[AK-VHF] Butte SOTA

[Brandon Clark]

Hello group,

Well, we did what others said couldn't be done. The Butte activation was a
success. When I moved up here a few years ago I heard from a number of
people that there was no way to do Summits on the Air up here because of
the distance, propagation, and weather.

Well, we did it, and stumbled onto a good formula for future activations.
Starting on VHF worked perfectly and ensured that we had the minimum number
of contacts to qualify. The HF digital setup also worked, yielding about
ten additional contacts. We got contacts from the whole west coast, as well
as Kansas and one from Italy.

Having the local VHF crowd turn out at the start made the activation
possible though. HF is always uncertain, so making contacts on VHF first
ensures success.

If you're interested, check pskreporter and search for signals from my call
sign, KL7BSC. QRP is definitely possible from Alaska.

Now, we just need someone with a boat and we can start doing Islands on the
Air . . . .

73,
Brandon