There’s gold in them there hills…activating PT-7940 W6/CT-060, September 28, 2015

Summit: W6/CT-060

Activation Date: September 28, 2015

ATT Data Coverage: Spotty

ATT Voice coverage: Not sure but presumed to be spotty

APRS Coverage: Not sure

Hike stats: 1.5 miles roundtrip and staggering 138′ of ascent up to 7940′, walk on dirt road and exposed summit.

Gold is so intertwined with California’s history, even our school kids could probably tell you about 1849 and its so significant we even named a football team after it!!

California’s gold story is ostensibly centered on a region east of Sacramento in the foot hills of the Sierra Nevada mountains and a ramble along highway 49 is really worth the time. So when (re-) planning the route to PT-7940 I was intrigued by the history of Holcomb Valley (epicenter of Southern Cal’s largest gold rush) in the San Bernardino mountains and upon arrival discovered that PT 7940 is actually located on the edge of an active gold mine!!

Having parked the trusty Jeep, my first hint this would be a different activation was being confronted with a sign that video surveillance is active here in the middle of nowhere (well almost). Bit strange….

The next clue this is all quite a different activation is the ever increasing audible warning sounds of dump trucks backing up. I wonder if i’m going to be overrun by a dump truck on this trail. I sally forth and the road wiggles round offering up a vantage point to look back and see a modern day “strip” mining operation. Maybe super small on scale, maybe operated by hobbyists…who knows but its a genuine gold mine of soughts.

A lonely weather beaten and lifeless tree trunk marks the peak of PT 7940 and its singleness is a fitting symbol to this activation.

My station setup starts with “surveying” the area and trying to determine the best antenna deployment to get this activation’s target chasers; for 40m its the LA basin and AZ/NM and for 20M its the mid US and east. The low elevation of the end fed relative to the hill had me worried that my paltry 12 watts SSB would be lost in the immediate locale but to my happy surprise 40m hummed and I netted my largest ever 40m chasers including Dave C (KG5EIU) in TX (1,200 miles!!) and Daniel D (NA6MG) who had helped me plan out these 2 days of San Bernardino activations.

I’m really loving the LNR 40/20/10 trail friendly antenna. Its exceeded my expectations on 40m and I’m looking forward to trying 10m one day. VK1NAM suggested via a comment that we try 10m and from Cal to Aus and that would be a noteworthy QSO for this beginner!!