Rocky Ridge (W6/NC-268) SOTA Activation

Summit: Rocky Ridge (W6/NC-268)

On the 20th of September I activated this summit with a co-worker who is interested in Ham Radio and SOTA. I have been telling him all about it and I thought the best way for understanding is to see it in progress. We had to make a trip to some local areas for planning so I found this summit and we decided to activate. Not to many photos on this one and the two that I have should show why.

Cell Signal: Yes (Verizon / AT&T) No issues with sending or receiving information off of SOTA goat on the top of this one.

Interference: None. I had absolutely no noise on the top of this one and was able to pull some really week signals. I like the fact that I can make a 5/0 contact. Technically I never give that report as it sounds rediculous but I can truely say that there are summits that I am on that my meter on the 857d does not move at all but I can still here the caller 100%

Distance: Round Trip 2.6 Miles. This is a fairly steep trail. You start off at about 1,000 ft and climb t0 2,000 ft. in just over a mile. Definitely gets the heart going.

Trail Condition: Paved road for most of the trip. There is dirt trails that you can take to make it shorter. The last 1/2 mile is a well maintained dirt path.

EveryTrail Route: http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=2327454

Setup: FT857d, MP1 SuperAntenna, 6 Counter poises at 1/4 wavelength, 12 ft telescoping whip, 7.5 A/H SLAB.

Contacts: 14 Contacts on a fairly quick activation, all SSB.

This was the view I had for pretty much the whole trip. I could only see a little bit in front of me with all the Clouds.

Another View. Sorry for the lack of pictures. Not much to see today!

My Log::

QSO: 71850 SS 2013-09-20 1701 KF7PXT        58         WA6RIC        54          

QSO: 71850 SS 2013-09-20 1700 KF7PXT        58         K6TUY         47          

QSO: 71850 SS 2013-09-20 1656 KF7PXT        55         N6KZ          55          

QSO: 71850 SS 2013-09-20 1654 KF7PXT        57         NS7P          33          

QSO: 14347 SS 2013-09-20 1647 KF7PXT        55         K5DEZ         55          

QSO: 14347 SS 2013-09-20 1643 KF7PXT        43         WA4HMX        43          

QSO: 14347 SS 2013-09-20 1642 KF7PXT        33         WX4ET         33          

QSO: 14347 SS 2013-09-20 1640 KF7PXT        55         WG0AT         55          

QSO: 14347 SS 2013-09-20 1640 KF7PXT        54         N4EX          34          

QSO: 14347 SS 2013-09-20 1639 KF7PXT        57         WB5USB        55          

QSO: 14347 SS 2013-09-20 1639 KF7PXT        57         N4MJ          55          

QSO: 14347 SS 2013-09-20 1638 KF7PXT        59+        K6EL          59+         

QSO: 14347 SS 2013-09-20 1637 KF7PXT        59         K8TE          59          

QSO: 14347 SS 2013-09-20 1637 KF7PXT        59         AE4FZ         54  

Thanks to all the Chasers!