From the Top of the World: KI6SN at Box Springs Mountain

It turned out of the an excellent choice for a climbing destination for the Adventure Radio Society's Top of the World Contest, in conjunction with the American Radio Relay League's VHF QSO Party on June 12.

I've always been a fan of 2-meter FM simplex. In fact, it has been my post for several years at the Zuni Loop Mountain Expeditionary Force Field Day operations in the San Gabriel Mountains north of Los Angeles.

At the Loop, though, I'd hauled heavy metal poles on which to mount an equally heavy 5-element 2-meter quad. It just isn't the kind of set up you'd ever consider for a backpacking trip.

ARS founder Russ Carpenter, AA7QU, is an indefatigable disciple of TOW, and I give him tremendous credit in pestering me to lighten-up, and reduce my VHF gear to the kind of stuff that can be carried in a knap sack.

When it comes to the radio (a Radio Shack HTX-202 handitalkie) and power pack (7 aH gel cell), I was in good shape. But that antenna situation had to be resolved.

Earlier this year I started combing my library of radio magazines, handbooks and manuals for an efficient, lightweight, directional 2-meter antenna with a bit of gain. There are lots of excellent designs, but one that seemed to resonate with all the requirements for TOW was found in an article by Nathan Loucks, WB0CMT, in the April 1993 edition of QST magazine.
Under the headline "7dB for 7 Bucks," Loucks presented a vertically polarized 3-element beam that – in my mind, anyway – appeared to be made to order for quick assembly and breakdown, and whose design included a very clever and simple matching network.
In the end, it turned out to be the perfect radiator for TOW .

The beam would sit atop a 7-foot PVC mast and be rotated by hand from my trail chair's position at the base of the support. Three lightweight guy lines angled from a plastic center support. The director, reflector and driven element were made from metal rod material I picked up from the local Home Depot store.

The mast was cut into two sections (one 3-feet; the other 4-feet) with a center coupler, allowing the pieces to fit into the backpack – with tops protruding from the sack, but that was no problem.

A Greatland stadium-style seat was selected for back support, and mesh siding material on its side was the perfect pocket for a small solar panel I'd tote.

Out here on the west coast the contest began at 11 a.m. I'd figured it would take about 20 minutes to drive to the regional park's parking lot near the mountain's peak. I'd hike to a good vantage point from there and see what I could do as a mountain-based simplex operator.

The weather couldn't have been much better: bright sun, moderate temperatures and a nice breeze. From Box Springs’ parking lot I hiked a lonely utility road, and then struck off cross country to get to a good location. The area is not heavily traveled, so marked trails were practically nonexistent.

I saw a ridge that looked promising and veered from the road to reach it. A narrow, lightly matted trail soon appeared. At first I figured it was a footpath long forgotten. But after receiving an angry backward glance from a coyote, it was clear I was on a thoroughfare frequented by Box Springs’ inhabitants. It was at that point I was reminded why we call this the ADVENTURE Radio Society.

The trek up a steep rise was well worth the effort. Reaching the top I was presented with a beautiful view of the City of Riverside below. It took my breath away.

The contest had already started, so I quickly went to work putting up the antenna. Short pieces of PVC, in-line joints and T-joints make up the rigid part of the array. I set up the mast first, guying it rigidly in a place that would be comfortable to sit in.
Then it was just a matter of sliding in the elements, clipping on the coax, and adding some clothespins to keep things from sliding around. This is Ugly Construction at its finest. Setting up the solar panel, and getting out the "log" (a 3X5 inch index card), and I was ready to roll.

Firing up the HTX-202 on the area's popular simplex frequencies gave ready confirmation that this was going to be an interesting day. The band was full of signals. I had no idea just how well this antenna would perform, but it was time to find out – I'd put grid square DM13 on the map, by golly.

KQ6CS was calling CQ Contest from DM14. That's in the Los Angeles area, some 65 miles west of me. I gave him a shout, and to my delight he came right back. I was full quieting! That was just too rich.

Next came KE6BOV (DM14), KF6VJC (DM13) and KE6MAS (DM03). I was less than eight minutes into the contest. What fun. I even worked the station aboard the Queen Mary, docked at Long Beach Harbor.

Shifting to 146.55 MHz I ran into fellow ARS member Lorraine Aubert, AC6XK. She's outdoors editor of The ARS Sojourner and an excellent VHF operator. We QSY’d to a clear frequency and had our first of several chats for the day. She was on Tahquitz Peak – east of me on Mt. San Jacinto. Turning my beam, she was full quieting and we had a chance to catch up on old times. It was truly one of the highlights of the day.

Pausing to catch my breath at one point (for a CW man, phone operations can sure become tiring), I took a moment to admire my beautiful surroundings. Behind me lay the sprawling green valley I'd hiked from the parking lot to get here. To my left and right were spectacular boulders jutting from the side of the mountain. A stand of rocks a few feet away served as a tripod for my camera as I raced back to the operating position before snapping the picture.

At the end of the day I'd managed to work 32 stations in four grid squares. No, it won't win any prizes, but for my first solo TOW effort I'm quite pleased with the results.
In almost 30 years of amateur radio it ranks among the most exciting, rewarding and pleasurable experiences I've ever had.

With apologies to that lone coyote, let the word go forth from this place and time: I'll be there for the next TOW. I was on the top of the world in more ways than I'd ever imagined.

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Richard Fisher, KI6SN, a longtime QRPer and tenderfoot outdoorsman, is executive editor of The ARS Sojourner. He lives in Riverside, CA. ki6sn@aol.com