In some areas it's more productive than HF. The summits near Skyline Drive are like that. With I81 being such a major highway, many summits in the Shenandoah Valley are also good for VHF FM. All things you know already, this is more for the other folks. BTW, I keep talking myself out of buying an Arrow Yagi. I might have to break down and buy one. Chris
And I broke down. After working a guy up on Skyline the other evening who was using a yagi with 5w to reach me here in Manassas (a 50 mile shot) like he was just down the street, I couldn't stand it anymore. Chris
Out for my first POTA of the year at K-0001 from the top of Penobscot Mountain. CW at 5W and SSB @ 6W. Only 5 CW contacts, but 23 SSB including one with Scotland. Nice to have warm weather again.
5 fun QRP SOTA activations in VA the past two days with the FT818 running 5w! As KI4POT wrote, lots of hams in the area make activating VHF a blast. I managed two 6m QSOs also. One was prearranged with KI4POT who was on another summit about 60 miles away! The other was a random CQ call answered (a first for me on SOTA activation) I also had a prearranged 2m QSO with another SOTA activator 95 miles away. We both read a true 5/9. Favorite picture of trip. From the creativity named “High Knob” fire-tower on the VA/WVA border. Erik KE8OKM
Played radio on the High Bluff Trail in Tate's Hell State Forest on the northern Gulf coast of FL today. Only tried PSK-31 on 20m & 40m, and the ionosphere was in rough shape. Two hours, zero contacts. Everything stateside was up-and-down, too fast to get a QSO in. There were a few big guns booming in from Europe on 20m. I tried answering back, but no dice. Still, it was a nice spring day and a really nice hike. Pics at the blog: http://coyoteswamp.blogspot.com/2021/04/another-day-another-hike.html I've been using PSKer on my iPhone these last few trips. It generally works well but is a little cumbersome. FLDIGI on the laptop is a lot smoother and it is faster on the reply, which would be good in these varying conditions. 3 more net pounds to haul, however. Probably worth it. Anyway, it was a successful day of hiking.
I am trying to get 1000 points all VHF so mostly FM. I have tried 2m/6m ssb several times but have had “0” QSOs but I’ll still keep trying. Erik KE8OKM
Yes the firetower activation sunset was stunning and one of the reasons I love SOTA. I would probably never visit these places otherwise! Since I am always rushing in VA in order to make the most of my time I generally use the N9TAX roll up jpole (fantastic antenna). I have the 10’ feed line version but will order the 16’ version in order to get it higher. The Arrow Yagi gets pulled out if I can’t get 4 QSOs on the activation using the jpole. It has made the difference on several activations. The Yagi can definitely reach out farther and I have noticed it reduces QRM (front end overload) on a high RF summit. The downside of the Yagi is assembling it and finding a means to support it. I know you have a VX7R. One thing I have done with my VX6R is use a speaker mike with the radio dangling from the Yagi support hand but you have to record QSOs or set it all down to log. I have a 5’ pvc pipe with a T adapter on the end that doubles as a hiking pole. I can usually jam it in a bush or rocks. This will support the Yagi. Still working on a ideal quick setup! “73” Erik KE8OKM
I've lived near Skyline Drive for over 20 years, but it took SOTA to get me out there. Why not just get a barrel adapter and add additional coax? Or, cut the existing coax short, crimp on a female connector of your choosing, and then use standard coax jumpers. I do this with my jpole/slim-jim antennas. I'm glad to hear it helps with QRM. My VX7 is susceptible to front end overload, so I try to use my IC-V8 for those sites. I'll be good to have another option. I have the speaker mic for my VX-7, so I'll give that a try. I generally log with Pylogjam on a mobile phone, so I can get by with one handed logging (one shouldn't log one handed too much as it can cause blindness). I considered that as well as clamping it to the 2nd section of my crappie pole (that also gets used to raise wire EFHWs). Chris
