Beautiful day for a hike! A.J. W6CMY joined me for an activation at Vetter Mountain. This site is neat because a fire lookout is at the summit. This lookout burned down in 2009 in the Station Fire but was rebuilt. It’s a tough location for 2m / 70cm, Mt Wilson hides a clear view of the city and most line of sight 2m contacts. We tried some 2m CW for the 2026 SOTA challenge but faced difficulty because signal strengths very very low. I got the Elecraft KH1 out and went to work on 21m. I made all of the day’s contacts there, with one on 18m.

A couple of hikers asked me if I was fishing (referencing the whip on my KH1). Why does every ask that? Anyways… turns out the gal of the group is a second grade teacher and is on a science committee of some kind. I explained ham radio and SOTA. She took my picture and I in that moment didn’t have a great way to offer a way to follow up or get in touch. I’m inspired to have a post on this blog called “What is Summits on the Air?” And having a card or tag someone could take a photo of. Next time!

I had a senior moment towards the tail end of our activation… I was in the sun and decided to move closer to where A.J. was set up. When I got there, I couldn’t find my log book. I went back, couldn’t find it. This really rubbed me because all of the contacts I’d just made were lost. A little butt hurt, I packed up. It was only later I realized that I had logged directly in the KH1’s foldout logbook, as one does with the KH1. The logs weren’t lost, I didn’t even have anything in a logbook. OOPS! I felt like a moron, as one does during moments like this. I shook it off and had a great walk back to the car.

I spotted myself and checked in with my YL all using my Garmin InReach that I got for Christmas this year. What a neat little device! I rarely have cell service at the summit, so being able to spot, get spots, and check in with my family is super valuable. All of the SOTA functionality I use on that device is made possible by a free service called SOTAMĀT, designed by Brian AB6D. It allows for seamless communication to and from the SOTA spotting network all over the Iridium satellite network. Thank you Brian!