Montana Motor Stables: July 2017

Hello All!

June weather in NA has been somewhat eclectic which is sort of reflected in our statistics for the month ... up a bit in nearly all categories but not a lot. In the high elevations in the west, there is still a lot of snow on the ground. The southwest saw extreme heat in the latter half of the month, well above 43C [110F] in many places. The midwest and points east and south experienced extreme weather events.

NA Statistics for Jun
Produced: 06/27/2017 at: 21:21:30 UTC

Total Activations: 678 [639]
Total Activators: 207 [178]
Total Chaser QSO's: 6502 [5995]
Total Chasers: 268 [270]
Unique Summits: 480 [430]

BAND # LAST MONTH
3.5MHz: 18 ( 0.2%) [ 12 ( 0.2%)]
5MHz: 120 ( 1.8%) [ 95 ( 1.6%)]
7MHz: 1159 ( 18.0%) [ 1243 ( 20.9%)]
10MHz: 841 ( 13.1%) [ 765 ( 12.9%)]
14MHz: 3751 ( 58.4%) [ 3447 ( 58.1%)]
18MHz: 237 ( 3.6%) [ 125 ( 2.1%)]
21MHz: 28 ( 0.4%) [ 19 ( 0.3%)]
28MHz: 29 ( 0.4%) [ 9 ( 0.1%)]
50MHz: 9 ( 0.1%) [ 11 ( 0.1%)]
144MHz: 209 ( 3.2%) [ 182 ( 3.0%)]
220MHz: 2 ( 0.0%) [ 0 ( 0%)]
433MHz: 12 ( 0.1%) [ 13 ( 0.2%)]
1240MHz: 1 ( 0.0%) [ 8 ( 0.1%)]

MODE # LAST MONTH:
AM: 2 ( 0.0%) [ 0 ( 0%)]
CW: 4563 ( 71.0%) [ 4287 ( 72.3%)]
Data: 10 ( 0.1%) [ 5 ( 0.0%)]
FM: 217 ( 3.3%) [ 202 ( 3.4%)]
Other: 2 ( 0.0%) [ 2 ( 0.0%)]
SSB: 1628 ( 25.3%) [ 1432 ( 24.1%)]

AWARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS:

At the top of the list, and many thanks to Pete, WA7JTM, for the list, June saw five, [count 'em, 5] new Mtn Goats for a total of exactly fifty in the New World! In order of achievement:

#46 N7CW 6/2 100% CW, 100% W7A summits
#47 N2GBR 6/3 100% phone, 100% unique summits
#48 AC1Z 6/12 100% CW
#49 KE7BGM 6/18 100% CW, 100% W7A summits, 2nd NA Lady Goat
#50 K9PM 6/19 100% CW, Least activations to MG [100], 100% W7A summits

With 100 summits, K9PM chose all 10-pointers! Elapsed time ranged from 15.6 weeks [KB7BGM] to 80.0 [N7CW]. A hearty BAAA to all the new Goats!

Pete, WA7JTM, also mentioned: "Back this last January I operated the ARRL January VHF Contest from a SOTA summit, Scarlet Mtn W7A/MN-143. I sent the log into the ARRL and mentioned that I was not only in the contest but doing a SOTA activation at the same time. Well in the just out July QST I/we got a good piece of press in the article for this contest. We also got even more mention in the 'expanded results' article on the ARRL website. I won the SW ARRL Division and came in fourth in North America in the QRP Portable class. We/SOTA got quite a plug from the article author, KK6MC."

NEWS AND HAPPENINGS:

Roswell, New Mexico, is the extra-terrestial capital of North America so this photo snapped by Alan, NM5S, on W7A/CS-045 a cinder cone named Turkey Hills South in Arizona is a bit surprising. Perhaps we should rename it "Mt. Ararat, AZ."

Oleh, KD7WPJ, reported what possibly could have been a multi-hop sporadic E QSO with EA1DR on 20 meters while activating W6/CT-004. It occurred at 2334 UTC [middle of night in EA]on a dipole with 2.5 watts. He also worked Oregon[CN94] on 6 meters that same day. June was a wild month for Es on 6 and 10, the DXMaps site was literally packed with spots, so it's not out of the question.

REPORT OF THE MONTH:

This month, we hear from Paul AA1MI/HB9DSTand a report of a long NA expedition from the deep south to the Canadian Maritimes. [Ed note: I had to edit some for length]:

"I returned to the USA in May -- my daughter graduated from medical school in Atlanta, and two weeks later she got married in seacoast New Hampshire. Opportunity for activations and more associations: I now have 49 associations. I not only got a number of first summit activtions, I also got a first Association activation (VY2)."

"My brother Ed picked me up after graduation, and we first went to W5M/MS-001 (Choctaw County HP - only W5M summit). For our overnight, we drove just south of Nashville to the casinos at Tunica Resorts, where he got us a room that cost us just the resort fee of $14.00. I signed up for as a new member of the casino club, and we both got the evening buffet at no charge. Can't beat those prices!"

"The next morning to activate W5A/OH-001 (Rich Mountain). Then, less than an hour to W5O/OU-005 (Sycamore Lookout). Then, off to Jasper, TX, close to my next target summit where we met up with our cousin Dave (who we hadn't seen in about 50 years, and who lives in San Antonio) and his wife Maggie. We spent a really pleasant weekend catching up with them and going to the local rodeo. When people asked where we were from and I said Switzerland, they looked at me like I was an alien: 'What y'all doin in lil old Jasper Texas?????' I didn't even try to explain SOTA. While there we activated W5T/NT-039 (Newton County HP)."

"We spent a day in New Orleans before I hopped a plane to Boston to start preparations for the wedding. The weather in New England had been rainy and cold, but luckily the Saturday of the big event turned out to be perfect with lots of sunshine."

"After those two big events, especially the wedding, it was time to decompress so I toured the Canadian Maritimes. After driving through Maine, the first stop was at Saint John for an overnight. Then the next day I bagged my New Brunswick summit VE9/AL-002 (Carty). There was still time left in the afternoon, and I drove to one of the trip's highlights, Hopewell Rocks park on the Bay of Fundy where they have the world's highest tides. That day the difference between low tide and high tide was 19.5 meters!! It felt strange walking along the ocean floor knowing what would happen in just a few hours."

"The next day off to Prince Edward Island, which has two summits (both easily accessible by roads). So not only was I the first to activate -- VY2/PE-001 (Glen Valley) and VY2/PE-002 (Caledonia) -- it also meant I was the first to activate that Association, something I was pretty excited about."

"The final stop was Cape Breton Island, NS -- which the tourism website says "is ranked as the #1 Island in North America by Travel + Leisure magazine, and is home to the Cabot Trail which was ranked in USA Today’s 10 Best Motorcycle Trips, MSN Travel’s 10 Most Underrated Attractions, and Zoomer’s 7 Greatest Road Trips."

"Getting detailed info about summit access on Cape Breton is not trivial, however, I stopped at the Information Center at Port Hastings for assistance. Susan was exceptionally helpful and found SOTA very fascinating. She saved me literally hours of time and aggravation! I chose VE1/CB-015 (Melrose Hill), another first activation. With a 4x4, this is a drive-up summit on dirt roads. My car, however, was not equipped for that, so I had to hike for an hour before getting to an area with a communications tower and some satellite dishes."

"Finally back to New Hampshire and a stop at Campobello Island (directly on the Maine/Canadian border) to visit the Franklin Roosevelt summer residence. The island is Canadian property, so to access it by car you have to go through border security checkpoints at the bridge going both in and out -- just for an island with several hundred inhabitants."

"Pleasant SOTAs and got to see some sights that I otherwise never would have seen."

That's going to be it from "SOTA In The Western Hemisphere" for this month. Hard to believe we've already passed the solstice. Sunspots are a thing of the past right now, but Sporadic E has been really hot.

73, Activate Safely, and Have Fun,

Fred ("Skip") K6DGW
Sparks NV USA
Washoe County DM09dn
NA SOTA Reporter Dude

Monday, July 31, 2017

Sunday, July 30, 2017

Saturday, July 29, 2017

Monday, July 10, 2017

Thursday, July 6, 2017

Tuesday, July 4, 2017

Monday, July 3, 2017

Sunday, July 2, 2017

Saturday, July 1, 2017