What a great day for a hike, Happy Father’s Day! AJ, W6CMY, joined me for my first trip to Josephine Peak. The weather was gorgeous today about 75° in the valley. When we got to the trailhead at 7 AM, it was only 55° and a little foggy. It took us about two hours to get to the summit at a brisk pace. We were pretty proud of ourselves, except that a couple groups of trail runners passed us and then came back down way faster than I expected. Those guys are impressive.
When we got to the summit, we split up and I worked 2m CW on my Quansheng with limited results. We could see Mt Wilson line of sight off the distance and we know that that site generates a lot RF noise. I am looking forward to getting N6ARA’s tiny 2 m filter for HT work and seeing how conditions may improve in the future. I worked HF CW for a bit also and got a couple summit to summit contacts there as well.
Every time I activate, I learn something that I would do a little different next time. Today, I would not use a small flimsy antenna on my HT as this one got bent a couple times. Also, don’t forget the sunblock!
A great day for some amateur radio, thank you chasers!
Activation Hike Path
(31m breaks)
How Hike Stats Are Calculated
These figures are derived automatically from your GPX track file.
Hiking Time & Distance
Time and distance accumulated while moving outside the activation zone at a speed above the stationary threshold (default 0.3 km/h). Periods where you were stopped — waiting at a trailhead, taking a break — are excluded and counted separately as Rest Breaks.
Rest Breaks
Stationary periods outside the activation zone lasting longer than the rest threshold (default 3 minutes). Anything shorter is ignored as normal GPS noise or a momentary pause. Rest break time is shown inside the Hiking Time box for reference but is not added to hiking time.
Activation Time
All time spent inside the activation zone, regardless of whether you were moving or stationary. This captures the full period from when you first entered the zone to when you left — including any walking around the summit, setting up gear, and operating.
The activation zone boundary is determined by one of two methods (see below).
Total Time
The elapsed time from the first to the last GPS trackpoint in the file. This equals Hiking Time + Activation Time + Rest Breaks + any unclassified transition time at the boundaries.
Elevation Gain & Loss
The cumulative altitude gained and lost across all trackpoints. Each uphill step between consecutive points adds to gain; each downhill step adds to loss. Out-and-back routes will show roughly equal gain and loss.
Hiking Speed
Average speed calculated as Hiking Distance ÷ Hiking Time. Only moving segments outside the activation zone are included, so rest stops and summit time do not drag the average down.
Peak & Base Elevation
The highest and lowest elevation values recorded in the GPS track. The highest point is also used as the starting reference for the activation zone when the API method is used.
Activation Zone Methods
API-based zone (currently active): The boundary is retrieved from activation.zone using Digital Elevation Model (DEM) terrain data and the official SOTA rule — the zone extends to where the terrain drops 25 metres below the summit. This is the most accurate method and matches what SOTA adjudicators use.
Contact Map
Activation Logbook
My Summit: W6/CT-025
| Date / Time | Callsign | Frequency | Mode | Their Summit | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 21, 2026 17:05 | N6MTBS2S | 144.100 | CW | W6/SC-460 | |
| June 21, 2026 17:10 | WA6LE | 144.100 | CW | ||
| June 21, 2026 17:29 | W6DVN | 144.100 | CW | ||
| June 21, 2026 17:37 | K3MGM | 144.200 | SSB | ||
| June 21, 2026 17:40 | WA6LE | 144.200 | SSB | ||
| June 21, 2026 18:59 | K5DEX | 14.065 | CW | ||
| June 21, 2026 19:03 | WW7D | 14.065 | CW | ||
| June 21, 2026 19:05 | K6ELS2S | 14.065 | CW | W6/NC-423 | |
| June 21, 2026 19:13 | WU7H | 14.065 | CW | ||
| June 21, 2026 20:05 | W6LORS2S | 144.200 | SSB | W6/ND-328 | |
| June 21, 2026 20:05 | K6STRS2S | 144.200 | SSB | W6/ND-328 |
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