I had some shifting travel plans and didn't think I'd get to do the September VHF contest this year, but at the last minute they changed in a way that I would be at home and could hike up a peak and make some contacts. I decided to go up Mt Allison, where I went for the June 2020 contest. Since it was so last minute, I didn't have time to assemble my big station, with all the bands. Instead I brought my KX3 and HTs.
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| Mission Peak, next door to Allison. |
It was warm and sunny, and the parking area at the base were extremely full. I eventually found parking, but had to park on Grimmer across Mission Blvd. It would have been nice it it had been a little cooler, but I had plenty of water with me.
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| On the ridge, near the summit. |
I took my usual route up, taking the Horse Heaven Trail to the ridge, then following the road over to the summit. I set up in the same spot I have the past few times, at some rocks at the bottom of the activation zone.
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| Lots of electronics! |
Almost immediately, while setting up, I ran into problems. One of the legs on my 2m extended double zepp (EDZ) broke. This meant I wouldn't be able to get on 2m SSB, and I'm sure I missed a lot of contacts because if it. My 6m EDZ was already broken, so I had just taken my regular end fed random wire. It works, but I'm sure I could be louder with a better antenna.
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| Operating time. |
I made some HF contacts while I waited for the VHF contest to begin. Once the hour rolled around, I switched to VHF. I spent about two hours on the summit making contacts, getting 40. I had 50, 144, 223, and 440, and I got at least a few grid squares in each. I claimed a score of 715, but we'll have to wait and see if I made any mistakes.
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| Two of the HTs I brought. |
Overall it was a fun trip. I always enjoy the VHF contests, and they are the perfect ones to do from summits. I've already started looking at my gear for January, hopefully I can put on a good showing in that one.
