W5T/ST-012 SOTA ACTIVATION 2021-12-30

I activated W5T/ST-012 in the "Summits on the Air" program on December 30, 2021, and had a lot of fun with it. The activation zone for this summit is accessible from Hill Country State Natural Area (a property of the Texas State Parks system) near Bandera, TX. The park staffer was familiar with the SoTA and PoTA programs and was enthusiastic about my activation! I camped overnight in the park's car campground on the nights before and after the activation so that I could maximize my time on the air the day of the activation. I completed contacts on 40m, 30m, and 20m CW, and 2m FM. I hung a nylon rain poncho with some parachute cord to provide a little shade, and had a closed cell foam pad to sit on. On HF, I used a KD1JV AT Sprint 3, and a 44' inverted L fed against a few 16' radials (matched with an EMTECH ZM-2). The antenna was supported by a 20' fiberglass kite pole. I used an Icom IC-V80 Sport and an MFJ-1714 ("Long Ranger" - half wave) antenna on 2 meter FM. There appears to be 2 meter simplex activity on 146.52 MHz in the area. I made 4 contacts on 2 meter FM (enough for the activation to "count" in the SoTA program), so this summit could be a good candidate for San Antonio area Technician class licensees to experience a SoTA activation.