My first contact!

[SD07NISMO]

Used my new FT-60R radio (and my new license) for the first time this weekend. I decided to do my own version of a "DX-pedition" and headed out to Granite Mountain in Anza Borrego State Park in California. I have always wanted to climb this peak, and I figured I'd have great coverage from the summit. Anyways, I approached from the west, off of Rodriguez Canyon, but didn't quite make it to the top. I did however make it to the summit ridge at ~5400 ft elevation and was able to hit the Catalina repeater on 147.090 with my 5W HT at a distance of 114 miles! I talked to someone in Valencia, CA which was pretty cool. All in all it was a fun little adventure.



Tyler
KJ6MFI

 

[rambrush]

Great job welcome to the addiction!

 

[silvElise]

Congrats got my call sign today.... Can not wait for my first contact

 

[ScoutII]

Cool:victory:

I will be down there next week. Don't remember that mountain off hand, you made me look it up.

I thinking of hiking up Coyote Mountain, I think thats were the golfer is. Well if looks like a golfer on the side of a mountain anyways.

Did you try any other repeaters ?

What antenna is that, as its not the stock one :::::

 

[SD07NISMO]

Did you try any other repeaters ?

I was able to hit the Mount Laguna 147.150+ (SANDRA), Palomar 147.130+ (PARC) and Keller Peak 146.385+ (OAUSA) but I didn't make any contacts on any of these. I only had about a 1/2 hour on the ridge but I was monitoring both 146.520 and the Mount Laguna repeater during the rest of the hike.

What antenna is that, as its not the stock one

It's a Smiley telescoping dual-band, not sure on the model # exactly, but I got it at HRO. When fully extended it's a 1/4 wave on 2m, then with two segments collapsed it's a 5/8 on 70cm. Fully collapsed it is supposed to be comparable to the stock rubber duck. It also has a spring built in to the base which gives it some flex, so I'm not too worried about leaving it attached to the hip belt of my backpack.

Tyler
KJ6MFI

 

[xtatik]

Hey Congrats,
Although technically it's not DX, playing with distance on FM can be a mess of fun. There are a few microwave groups that push distance limits by "mountain-topping" signals across the state.
I have a Cushcraft 10 element 2m beam that I put up from time to time and have worked as far away as San Francisco and Hawaii from Costa Mesa during periods of tropospheric ducting. When ducting isn't working, the antenna and altitude have everything to do with successfully logging distance contacts on FM. It's a great way to pick up the DX disease. Keep at it, and when you're ready, get the QSO cards printed and try your hand at HF. Good luck!

 

[frgtwn]

So, what is "technically not DX", 2 meters, or 114 miles, or maybe something else? Just a question.

Dale

 

[xtatik]

So, what is "technically not DX", 2 meters, or 114 miles, or maybe something else? Just a question.

Dale

DX refers to simplex contacts. You cannot submit for DX credit by working a station through repeaters, IRLP, Echolink, etc.
Working distant FM stations is fun, but isn't normally referred to as being DX. There are a lot of guys that work 2m to log Maidenhead Grid zones. The ARRL has an award, the VHF Worked All Zones or VHF WAZ for doing so.
Whether it's in the next county, or state makes no difference. The distinction of "DX" is normally reserved for making contacts outside ones own country with simplex (unsupported or propogated) signals. DX can also have to do with the difficulty or scarcity of stations. DXpeditions are assembled to "activate" places on the globe that have no stations.
Closer to what Tyler was doing, there is a group that will climb and activate mountain summits called Summits On The Air (SOTA), but they don't refer to the adventures as being DXpeditions and instead they call them "summit activations". I think Tyler knows this, and was having fun with the term.
Here in the States, Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico are allowed for DXCC credit and are considered DX, but they're very easy to contact and are usually the first in the log for operators here. With VHF being a primarily a line of sight mode it's not uncommon to make stations in the 100-200 mile range if you're up high enough to have an unobstructed signal path.
In any case, what Tyler did with a 5w HT is pretty remarkable. I'd like to give some credit to the HT because I also own a FT-60, but I can't ever recall making contacts that distant with it.

 

[DarioCarrera]

114 miles on a 5w HT IS pretty good!!! No doubt your location was beneficial. Next time you go a place like that, take a small laptop, orbitron software, and an arrow antenna... here is the end result:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZ20GV-6HbU"]YouTube - KJ4PSU Satellite Station and AO-51 pass 3/4/10 23:20 utc[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HB26VV0x26Y&feature=related"]YouTube - AO-51 5/24/09 22:00 Pass KC2UOO W4S (Special event)[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywECT739etI&feature=related"]YouTube - Working AO-51 with IC-T7H and Arrow Sat-tenna.[/ame]

:victory:

 

[oldcase]

Congrats on the first contact. Welcome to the hobby.

 

[frgtwn]

Thanks, xtatik, for the DX explanation. Things have become somewhat formalized in the amateur world, and much of it is new to me. I'm thinking that DX means "distance", and that was certainly distance.

Now, I just read where "73" came from, and that has a varied history as well.

Dale

 

[SD07NISMO]

Thanks xtatik for the education on the term "DX", I too did not fully understand the meaning. I'll definitely look into the SOTA group, that's really what I was going for. I've always like "peak bagging" so this really combines a couple hobbies into one activity.

Next time you go a place like that, take a small laptop, orbitron software, and an arrow antenna...

I'm interested in finding a smaller/lighter directional antenna which would be reasonable to take on an extended dayhike. The arrow antenna looks a little bit too large/bulky, I haven't really looked at any alternatives yet. Would a yagi (beam?) be smaller for 70cm?

Tyler
KJ6MFI

 

[frgtwn]

Sota

For those interested, SOTA is alive and well in the US, as well as SoCal. They can be found here:

http://www.sotausa.com/

The W6 manager is KI6J, Stu, who lives close enough that we have had a few contacts, though mostly through repeaters. On one of his early "Mountain Tops" in the San Gabriels, I was unable to reach him, though perhaps 2 airmiles away. We guessed that his gain antenna was not reaching down very well. Like 4000 feet down.

This idea (SOTA) seems a natural for folks that are going to be in some not so often visited places.

This antenna looks interesting, though I have no experience with it: http://www.elkantennas.com/2m4405element.htm 2M/440

 

[xtatik]

Here's something you guys might find entertaining or intriguing... Steve Galchutt, WG0AT and his climbing partners Rooster and Peanut. Steve works mountaintops on HF QRP primarily. He's a very quick fist on CW and is well known in the ham community. He retired from engineering in some high-tech field (can't recall) and is mixing two of his favorite pastimes...peakbagging and HF QRP. He's also the first to use a hip boom camera mount for filming his forays. If you've watched the "Survivorman" series on TV you'll appreciate the idea Steve has implemented. Enjoy.
http://il.youtube.com/user/goathiker

 

[DaveInDenver]

Thanks, xtatik, for the DX explanation. Things have become somewhat formalized in the amateur world, and much of it is new to me. I'm thinking that DX means "distance", and that was certainly distance.

It does and even if the 'formal' hams don't consider 100+ miles with a 5W HT to be DX, I think it's fine if you do. One thing to remember is that amateur radio can anything /you/ want it to be, don't get bogged down in definitions and junk. The true criteria for 'DX' only really matter if you are gunning for ARRL awards.

Personally I like doing high band VHF grids and QRP as much as anyone and I define DX more in the sense that you are working stations over distances that require you to understand and maximize your station's capability.

Making a 500 mile contact across the country with a self-cut dipole and a 3W kit radio you built is in IMVHO just as 'DX' as working 5,000 miles with a $10,000 HRO-bought 1.5kW station with a tower and a beam. In fact, I might even go so far as to say the fella who understands propagation characteristics well enough to make a 100 mile FM HT contact is a pretty astute ham.