Event announcement: On Friday, August 4, through Sunday, August 6, amateur radio operators from around Southern California will be hiking up to the tops of California's greatest summits to make radio contacts with other operators locally and around the world. If you are new to ham radio, this is a perfect opportunity to get outdoors and practice your radio skills with a supportive and amazing group of people. SOTA (Summits on the Air) is an award scheme for radio amateurs that encourages portable operation in mountainous areas. You can find more information about SOTA on the SOTA website here.
Event report by event organizer Lorene W6LOR
Twenty SOTA enthusiasts camped or visited the Tanglewood Campground in Big Bear this weekend. On Friday, Hal N6JZT, Tom KE6SRO & Carol KE6SRN, Ben AG6N, Chris N1CLC & Mike K6STR & myself kicked things off with a few peaks on the drive up (Strawberry Lookout, W6/SD-459, W6/SD-442) & then started hitting the Big Bear Peaks (7940, Bertha, & Sugarloaf). New this year was Quansheng 2m CW fever. Several of us got cheap Quansheng UV-K5/6 radios & modified them with new IJV2.9 firmware to operate in CW at 144.10 MHz.
By Saturday more campers had arrived and a big group set out for Gold Mountain as a hike from camp. Cam AK6IY & Mike KO6BGB hit Onyx and Peak 9465, while the rest stayed north of Big Bear Lake to hit Peak 7940, Delamar, Butler and Bertha. Peter WB6POT came down from NorCal to get some Completes, and he and Pauline WB6PDW stopped by the camp before and after. Mark KD7DTS & Di KO6BTM, along with Andre KO6EFG hit Gold, then with N6ARA drove to Butler and then the Stripmine. Adam K6ARK and Chris KN6MRG took motorcycles up to Gold and Butler & this was Chris’ first SOTA activation! Tom KB9ENS hiked Gold too and then did some North American QSO contesting. Tim K6TW and his daughter Sierra hung out in camp holding down the fort and providing contacts. One of the highlights of the weekend was Butler Peak, which was staffed on Saturday by local SOTA chasers Jimi N6JNY and Aaron KM6NRJ. We all regrouped in the evening for happy hour.
On Sunday, on the way out of town, a bunch of us hit a few more peaks. On the drive back, we caught Tom & Carol on Butler, and Aaron on Sugarloaf. Thanks to everyone who came out, activated and chased (especially those who tolerated CW mistakes with the Quanshengs!) It was a fun weekend with perfect weather.