Joyce/K0JJW and I had intended to hike Pikes Peak this year for a Summits On The Air (SOTA) activation but somehow the plan never came together. I still had my eye on it as a drive-up activation before the end of 2017. The road to the summit is open year round now but closes frequently due to snowstorms passing through. Saturday morning the road was open to 13 miles (out of 19 miles) with the promise that it would be open to the summit later in the morning. (Call 719 385-7325 for a recorded message on road conditions.) By the time we got to the toll gate around 10 am, the road was open to the summit.
When we reached the summit, the weather conditions were 20 deg F with 20 mph winds, creating a windchill of 4 deg F. We were prepared for that having loaded up on the winter clothing. Still, it was freaking cold up there. As you can see in the webcam picture, there was only traces of snow on the summit.
To be SOTA-compliant, we had all of our gear loaded into our packs and walked some distance away from our vehicle to set up. Because of the wind, we chose the observation platform, tucked in behind one of the walls. Normally, that platform is to be avoided because its overrun with tourists but with the cold weather we only had a few people to contend with.
Joyce set up on 2m fm (146.52) using a handheld transceiver (HT) with a vertical antenna. Even with her headset (foam protection on the microphone), the wind noise on her signal was significant. I started out on 2m fm but quickly moved up to 223.5 MHz and worked a few stations there, then on to 446.0 MHz. I had HTs and small yagi’s on both of those bands. Then I fired up 1.2 GHz with an Alinco HT (just 1W on that band) and a 16-element yagi. I worked Paul/W0RW, Gary/WB5PJB and Wayne/N0POH on that band. My QSO with N0POH in Aurora was a new personal best for distance on 23cm/1.2 GHz, at about 90 km.
I tried 2m SSB using my FT-817 but made only one contact: Jim/WB0GMR. Shortly thereafter, I switched back to 2m fm using the 25W mini-mobile rig with a 3-element yagi to work many more stations. Again, just running a bit of power and having a decent antenna on 2m fm was very effective at making radio contacts. I expected the Tytera radio to be overloaded with signals on the summit of Pikes but it actually held up well with just occasional bursts of interference.
Overall, we made 54 QSOs (not too shabby): 43 QSOs on 2m, 5 QSOs on 70cm and 3 QSOs on both 1.25m and 23cm. Our best DX was Jeff/N0XLF near Akron, CO for a distance of about 130 miles (on 2m and 70cm).
73, Bob K0NR
Bob and Joyce
It was a fun day for us and our weather at home was great for early December. It was nice to give three of our radios a workout/health check. Thanks for going up the peak.
Jim WB0GMR
Elisabeth KJ0EUB
VERY INTESTING, I REALY ENJOYED IT !!!
Thanks Gill
Bob,
I hope you have thawed out by now! It is interesting to find out that you can now drive to the Pikes Peak summit year round WX permitting. Hopefully some of the winter and fall VHF contest OPs can use this at times. I spent at least two long days in August on top of Pikes Peak doing the ARRL 10 GHz contests in the past with another operator working the rovers running up and down the front range working us again every time they had moved 10 miles. One rover had a periscope antenna with the 10GHz all mode mounted in his window in the SUV roof and no set up time for him, Another op had a rather large dish that took about an hour to set up at each stop at the other end of the scale. In the 10 GHz test you can work rovers again after they move 10 miles.
We had some arrangement with the Pikes Management to allow us to drive up with the employees prior to the public opening time at around 6- 7AM and stay until after dark and that might still be possible for future peak ham operations? I was able to operate from inside my Blazer laying on a sleeping bag in the back and was protected from the wind. We did encounter snow leaving the summit about dark on one trip. Spending a day on a 14 er is a rather tiring event. Some years ago the CSVHF conference was held in Colorado Springs and there just happened to be a rare VHF/UHF tropo even to the east from CO. I just had a 4 el yagi and 100w on 2m SSB and CW and was working stations in MO, IA, MN, IL, WI, IN and even OH from the base of Pikes Peak near the BroadMore. QSOs were made by others on 432. One OP on the summit using stacked 2m LYs was working just as far. I wonder if they still sell those doughnuts that they make in the restaurant on the summit that are so good but maybe totally unhealthy? Phil N0KE
I’ve done a few VHF contests from the summit of Pikes but I’ve never stayed overnight. Usually after three or four hours at that altitude, I am mostly brain dead. It really takes a toll. Many years ago Doug/W0AH did an overnight June VHF contest operation. Somehow he got permission to stay up there after hours. I have the impression that it was a tough night and I don’t think he ever repeated it.
I’ve always found the Pikes Peak Highway folks to be very helpful and interested in my ham radio activities. They are used to seeing hams up there.
Yes, they still sell the donuts at the summit house. Oh, the city of Colorado Springs is working on a plan to build a new summit house which is long overdue.
73, Bob
SOTA is interesting. Would this be something that could be done in Missouri? We don;t have mountains like Colorado but we do have some that are at 1772 feet. Would a “mountain” like that qualify?
Scott,
Yes, definitely! Missouri has a Summits On The Air association set up with 57 summits listed.
Take a look here: http://www.sota.org.uk/Association/W0M
And here: http://mosota.org/w0m-missouri.html
73, Bob