After leaving the highway (at a low 1200 foot elevation), and now on a dirt road, I put up my long whip on the Hustler HF Mount on the top of the VAN. The long whip can take the occasional whack of the low hanging tree branches over the mountain dirt roads. I was immediately encouraged, I could hear several QSO's on 6 meters, a sign of good things to come when I get to higher ground.
The ride up to the first vista is about 15 minutes and 6 miles. My VAN's ignition noise obliterated the QSO's as I drove (I really need to fix that).
End of the Road, Blocked by Snow |
But, NO, nothing on 50.140mHz or any other freq on 6 meters. I was high enough that if anyone was on 6 meters in Puget Sound I would have an almost line of sight path to their QTH.
I had some luck working the other bands and I retried 6 meters off-and-on for several hours. but still nothing on 6.
I could hear and work most of the 2 meter repeaters within the Puget Sound area, but that was NOT my goal.
Mt Pilchuck (in the background), and the Upper Parking Lot |
Mt Pilchuck's Upper Parking Lot, at about 3200 feet |
(Sorry, no photos)
So, I got Skunked on 6 meters today.
But I had a great time out in the sun, and on the mountains with Tess, and we had fun talking with the many hikers along the roads. Tess is very much a people-dog, but she really enjoys being out with all of the playful kids.
Note: I just discovered there are "two" Green Mountain's which are near each other (25 miles) in Washington, shown on the map link each at the end of the connecting line. The one that I frequent is the lower southern mountain.
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