W4C/CM-001 Mt. Mitchell

Nice 2 hour drive to Mt. Mitchell on a clear, balmy day in the valley around 60F.  Upon reaching the visitor center some 10 miles away, the temperature was 34F with a brisk wind.  I put another layer of clothes and a hat

I came with KE4EA   We set up near the entrance of the concrete observation deck.   There was a convenient rock that served as an operating table.  Another ham visited with - forgot his call.   Here below is a photo of Dave KE4EA.

The views were fantastic

Our antenna mast was fastened to a short pine tree to the right of the rock.  Here Dave is making SSB contacts.

VP6D Worked on 80m

At 1124 UTC on 30Oct2018 on 80m CW at 3.523 MHz

W4C/US-001 - Sassafras Mountain

This was an impromptu activation.   It was cloudy and threatening rain but I still had the rest of the afternoon.  So I quickly drove out to Rocky Bottom and headed up the mountain.

At the summit is an observation deck under construction.   I was at the overlook just below the summit.   

Just worked VP6D QRP for #182 at 5 Watts

At 1101 UTC- worked VP6D Ducie Island DXpedition with a dipole at 5 watts for my #182 (or 182nd)  unique QRP DXCC entity contact made.

Just worked #313 VP6D Ducie Island

Worked them 08:59 UTC on 40m CW working up 2.1 KHz from 7010.1

W4C/CM-011 - Mt. Pisgah

I successfully activated a summit - Mt. Pisgah - a 10 pointer on Thursday - October 18th.

Getting there was quite an adventure - approaching the mountain from the backside (noth side) on Cruso Rd.   That mountain road was very steep with 25% grade in many places and very twisty.  Thanks to KW4JM for helping me navigate the driving.

The trail itself was pretty challenging - carrying a 23 pound pack as it ascended 700 feet over 1.1 mile.   I recorded the hike on my smartwatch and uploaded the track and all the data to Strava (heart rate, elevation gain, elapsed time).  It took me close to 1 hour (maybe 50 minutes) to ascend and 1 hour to descend.   I could have been quicker on the descent but with tired legs I had to be careful not to twist an ankle.

Upon reaching the top, I found a wooden observation deck.  It had a convenient rail to which I fastened my SOTABeams 30 foot long fiberglass mast and to the mast I fastened my LNR precision EFHW into an inverted V configuration.   The other side of the inverted V was fastened via a guy rope to a place about 50 feet away.

The rig I used was a KX3 and the mode I was able to use was CW.  I made 9 QSO's in quick order on 20m at 14.065 MHz.

KW4JM was activating a peak Mt. Mitchell at the same time and I was able to talk to him on the 2 meter HT on 146.52 MHz.