On Saturday, July 18th, the WS1SM team ventured to the summit of Mt. Washington, NH, to activate it for Summits on the Air (SOTA). The activation of W1/HA-001 ran concurrently with the W1V 10th Anniversary Special Event, which took place for two weeks during the summer.
This was the second time the WS1SM team used the special event call sign, W1V, during a SOTA activation from Mt. Washington – the first being in 2015 when it was used during the 5th Anniversary Special Event. In 2015, the date coincided with the CQWW VHF contest, in which we placed 1st in our category.
For most of the day, it was extremely windy (and cold) on the summit, which prevented us from fully extending the BuddiPole, and in order to prevent it from getting damaged, we had to take it down shortly after we put it up. We were planning on operating 6 meters, but instead focused mostly on VHF.
Among those who participated, were Brad Brown Jr., KC1JMH, Eric Emery N1RXR, and Stefania K1GJY and Tim Watson KB1HNZ.
Tim, Eric, and Stefania operated mostly VHF, making contacts as far away as New York state, while Brad operated HF, using a ham stick. One of Brad’s first contacts was with a Parks on the Air (POTA) station.
The wind was constant for most of the day, but thankfully it stayed dry and we didn’t have a repeat of what we experienced in 2015, when Charlie W1CPS, Thom W1WMG, and Tim KB1HNZ found themselves in a sudden deluge and were soaked!
Despite the challenge that the wind posed, we had a good day, logging over 70 QSOs – and the view was pretty awesome too!
Click here to learn more about WS1SM Summits on the Air (SOTA) activations, and to see photos of past events.
WS1SM Ham Radio Blog 