Posted: 5/11/2026 11:47:52 PM EDT
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Our local SOTA enthusiast is attempting Denali later this month and we are all hoping to helping him get an activation. I realize this doesn't apply to the rest of the country since he will be 2m, but still cool enough that I'd thought I'd share. https://kl7aa.org/another-denali-sotabobby-al5ka/ |
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Originally Posted By K0UA: Why on earth isn't he taking a telescoping whip and a 20 meter rig with some radials. Keep us updated, for those of us 3,000 miles away, a little out of 2M range! |
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Originally Posted By Bluedog1971: Epic  There is a Polish ham going up in a few days that may beat him if he's successful. I think our guy is about 3 days ahead of that other guy. They are in communication. Speaking of, we have a Discord server up here and one of the guys just built an app that kicks out a Discord notification whenever an AK POTA park get's activated. I'll post the link over in the POTA thread too. https://discord.gg/8ABxC8E8 |
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Originally Posted By tyrex13: He does all his activations on 2m. He said his gear was already his bodyweight of 150lbs... He will have a clear LOS into Anchorage and the Valley. With that much gear he needs a pack goat or two. |
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SOTA on McKinley  is not a realistic goal. Time at the summit will be extremely limited due to the altitude and weather conditions. For a normal person, unacclimated to high altitudes, time of useful consciousness at the summit of McKinley is 10 to 20 minutes. Acclimated (and extremely fit) climbers do not linger there more than 30 minutes. And nobody wants to carry any more than they have to when they summit a mountain like McKinley.On the other hand, POTA from up high on McKinley seems like a potentially interesting way to pass the time on rest/acclimatization days at the various camps. Climbers typically work their way up through camps at 11, 14 and 17 thousand feet. |
"Cogito, ergo armatum sum."
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Originally Posted By aa777888-2: SOTA on McKinley is not a realistic goal. Time at the summit will be extremely limited due to the altitude and weather conditions. For a normal person, unacclimated to high altitudes, time of useful consciousness at the summit of McKinley is 10 to 20 minutes. Acclimated (and extremely fit) climbers do not linger there more than 30 minutes. And nobody wants to carry any more than they have to when they summit a mountain like McKinley.On the other hand, POTA from up high on McKinley seems like a potentially interesting way to pass the time on rest/acclimatization days at the various camps. Climbers typically work their way up through camps at 11, 14 and 17 thousand feet. I think SOTA only needs 3 or 4 contacts. He'll have line of site to half the state's population and HAM's. He could be done in 5 minutes if all goes well. |
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Originally Posted By tyrex13: I think SOTA only needs 3 or 4 contacts. He'll have line of site to half the state's population and HAM's. He could be done in 5 minutes if all goes well. |
"Cogito, ergo armatum sum."
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Bobby was able to get his Denali summit and SOTA activation today. It will be all over FB and probably HAM radio news in the next couple of weeks. I was not able to successfully work him from the shack. I regret not putting up a beam. I heard him solidly a couple times but was not able to complete a QSO. The guy that worked him from Anchorage and surrounding area went portable to low noise locations and used hand held yagis with 705's and the like. I thought local noise might be an issue and really considered going to set up portable a couple of hours before the event, but part of me really wanted to evaluate my shack 2m performance. Anyway, wish him a safe return. AAR to follow and possibly a YouTube video. |
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Today I went portable and was able to work SQ9FVE on the Denali summit. He also got his 4. 2 in Anchorage and 2 in Fairbanks. Attached File Attached File |
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Man that is impressive. I've done 40 miles on 2m to a local SOTA guy once, and done 97 miles to a 70cm repeater. Does 200 miles to a satellite count lol? 140 mile shot, very cool. Someone needs to get that guy a plaque or something. Amazing to do the climb by itself, let alone doing comms like that. |
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Originally Posted By tyrex13: Bobby was able to get his Denali summit and SOTA activation today. It will be all over FB and probably HAM radio news in the next couple of weeks. I was not able to successfully work him from the shack. I regret not putting up a beam. I heard him solidly a couple times but was not able to complete a QSO. The guy that worked him from Anchorage and surrounding area went portable to low noise locations and used hand held yagis with 705's and the like. I thought local noise might be an issue and really considered going to set up portable a couple of hours before the event, but part of me really wanted to evaluate my shack 2m performance. Anyway, wish him a safe return. AAR to follow and possibly a YouTube video. That's fantastic! |
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