Looking at reports from other activators, it appeared that the approaches to the summit of Bald Hill in Marin County were steep, steeper, and steepest. In the hopes of starting the hike with as much elevation gain as possible already behind us, I chose the route that starts at Crest Road in Fairfax.

The information sign for Bald Hill Open Space Preserve stands just past the locked gate where Crest Road becomes Crest Fire Road. There is enough space for two cars to park at the turnaround before the gate.

About a half mile from the gate you come to the spot where the Google Maps pin for is dropped for Sky Ranch Open Space Preserve. The trail system intertwines through both Sky Ranch OSP and Bald Hill OSP, and with the names of both locations sprinkled around on different bits of signage it can get a little confusing as to which preserve you are in. But it doesn’t matter much, just go “up” and you’ll find the summit.

My hiking buddy used an app on her phone to collect some stats on our ascent to the summit of Baldy. From the trailhead, where the equestrian area is, the fire road goes steeply up and over a knoll to where it joins the Worn Spring fire road.

I recommend to take the Sky Ranch trail from the trailhead. This skirts around the eastern side of the knoll and avoids the steep elevation gain, much of which you give right back on the other side. We took this trail on the return leg rather than climbing straight over the knoll again.

The fire road to the summit is a steep climb but offers enough level spots where you can take a rest, hydrate, and catch your breath while watching other much more fit people run right past on their way up the hill!

The broad summit and activation zone offers panoramic views of the northern part of the Bay Area, but nothing in the way of antenna supports, so be prepared to supply your own.

With the GRA-3750T vertical antenna and the Mountaintopper MTR-4B on 20 meters I collected 15 QSOs within 20 minutes.

The first call was from K6EL a few miles north on Loma Alta W6/NC-350. The familiar duo of W0MNA and W0ERI checked in from Kansas and WU7H and WW7D were on W7W/CW-068 in Washington state.

After securing the HF operations and a successful activation I gave 2 meters a try. A pair of QSOs on FM was enough before heading back down the hill.

From Bald Hill there are views of Mt. Tam, San Francisco, southern Marin and Bay Area, including Mt. Diablo to the southeast.

73 de W6CSN

The new year means time off work and the opportunity to overindulge in amateur radio activities. With no antenna installed presently at my home QTH, all of my operating must be done in the field.

For January 1st, 2024 I was able to complete two POTA activations at local parks. The first was actually on December 31st local time but was a New Year’s activation nonetheless as the calendar already turned in Greenwich.

The Presidio of San Francisco National Historic Site K-7889 is the park in my “backyard” where I rolled in just after 00 UTC. It didn’t occur to me to take a lot of pictures of the radio action but there was a nice sunset.

A total of 16 QSOs made it into the log, one was a duplicate and it seems two of the other contacts were “busted” as they didn’t return anything from lookup in qrz.com. I didn’t have any difficulty copying the calls and neither operator corrected me so I can only log what I copied.

Advice to hunters: don’t be afraid to correct the activator if you have any doubt as to whether they copied your call correctly, even if you are on the slower side with CW or the activator is working fast. POTA is not a contest and I’d rather take the time to log your call correctly than end up with a busted contact and you not getting hunter credit for the QSO.

The next morning we got up early for the traditional New Year’s Day hike. In the mediterranean climate of central California, there are good odds that January 1st weather will be clear and bright, if not overly warm.

We headed to the Tennessee Valley which cuts through the Marin Headlands out to a small beach of the same name. All of this area is within the expansive boundaries of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area K-0647.

The problem with being in a valley is the surrounding terrain is not exactly conducive to QRP radio operating. So we began to hike up one of the “roads” up toward Coyote Ridge. These trails are wide enough for a vehicle to pass but most parts are so steep that only a serious off-road vehicle could manage it. Besides, the gate is locked at the trailhead parking area.

After 800 feet of elevation gain I was not at the top of the Coyote Ridge but high enough to have a radio view to the east. The hike this far had been short, but quite strenuous so I was happy to find a flat-ish spot off the trail to setup a tripod and antenna.

I ran the RG-316 coax 25 feet from the antenna to the operating position where an embankment offered perfect place to sit by the side of the trail. While I worked for about 45 minutes to get ten contacts on 20 meters my hiking companion continued up the steep trail to Coyote Ridge, from which she assured me that the views were excellent.

Again, between the hiking and scratching for QSOs I neglected to take pictures of the radio setup. But picture in your mind the red Mountaintopper MTR-4B with N0SA Sota paddles and black 3ah 12v power source and that was the station.

As soon as the activation was complete, I packed up the station and we booked it back down the hill as we had a some errands to run before a family get-together in the afternoon.

Happy New Year and 73,

W6CSN

Review of the smallest portable 2m antenna on the market producing full size dipole performance and stows into your pocket.

The post Nelson Antennas 2m rollup antenna review appeared first on Ham Radio . Magnum Experimentum.

It’s been a long year, and the fact that we had to spend a significant share of our time at home did not necessarily mean that we had more time to read, write, or do other things that we planned:… Continue Reading →

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I built a prototype APRS beacon, dubbed Thor Hammer (big), to test back-packable APRS 2m beacon concepts.

The post BOB, the battery operated “beacon” for APRS appeared first on Ham Radio . Magnum Experimentum.