What a beautiful (and hot) day for a hike! Ara N6ARA and I had been emailing back and forth for a few weeks about getting together to co-activate and the day finally came! We opted for a more coastal summit expecting the ocean breeze to help keep the heat at bay… it never showed up! Ha
We decided to carpool and had great conversation on the way there. I got to hear about his newest collaboration with Mike K6SRT to build and release the TinyFilter 2m Bandpass Filter
Ara and I met for coffee back in April when I was considering releasing my Elecraft KH1 CW Paddle as a kit. He was encouraging, and talked me through many of the logistics that I needed to consider before releasing something to the ham radio community. Thank you again Ara!
The hike wasn’t strenuous, but it was HOT! Thankfully we summited and met a large group of hikers all hanging out and enjoying the views. We searched for any shade we could find and kicked off our activation.
I started on HF with the KH1, and he worked some 2m contacts. Then we swapped. It was neat to get my TinyFilter back in the field with the guy who brought it to life. We talked a lot about the ‘Ham Maker’ community and what drives innovation in the hobby. I very much enjoyed our conversation the whole time.
We got our logbooks beefed up and decided to head back. Traffic wasn’t great to us on the way home but it allowed us to chat more about radio clubs, what makes SOTA and QRP such a great community, and a little bit about SOTAplanner.com
All in all, a delightful activation. Thank you again Ara for hanging out!
Activation Hike Path
(13m 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
Radius method (currently active): The activation zone is approximated as a circle of 50 metres around the highest GPS point. This is less precise than the API method because it ignores terrain shape, but works without an internet lookup or summit reference in the log.
For better accuracy, enable the activation.zone API in Settings → Activator Toolkit for SOTA and ensure your CSV log includes the summit reference.
Contact Map
Activation Logbook
My Summit: W6/CC-056
| Date / Time | Callsign | Frequency | Mode | Their Summit | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 18, 2026 17:20 | KT0AS2S | 14.066 | CW | W0D/BB-008 | |
| July 18, 2026 17:25 | AE7I | 14.066 | CW | ||
| July 18, 2026 17:27 | KF7DS | 14.066 | CW | ||
| July 18, 2026 17:29 | W7WFM | 14.066 | CW | ||
| July 18, 2026 17:57 | KK6WT | 14.066 | CW | ||
| July 18, 2026 18:02 | KF7HP | 14.066 | CW | ||
| July 18, 2026 18:04 | K6MII | 14.066 | CW | ||
| July 18, 2026 18:16 | KK6WT | 144.100 | CW |
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