It’s been about two months since I was at my local community center taking my ham radio exam for the technician license. I remember how stoked I was to have passed and couldn’t wait for my callsign to be sent to me. Here’s what arrived in my inbox from the VE.
Congratulations, KN6RDC! Now we need phonetics... Radical Daring Cruiser Red Dog Collar Roomy Dormitory Ceilings Hmm..... Steve K6UVR
Phonetically, I thought it sounded rad. Kilo November Six Romeo Delta Charlie. All that was left was to get on the air. I thought, why not a SOTA activation at my local peak?
I threw my new Yaesu FT-65R into the passenger seat with a Moleskine notebook and pen, drove ten minutes down the road, and parked at Niguel Hill. It’s a drive-up summit I had known about for a while. I posted my spot on sotl.as while I was still in my car. I wasn’t set up and my log wasn’t even prepped. It was another 3-5 minutes before I even started calling CQ. I never re-spotted. I just called “CQ SOTA” until I got my first contact, KN6CQX. After flubbing around trying to log it, I eventually got back to calling CQ. Mike K6STR and Lorene W6LOR were nearing a summit and called me back once they reached their activation zone. Lorene’s call was very difficult for me to copy (which is comical in hindsight). I kept hearing W6 and writing K6 in my log. After getting two S2S contacts with Mike and Lorene, I texted KN6FNY letting him know I was on summit, and got my fourth contact making the activation official.
All in all, not bad for my first activation just after being licensed. I’m still learning phonetics, radio slang, and exchange protocol. This should be fun.
KN6RDC on W6/SC-371 (Niguel Hill), 06 Nov 2021