Sea to Summit

 It started with an 11 hour drive. It actually started before that.  I had a wish to operate from Cape Hatteras.  During my EmComm years each season I would track hurricanes and create my own predictions.  Cape Hatteras because of its location appeared to be a hurricane magnet. Its location also had the allure of being “out there”.  The drive was uneventful, albeit a little long for these old bones. But the Cape was worth it.  I pulled in Friday evening and spent the night in a motel checking over my gear.

Saturday I started early with a stop at the Beads and Grinds Coffee shop for a fresh cup of coffee and a scone.  Scones aren’t on my menu anymore but this is a special occasion after- all. I decided to operate from the Cape Hatteras Light Station Parking Lot. I was going to try my new truck awning but it was too windy so I parked near some trees to make use of the natural shade. 

My antenna was a Chameleon 17” Whip attached to a Chameleon Blank Adapter which was attached to the crossbar on my camper shell. Counterpoise was a wire connected to my Pickup truck bed.  Radio for today was my new-to-me KX3 on its maiden voyage. I operated from a folding chair until the rains came.  It first is was a drizzle and then a downpour.  I retreated to the drivers seat and set my radio in the dash.  I was operating CW and managed 19 contacts before calling it quits. Band conditions were not that good and it was a struggle at times to make contacts especially QRP. The radio operated as expected.  It is always nice to have a good receiver.  Band conditions were rather poor and often I was working stations with a signal strength of S1 or less.  In general the bands seemed to be running short. Most of my contacts were on 20 meters. I am happy with the antenna setup.  It goes up and down easily with little fuss. With it I can operate 40 meters and up.  During most of my POTA activations I operate on 40, 30, 20, and 17. 

While I was there a local Ham club showed up for Field Day to setup.  Like me they retreated under cover to wait out the storm. After I packed up my station, I visited with them under their shelter for a while and we had a nice chat. I headed back to the motel to dry out myself and my gear.  Tomorrow is another day.

Last night (Saturday), a band of thunderstorms came through. I was glad to be staying in a motel this time. More rain is predicted for Sunday and hopefully I can get an activation in. Because of the band conditions,  I am going to run FT8.  I brought my IC-705 with me as a backup since this was the KX3’s first outing. I purchased the KX3 used so this was the maiden voyage/test flight.  It passed.  The 705 is a great radio.  One of the benefits is I can run FT8 on it using my iPhone or iPad and connect them via WiFi. No extra cables needed. I hope Icom is going to do this with their recently announced new radio.  That would be one of the things that would push me over the edge to buy it. 

Sunday morning brought clear skies and a nice off shore breeze. After a stop at Beads and Grinds (coffee with a Crème Brûlée donut and a Scone) I headed back to the Cape Hatteras Light Station.  I found a shady spot and set up my station.  I used the same antenna as yesterday, Chameleon 17’ SS whip, Blank Adapter and a truck bed counterpoise. 

Band conditions were not looking good with Solar Flux at 188. I decided this time to use the IC-705 and FT8.  This was a smart choice.  Throughout the activation, I was consistently hitting the reverse beacon network.  

Of course this was Field Day weekend so I pretty much stayed on 30 meters.  Pickings were slim, but I managed another 27 contacts. I deployed the awning and it was great to have some shade. 

By 1000 hrs, the sun was up and it was getting warm.  At this point I decided to call it a day and pursue other activities.  I am not a hot weather guy. Here is the QSO map from the activation.

It was a long drive getting up here and my bones aren’t up to those long hours behind the wheel.  I decided to split my trip home.  Early Monday morning I left Cape Hatteras and headed for Mt Michell State Park. Mt Mitchell is the highest peak in the Appalachian Mountains and the highest peak in mainland North America east of the Mississippi River. It’s about an 8 hour drive and I thought it would be cool to do a sea to summit activation. I will get there Monday PM and then spend the night nearby. The drive home from there is only about 4 hours. To me it will be worth the couple of extra hours spread out over 2 days. My plan is to operate FT8 again. I maybe too worn out to tackle CW.

At 0430 hrs  I was pulling out of Cape Hatteras heading toward Western North Carolina.  I had a lot of fun, ate good food and met some really nice people. All boxes were checked.  It was a long uneventful drive across NC finally reaching the summit of Mt Mitchell by 1300 hrs.

  There are still repairs/restoration effects ongoing in the area.  The parking lot was about half full and I didn’t really see a good place to set up.  I was not geared for hiking anywhere.  I decided to use the truck radio, an IC-7100 attached to an AH-730 tuner. I normally run a 108” whip but around town I keep it stowed in the bed.  For this instance I mounted  my Chameleon 17” SS whip again using the truck bed as a counterpoise. A quick tap of the tune button and everything was matched up. 

 Band conditions were still not good with QSB so mode of choice was FT8 and 20 watts.  It took over an hour to get 22 contacts.  Under normal condones and this being on the highest peak east of the Mississippi River, I should've been slammed.  

From there it was about an hour and a half drive to my motel room for the night.  Tomorrow it’s about a 4-4.5 hr drive home easy-peasy.

It was fun making the side trip to Mt Mitchell.  This is the stomping ground of my friend Thomas K4SWL so I had to make the pilgrimage. It was a fun trip.  It did put a little more wear and tear on the body than I figured.  I guess it’s time for me to start acting my age - dang. Future excursions will probably be shorter, I need to recalibrate, the fun is still there, still attainable, nothing a paradigm shift won’t solve.

Thanks to everyone who had the patience to work me, it was tough band conditions. We are having a heat wave this week so stay safe and hydrate. You old guys like me, take extra care.  I know, the mind is willing…73 de Scott