The problem was the only road to get to the trail head, Newfound Gap, had been closed off and on throughout the winter because of snow and ice. The night before my hike I had planned on another summit because the road was still closed. As luck would have it the park service issued a Twitter late in the evening that the Gap road was open!
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I awoke early knowing that I would have a long day ahead of me. I had read a few reports of hikers that had hiked to Mingus and knew I would be in for almost a mile of pretty tough bushwhacking in addition to the mile and a half along the Appalachian Trail On the way up the Gap road I was treated with some beautiful views of the snowy Smokey Mountains.I arrived at my trail head shortly after 7am. I had decided to begin my hike on the Clingman Dome Road. As you can see below my little Smart car got me to the gates at the closed Dome road.
I had a little over a mile on the Dome road to the area where I would intersect the AT. The snow there was fresh and was generally 4 to 6 inches deep. Deeper in a few spots but they were few and far between. The sun was starting to make its way over the mountains and the wind was blowing at a good clip. The temp was hovering around 15 to 20 degrees. I made good time on the Dome road. I stopped several times to take photos.
Looking Back on my tracks....
Just Awesome.....
To the right you will see where I entered the Appalachian Trail. There was a faint set of footprints in the snow. I guess I am not the only crazy person out there! This part of the trail was pretty easy. And the snow made the trail nice and soft. This section of the AT was very quiet and beautiful. The snow was heavy on the trees and insulated you from most sounds. It was peaceful.
My ugly mug...
I followed the AT as it wound its way up the bluff. After about a quarter of a mile the AT broke onto the ridge. I turned left and got ready for my bushwhack to the summit. On paper it looked to be a little over a mile. It may be a mile but it didn't feel like it. As you can see there were many blow downs. Some I went around, some I went over, and some I crawled under. What fun! I climbed along the ridge line which had some great views of Mount LeConte.
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It took me every bit of 4 hours to finally reach the summit. The wind was blowing pretty hard so I tried to find a spot to set up. I found a small depression on the leeward side of the summit and I dug in. I tried to scoop out as much snow as possible and made a simple wind block with my tarp. I was very happy that I packed my sleeping bag. After setting up I zipped up into my sleeping bag to keep warm. I Had my Buddipole setup as a vertical and began calling CQ. There was a lot of activity on my "new" bands and a lot of action on or near the freq's I had alerted to. I moved up and down the bands but was having no luck.
I reset my Buddipole as a dipole and started to make some contacts. I need to get some feedback from other Buddipole users on their vertical setups because I have not had much luck thus far.
Thanks to :W0ROB
AE4FZ
K4PIC
N4EX
W4ZV
N7UN
W2MDW
And a special thanks to N4EX for all the help in finding a clear spot on the band. It gets tough to multitask in a pair of mitten hands.
I would have stayed and worked the pileup if one existed but there didn't seem to be many takers. I packed up and started back down the mountain. On the way back I decided to follow the AT all the way to the Newfound Gap parking area. In hindsight I should have just retraced my footsteps back. The trail was wearing on me and I was getting tired. On the way back the temp began to rise and the snow got wet. I shed my outer layer and carried on. I finally made the parking lot. In the morning it was empty and cold. But it was now packed full of tourists and 50 degrees. I got back to the Smart Car about 3:30 for a total on the mountain time of about 8 1/2 hours.
It was a very satisfying first activation of Mount Mingus. Everything went to plan and I had a great day. There are a few improvements I would like to make.
First, I need to find a better way to record my contacts. The steno pad kept getting wet and started to tear.
Second, I need to study up on the Buddipole Vertical setups so that I can use them effectively.
Third, I would like to shed some weight from my setup. This is an ongoing process with any backpacker and will come with time.
Well thanks for stopping in and feel free to leave a message or comment
73's and Keep Climbing!!!!
Thanks John for your entertaining and informative trip report, and great photos.
ReplyDeleteLarry W6UB
Nice write up. I use a waterproof logbook from these guys.http://www.waterprooflogbooks.com/radio_logbook.html
ReplyDelete73
Doug
W1DMH
JOHN I really wanted to work you yesterday, but 20 meters and higher is just too long for the path between TN and MO. I can usually work activators in W4T on 40 meters but 20 and above just doesn't work. The 40 meter freq you were on yesterday was really clobbered with QRM so I couldn't hear you there either :-(( The Smokies are one of my favorite places and we hiked there 3 or 4 times per year when I lived in the Nashville area. Keep up the good work and congrats on upgrading your license!
ReplyDelete73,
BILL
W4RK
Jefferson City, MO
I will continue to try on 40m. It was tough with all the QRM yesterday. I also have to learn all the freq's SOTA operators generally operate on.
ReplyDeleteJohn, I really wanted to work you yesterday too but I didn't hear anything on 20 or 40 meters. Bill - W4RK lives about 150 miles east of me and I have the exact opposite problem he has. I can get reliable signals from GA/TN/NC etc on 20 meters but 40 is iffy at best and depends on the RF gods. The BuddiPole antenna is a good antenna as I have one too, but it's a bit much to haul as far as you did in the cold and snowy conditions I think. It's a heavy antenna compared to other wire type antennas that are not overly difficult to carry and erect on site. Try looking at some of the past messages on the SOTA Yahoo Group from other activators on the antennas they have build and the results from them. Some are very simple and really work well. Many people commented on the SOTA Watch site yesterday that they were not hearing you so focus on a good antenna system for backpacking with. Hope to work you on your next summit. Great pictures on you blog.
DeleteGary A. - W0MNA
Thanks for the input Garry. I have been looking into other antenna ideas, even tried to employ some wire antennas but I don't seem to have it down yet. But I will keep at it. I would like to make sure I can work both 20 and 40 meters so I can give as many chasers as possible a chance at me while I am in the field.
DeleteGreat write-up, John. I've listened for you on every one of your activations but so far no joy. I think we just didn't have the 10m propagation on your first ones, but your choice of antenna (and to a lesser extent choice of band) was probably why I couldn't hear you this time.
ReplyDeleteI have a Buddipole deluxe kit plus many extra-cost pieces such as the long telescopic whips, counterpoise wire adapters, etc. However, I don't bring it on activations. It's not that it's a bad antenna, it just isn't a great antenna and below 20m it isn't even a good antenna. On CW we can get by and actually do pretty well with mediocre antennas. But on phone, you're already starting out with an efficiency disadvantage so squeezing every dB of performance out of your kit is even more important.
I think that the top 3 practical and great performing antennas for activations are: EFHW, doublet, dipole. The performance difference between them is so small that you can choose the one that best fits your activation style. The EFHW is one of the lightest and the hands-down winner in terms of quick setup time, but you'll be limited to just a few bands. It's the go-to antenna for guys like Fred KT5X and Mike KE5AKL who often "speed activate" multiple summits in a day.
Unless speed activating is what you're looking to do, I think that a better choice for a fellow KX3 owner is the doublet. It lets you get on any frequency 6m-80m practically instantly, just smack your ATU button and you're there. This kind of frequency agility can be a ton of fun if your style is more like mine, in which I like to spend a few hours on the summit just playing radio, rather than feeling rushed to get to the next one. If you choose an 88' doublet, it will also give you 1-3 dB more signal on 20m than the EFHW or dipole. A doublet does take longer to setup (about the same as a dipole) and you'd need to bring a mast like a Jackite pole if there are no trees on the summit.
A dipole or linked dipole makes sense if your radio doesn't have an ATU, or if there are space constraints on the summit that would prevent you from using a doublet. Dan WO6M is in the no-ATU category and uses a linked dipole for his activations, and like Fred and Mike, typically has a gangbusters signal as well. Back when I was using the ATU-less HB1B instead of my KX3, that was my go-to antenna as well.
I know that 20m is the most popular band, but I think you'll find it handy to be able to hop onto 15m and 17m as well. Pat KI4SVM is a phone-only activator out in your neck of the woods and I can usually only work him when he moves from 20m to 15m. 15m is less noisy for me and there is less QRM covering him. If you're out on a contest weekend, then you're really going to want to to move to 17m. You know about 10m, and when that band is open to the area of the world that you want to work, it really can't be beat. Again, being able to instantly hop between bands without having to get up and physically adjust your antenna is a really neat thing.
Here is some more info on the doublet and the other posts in that thread have good info as well:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nasota/message/10320
Anyhoo, have fun out there and maybe we'll connect for a S2S QSO one of these days.
73,
Eric KU6J
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Free SOTA Spot Monitor Software + RBNGate FAQ:
http://www.ku6j.com
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Eric, AWESOME info there. You sir are the reason that I write this blog. I can share my experiences, but more times that not I learn more from the guys making comments. Thank you for your comments!
ReplyDelete