{"id":3105,"date":"2026-10-03T00:43:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-03T00:43:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/w6sota.org\/web\/?p=3105"},"modified":"2026-10-03T01:32:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-03T01:32:08","slug":"n1clc-1000-summits-for-5x-goat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/w6sota.org\/web\/2026\/10\/03\/n1clc-1000-summits-for-5x-goat\/","title":{"rendered":"N1CLC 1,000 Summits For 5X Goat"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n

Getting Started<\/span><\/h1>

I started hamming in 2017.  I played with CB as a kid and always enjoyed it.  I received a tech license in September of 2017 and my HF in October of 2017.  After setting up my HF at home and realizing how crazy my noise floor was, I came across Steve\u2019s W6G0AT YouTube videos.  Well, shoot, that looked like a lot of fun so I just emulated Steve.  I purchased an FT-817ND (love that little guy) and a pushup pole from MFJ.  I hauled this nutty setup to a summit right by my house on October 30, 2017.  The first thing I did was break the pushup pole.  Sending RF into the dirt wasn\u2019t working, so I resupplied and went back later that day with a simple 20m dipole and a new pushup pole.  I was a brand new ham at the time and was pretty clueless, with 3 HF contacts in the experience bag from home in the back yard.  Once on the summit, I reached out to a couple of hams having QSOs in Texas, then I spun the dial and heard a station calling CQ with a JA callsign.  Hmmm, I wonder if that guy is in Japan.  I only had a 5w station but I figured there was no harm in trying.  Sure enough he heard me and he was as surprised as I was when he heard I was running 5W.  I was HOOKED, and got my first DX to boot.<\/span><\/p>


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At that point, I knew practically nothing about SOTA but I got it to work and I started hitting summits in San Diego.  A month later, after being a tad frustrated with trying to activate SSB with 5W at the bottom of the solar cycle (and no SOTA spot), I upgraded to 100W using a FT-891 and a big battery.  It\u2019s a heavy loadout, but it works.  One day, I clawed my way up to another summit, got my three contacts in hellish winds and raced home to pick up my daughter…<\/span> I was quite bummed to find out I needed 4 contacts for the points.<\/span> I was still learning.  After learning about self-spotting from a video from Jerry, KG6HQD (RIP), I was getting pileups.<\/span><\/p>


<\/strong><\/p>

This hobby has reignited the joy of hiking, and with a radio, it gives me a reason to go where I would have never thought to go.  Some summits I may not want to return to, but I\u2019ve had some awesome hikes, views, and experiences. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

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Nine Years Later<\/span><\/p>

Fast-forward nine years and I\u2019ve activated my 1,000th summit and earned Mountain Goat #5.   My friend Dale, AA7OY, who lives in Alpine, AZ agreed to coordinate our Goat Award summits on the same day.  Dale was about to hit his 4x goat so we chose a summit, and headed out.  Dales is an awesome guy and we\u2019ve done a lot of summits together in the past.  We hike together whenever we can when I travel up to my summer getaway near Alpine, AZ.  I love hiking the mountains in that area where I grew up,  and I know the area well.  I\u2019ve done all the summits in that area, including several in New Mexico.  <\/span><\/p>


<\/strong><\/p>

For our goat summit, Dale and I chose W7A\/AP-006, St. Peter\u2019s Dome.  It\u2019s one of our favorites, but I think it’s one of the most difficult steep hikes in that area.  Prior to the hike, I did a few summits for zero points so that my Goat-Day summit would be my 1,000th activation. The hike is a touch over a mile, and a climb of 673 feet.  The summit is at 9,673 feet.  Note – everything gets harder after 8,000 feet.  We each had a very nice operating position on top, surrounded by huge pines and oaks.  It was probably 75F, with a slight breeze, and was overcast as the thunderstorms started to build in the area.  Dale and I really enjoyed soaking up the experience.  There was a bit of pressure to wrap it up given approaching thunderstorms.  With plenty of contacts in the bag, we headed to the car for a celebratory beverage and then into Springerville for a celebratory lunch.  WOW!  What a day!<\/span><\/p>


<\/strong><\/p>

I\u2019ve learned a lot since my first activation.  Clearly I\u2019ve learned more about radio through experience, help from others, and studying for my Extra exam. I learned how to lower my pack weight, build antennas, and improve my hiking and navigating skills. SOTA drove me to <\/span>learn CW<\/span><\/a>.  I learned when lightning is too close through experience.  I also learned what not to fall on and therefore got to practice my first aid skills from a summit.  I\u2019ve had fun building dipoles, random wire antennas, and end-fed half-wave antennas from the<\/span> K6ARK store<\/span><\/a>.  I built a QCX mini radio and worked Spain the first time out with it.  Right now <\/span>I\u2019m learning about 900Mhz LoRa radios and Meshcore<\/span><\/a>.  It\u2019s quite a journey.<\/span><\/p>


<\/strong><\/p>

All of this learning was helped along by others in the SOTA community, which is one of the best things about SOTA.  I\u2019ve made a lot of friends because of this hobby and I have a LOT of people to thank for helping me get to Goat number 5, activation number 1000, and tons of fun along the way.<\/span><\/p>


<\/strong><\/p>

The first person I met  in person after starting SOTA was Adam, K6ARK, who I call my \u201cSOTA Yoda\u201d.  He brought me up to speed on SOTA, gave me antennas, inspired me to learn CW, gave me great hiking and camping tips, loadout suggestions, etc.  We hiked together and did several overnight SOTA campouts.  Adam and I kicked off the first SoCal SOTA campout in 2018.  Adam and I drove up to Big Bear, CA and immediately hiked up the first summit at sunset. While on the summit, Adam and I had a blast working DX like crazy during the SSB WW contest.   I was running 100W SSB and was 59 into Asiatic Russia, New Zealand, etc.  Solar conditions must have been unusually high because New Zealand came in so strong, I had to turn down the gain to understand him.  It was a blast.  We did something similar with Jacob, W6RWS on Whale Peak, running big stations during the evening for the SSB contest a year or so later.  Jacob and I do a lot of hiking together as well.<\/span><\/p>


<\/strong><\/p>

I\u2019ve introduced Dale and Jacob above, and then there is Ted, W6TED.  We have become great friends because of this hobby.  We\u2019ve hiked, camped and played radio all over the place.  Thanks to Ted and his overland machinery, we\u2019ve done some summits I wouldn\u2019t have ordinarily done.  I helped Ted on \u201c<\/span>The Road To Goat<\/span><\/a>\u201d in Arizona, where we camped, hiked, and activated 19 summits in 5 days to get Ted to Goat.  That was a kick.<\/span><\/p>


<\/strong><\/p>

The NASOTA slackers have been a tremendous help in learning various pieces of this hobby and it\u2019s led to making more friends, more hiking, more SOTA, and a hell of a lot of fun.<\/span><\/p>


<\/strong><\/p>

I made another load of friends and learned new tricks of the hobby every time I attended the W7W campout, aka \u201cSOTA Camp\u201d as well as the W6 SoCal campout organized by Mike K6STR and Lorene W6LOR.  Campouts are always a fun place to make new friends, meet people you have only spoken to on the radio, and reacquaint with old friends, and oh yeah, activate a bunch of summits.  This year I met up with Rey, KD8EQA, in Sequoia National park.  We were both headed to the W7W campout and he was coming in from Colorado.  We did some joint activations and had a blast before the campout even started.  \n\nA few years ago, I meet Igor from Italy. He came to San Diego and was doing SOTA. I worked him on the radio and he reached out for info on summits. We’ve done a bunch of summits together and had a few beers too.<\/span><\/p>\n

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<\/strong><\/p>

Because I\u2019ve received so much from the community over the years, I was happy to take over the W6 Association Manager position and build a new website for W6.  I enjoyed building and maintaining our new website, giving SOTA and safety presentations, and working with others to get the word out on various events and SOTA happening.  <\/span><\/p>


<\/strong><\/p>

In summary, this hobby continues to engage me, has grown my network of friends and is a lot of fun.  Now off to do more SOTA…<\/span><\/p>


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