6m Activation of the Highest Peak in the Northeast - Mt. Washington, NH

Hi Steve,

Thank you for your suggestions! It looks like we're going to be doing in Mt. Wachusett, MA later this month (September). As soon as I have more details, I'll post them here.

Fred, AB1OC

 

Mt Greylock (SP) in MA?

 

Equinox in Southern VT has road, many of the VT ski areas have their lifts running too. There is always Cannon with the Tram. Mt Agimenticus, but LOTS of RF. Bear Hill in VT, Greylock in western MA
73
Doug W1DMH

 

Come to WA, where some of the passes are nearly that high. We have several peaks in the Cascade Mountain Range that are WAY higher than Mt. Washington, including Rainier (14,410' ASL). It happens to be in a National Park, too: http://www.nps.gov/mora/.

 

Been there done that, would love to add Little Tahoma, and a bunch of others. http://w1dmh.blogspot.com/
73
Doug W1DMH

 

Meh, my QTH sits at 8650', and I have a fourteener in my backyard that has a paved road to the top (plus a cog railway).

 

I thought driving to the summit isn't allowed for SOTA?

 

That leaves out Mt. Spokane at 5883' ASL, with a narrow paved road to the top (link). I've driven it but, NOT in Winter. Vista House at the top would make for a comfortable SOTA experience:

 

Adak, AK birthplace of the winds!

 

I just found this in the rules "Summits that are accessible by road can still be included in the programme, although operation from within vehicles or the near vicinity of activator’s vehicles is not permitted."

 

This is true, and it's pretty clear in the rules. If these activators drove to the top, it is NOT a valid SOTA activation. The following is taken from SOTA General Rules as available on the SOTA website:

"Summits that are accessible by road can still be included in the programme, although operation from within vehicles or the near vicinity of activator’s vehicles is not permitted."
"Operations must not be in, or in the close vicinity of, a motor vehicle. No part of the station may be connected in any way with the motor vehicle."
"All equipment must be carried to the site by the Activation team."

I believe that there was (or used to be a rule) about being able to drive the majority of the way up, and that you had to hike the last 75 vertical feet of elevation, bringing all of your gear up with you. I can't find a reference to that right now...

 

That quoted material is correct Just not sure if that last 75 feet is the measured distance to the official summit location or elevation distance to the summit.

The pics linked in the first post with the operating station right next to the vehicles is not in line with SOTA rules.

 

That is how I have treated summits with a road. A couple of years I hiked from the Pinkham notch to the summit and tried to activate with no luck. What a bummer that was!

Since then I have activated Mt Washington twice now, both times I drove up and then hiked from the summit down the AT trail a good ways (100ft +), turned around came back up just to make it legit. My take (and I could be wrong on this), is the idea is to keep people from lugging a ton of gear from the car and setting up. If one has to carry it up and down 75' it changes things up.

Nevertheless, I'm happy to see more people participating in SOTA.

 

This has been discussed at length on the SOTA reflector. The management team, has been clear. There is no distance requirement, no hiking requirement, no elevation gain requirement. However NO contact with vehicle. That being said, I believe the propagation gods prefer KB1HQS style operation, and I have had the same experience.
73 de W1DMH Doug http://reflector.sota.org.uk/

 

I certainly didn't ace geography, but from what I recall, North Carolina is not in the Northeast. But as stated previously, who cares. It looks like a lot of fun at any elevation.