antenna
APRS Coverage: Excellent
Contacts Made: 7

Mistakes were made; success was had.

As in years past, the goal of the Golden Packet Event is to create an APRS network, along the Appalachian Trail, from Georgia to Maine. My spot in this fifteen-station link is number five. I suspect all fifteen summits are a little different to get to and operate from. While Apple Orchard is one of the most beautiful summits I’ve visited (ranks in my top five), getting there… sucks.

Twas the Night Before…

I left Maryland the day before, since my drive would take me around five hours (ha ha ha ha). I made it roughly 45 minutes away from the house when I remembered that I had forgotten feedline. Not sure how I was expecting to connect the antenna to the radio but I figured it was important enough to turn around and return home to retrieve^[1].

My routing engine told me that it would be fastest to go via I-66 and I-81. I’m not sure why I continue to go that way as every single time I use those two highways bad things happen^[2]. This time it was just a lot of traffic combined with road construction.

When I finally arrived at the gated entrance to the mountain there was just enough daylight left to make a quick run up the mountain. I pulled together my antenna supports, antenna, and battery and made the 20-minute trek up the mountain to cache it all for the night. I was greeted by a nice sunset once I finally made it to the top and had stowed my stuff.

Figure 1. Sunset on Apple Orchard Mountain

That night I attempted to sleep in my car. I’ve done it before and, being alone, I just didn’t want to deal with a tent for just a few hours. I may deal with a tent next time. It was uncomfortable. Not unbearable, mind you, just uncomfortable.

The next morning I was up with the sun (literally) and found a nice grab-n'-go breakfast at the Peaks of Otter Restaurant just down the road. With breakfast in my belly, I returned to the mountain for my journey up for the day.

The event

Getting up to the summit is a 20 to 30-minute hike up a paved road with a ~300 foot altitude change. It doesn’t sound bad but when you’re trying to haul gear up, it’s not a happy time. Coming down, by the way, is much easier.

I was setup and on the air at 9:17 (EDT) and was hearing a station on 1200 baud (we were all going to be operating at 9600 baud). Turns out it was KM6BWB-10 (yes, I decoded it), a balloon at ~35k feet in altitude over DC! At 10:39, my friends down at Comers Rock (KJ4OAP) came online and we chatted a bit on UHF^[3].

Things started coming together fairly quickly then. At 10:44 I was seeing Maryland Mountains which meant that Hawksbill had to be on the air as well. At 11:05, Roan showed up followed by Clingmans Dome at 11:37. The best part was seeing Katahdin on my screen at 12:25! I did, eventually, see all of the stations on my screen and even received a QSL from VE1WRG in Nova Scotia!

We were asked to obtain signal strengths of our neighbors. From AOMTN-5, I was receiving COMERS-4 with roughtly 8-9 bars and HAWKSBILL-6 with roughly 3 bars. I was never able to reach Hawksbill on UHF voice which goes to show that this is probably the shakiest path on the network.

Figure 2. AOMTN-5 Station in 2020

At 2:00PM, everyone packed up and headed off of their summits. I was very ready to get down. Even though temperatures were supposed to be in the upper 70Fs to lower 80Fs, the sun beating down with very little shade, made it nearly unbearable. The flying insects were bad, too. I need a better plan for that summit…

SOTA Activation

I figured that while I was up there and waiting for everyone else to get setup I might as well try to make some contacts on VHF. I managed to make seven contacts (six on 146.520) with three contacts being to other summits! I almost brought out my HF radio but it was just too darn hot.

Thanks to WS4W, KG4OYS, W4MW, KJ4OAP, N4LXP, KN4CFT, and W4BVB for making my SOTA activation a success.

1. At least I didn’t forget my radio, right Bob? :)

2. And by that I mean car crashes, flooding, and even large boulders in the middle of the roadway.

3. The path between Apple Orchard and Comers Rock is fantastic. Very little loss of signal on VHF and UHF. Am able to work them on an HT with 5 watts on 445MHz!

Other articles

Apple Orchard Mountain for APRS Golden Packet and SOTA

Sat 20 July 2019
By Sparks

In Radio.

tags: 2m 70cm Digital Operations Summits on the Air (SOTA)APRS APRS Golden Packet Apple Orchard W4V/RA-001

I must be a glutton for punishment. This is my third time visiting Apple Orchard Mountain (AO) and its steep climb to the top with way too much stuff. But I’m always rewarded in the end with awesome views, excellent VHF and UHF range, and interesting phenomena. This trip …
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SOTA Activation: Snowy Mountain W3/PD-007
Sun 24 December 2017
By Sparks

In Radio.

tags: Pennsylvania QRP Summits on the Air (SOTA)W3/PD-007

[caption id="attachment_1270" align="alignleft" width="244"] Hey look, a flag![/caption]
Stats
- When: 2017-12-24 from 1543Z to 1625Z
- Where: Snowy Mountain - W3/PD-007
- Who:Just me
- Ascent: 148' over 0.64mi** **
- Equipment:Elecraft KX3, SOTABEAM MIDI antenna
- APRS Coverage: Excellent
- T-Mobile Coverage:Good. Had 4G (no LTE) coverage at …
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SOTA Activation Report: Methodist Hill North W3/PD-006
Sat 23 December 2017
By Sparks

In Radio.

tags: Digital Operations Pennsylvania Summits on the Air (SOTA)W3/PD-006 APRS

[caption id="attachment_1259" align="alignleft" width="300"] Portable HF setup on Methodist Hill North[/caption]
Stats
- When: 2017-12-23 from 1832Z to 1915Z
- Where: Methodist Hill North - W3/PD-006
- Who: Just me
- Ascent: None (see below)
- Equipment: Elecraft KX3, SOTABEAM MIDI antenna
- APRS Coverage: Excellent
- T-Mobile Coverage: Nil
I arrived at …
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Upcoming SOTA Activation(s) - Methodist Hill North and Snowy Mountain

Mon 18 December 2017
By Sparks

In Radio.

tags: 2m QRP Summits on the Air (SOTA)

Updated: 2017-12-20 @ 0315Z -Not doing Long Mountain, adding Snowy Mountain.

Looking at taking a few days and going hiking up in Pennsylvania this upcoming weekend. I have at least two summits in my sights: W3/PD-006 and [STRIKEOUT:W3/PD-013] W3/PD-007 that I'd like to activate for Summits on …
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Apple Orchard Mountain in July 2017
Mon 17 July 2017
By Sparks

In Radio.

tags: 2m 70cm APRS Golden Packet Digital Operations QRP Summits on the Air (SOTA)APRS Packet Radio Apple Orchard Mountain W4V/RA-001

Success! That’s the word I’m using to describe my latest battle up a summit. It wasn’t easy and it wasn’t without some failure, but I’m willing to give this trip a grade of B. Luckily I had some help…
Stats
When: 2017-07-15 from 14:00Z …
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Heading up to Apple Orchard Mountain this weekend.

Tue 11 July 2017
By Sparks

In Radio.

tags: 2m 6m 70cm Digital Operations QRP Summits on the Air (SOTA)APRS APRS Golden Packet

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 …
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Activating Emmaville Mountain North W3/SV-019
Fri 11 November 2016
By Sparks

In Radio.

tags: QRP Summits on the Air (SOTA)
Stats
- When: 2016-11-11 from 18:04Z to 18:33Z
- Where: Emmaville Mountain North – W3/SV-019
- Who: Amanda KI4IWS, Harlan, Elise, and myself
- Ascent: Drive up
- Decent: Drive down
- Equipment: Elecraft K1, SOTABEAMS Band Springer Midi, Navy Flameproof Key
- APRS Coverage: Good coverage
- T-Mobile Coverage: Good coverage
- Contacts:10
Overview

[caption …
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SOTA Awards Received

Sun 06 November 2016
By Sparks

In Radio.

tags: Summits on the Air (SOTA)Awards

Yesterday I received, by way of U.K. Royal Mail and the U.S. Postal Service, two SOTA awards! The first is my award for chasing 100 points-worth of summits:

The second award is the SOTA Mountain Hunter - Bronze award where I had to work at least two summits in …
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Activating Sugarloaf Mountain (W3/CR-003) (a.k.a. Plan B)
Mon 31 October 2016
By Sparks

In Radio.

tags: QRP Summits on the Air (SOTA)
Stats
- When: 2016-10-30 from 18:25Z to 19:19Z
- Where: Sugarloaf Mountain - W3/CR-003
- Who: Amanda KI4IWS, Harlan, Elise, and myself
- Ascent: 984 feet in 0.36 miles along the East View parking lot using the Sunrise Trail.
- Decent: 0.93 miles along the Monadnock, Northern Peaks, and Mountain loop …
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Activating Apple Orchard Mountain (W4V/RA-001)

Mon 18 July 2016
By Sparks

In Radio.

tags: 2m 6m 70cm Digital Operations Summits on the Air (SOTA)APRS Contesting APRS Golden Packet Apple Orchard W4V/RA-001

On Saturday, 16 July 2016, Dave KB3RAN, Steve N3IPN, and I hiked up Apple Orchard Mountain (SOTA W4V/RA-001) to activate it for the Appalachian Trail Golden Packet event. While we were there we took advantage of the altitude and activated the summit for Summits on the Air (SOTA), National …
read more

Other articles

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