SOTA 360 Video Series

Yeeee Haaa, the SOTA 360 Video Series Is Done!!!

I've created a video series about Summits On The Air (SOTA) to help others hams get into this niche of the hobby and possibly pass on a tad of what I’ve learned in my journey so far. 

●     Part 1 - Intro and Planning covers two things: 1) an introduction to SOTA, what is it and why do it, ; and 2) the beginning of the planning process that includes how to choose a peak, checking the weather, and what to bring.

●     Part 2 - Charting A Path To The Planned Peak walks you the process that I use to plan my hike, how I navigate as well as a section on safety and how I mitigate risk.

●     SOTA 360 Part 3 - Activating Twin Peaks shows you how I get started and find the trailhead, hike up to the summit, setup my gear and get some contacts (this time with CW and my handi-talki).  Yes, I made it back down without spilling blood.

●     SOTA 360 Part 4 - Logging Your SOTA Contacts with a BONUS covers how I then upload my e-log book to the SOTA website to get my points but more importantly, discusses some of the reasons why I do that including a little bonus for uploading.

2020-02-29 Stonewall

Today’s mission was to summit Stonewall Peak and collect a few SOTA points.  I really wanted to do this as a double with Cuyamaca peak but Cuyamaca is closed during a bunch of construction so we decided to just hit Stonewall.  It’s a bummer they couldn’t come up with a way to allow the public to enjoy the summit of Cuyamaca; I’m with Jake and will just blame it on the lawyers.  Jake, W6RWS met up with me at my place and we headed up the mountain.  I always enjoy hiking with Jake. 

<Click on picture for larger>

<Some photos by W6RWS>

2020-02-16 Windy Peak

I headed up to what I call “Windy Peak”.  It’s actually known as W6/SD-026, 5764.  Yup, it’s name is “5764”. It’s elevation.  My sister, Mary Sue, came along for the short hike.  Even though there was snow on the ground, it was almost too warm for the fleece I had on.  Once we reached the peak, the wind was only blowing about 5 kts, the lightest wind I’ve ever experienced up here.  (route here)

Antenna setup is easy since all I needed to do was tie my telescoping pole to the stake on the top of the hill and push it up (as you can see from the video below).

2020-02-15 Middle Peak

I headed up to Middle Peak to have some amateur radio fun.  I’ve been up there twice before.  The first time, I headed up from the south side, a huge mistake.  My first mistake was not calling K6ARK who had been up there before, and the second was following a false trail.  It turned into a massive sufferfest as I bushwhacked up to the summit.  I got into the activation zone but stopped short of the summit since I still had some skin left.  I setup, got my contacts and then got back down to the road.  That trip was by far the most difficult bushwhack I’ve ever done.

My second trip was using the trail mentioned by K6ARK from the north side.  That was a lot easier.  It was mostly trail and definitely doable. 

2020-02-14 Viejas Mtn.

I thought I’d take a quick break and climb a mountain, in this case, Viejas.  I always forget how long this hike is.  It’s only about 1.5 miles to the summit but with the rocky terrain and the 1,400 foot climb, it takes a while. 

The last time I was up here I got a contact in Spain on SSB.  Today, I netted ZL1BYZ, John in New Zealand via CW (morse code), a station in Canada and a bunch in the US.  I had 29 contacts today, all but two of them via CW. 

The weather was clear and a million and probably about 70F.

Hill 1190 & New Zealand

It’s going to rain tomorrow so I had to squeeze in a quick SOTA summit today with everything else.  It was a beautiful day, perfect for a hike.  I was at an ARES meeting and I had to run some errands, so I didn’t have much time.  There is a summit about 10 miles from my house with a short hike so I zipped over there.  The hill is located in Rancho Bernardo, CA just north of me and I’ve been up there a few times.

02-02-2020 Sheephead Mtn.

Today’s expedition took my sister and I to Sheephead Mountain, SOTA summit W6/SD-020.  IMy sister joined me on the hike today which was awesome.  The weather in the area was a bit toasty yesterday due to a small heat wave through the area but today was back to a very mild day and clear skies.  It was cool but not cold as we set out.

Just before we were supposed to turn on Kitchen Creek road, we saw some deer.  Mary Sue spotted them.  She’s always been able to spot wildlife before anyone else.