barnard mountain SOTA

Hazeltop Mountain, Virginia

Hazeltop Mountain (W4V/SH-004) is a short hike and easy summit to activate. The summit is located along the Appalachian trail and offers plenty of space for antennas.

Summit Information:

Summit Name: Hazeltop Mtn, (W4V/SH-004)

Location: Front Royal, VA

Latitude/Longitude: 38.4784,-78.4517

Date: January 7th, 2021

Parking: Free


Points: 8 + 3 (Winter Bonus)

County: Warren County

Grid: FM08si

Weather: Sunny, 33 degrees

Permit: Yes, $20 Entrance fee

Robertson Mountain Map

Sugarloaf Mountain

Difficulty

Views

Solitude

On a Scale of 1 to 5

The trailhead for Hazeltop is right at the parking lot and once on the trail is an easy climb to the summit. The summit itself is just the trail. Views are limited however there is plenty of space (along the trail) to hang an antenna. Perhaps it was because my 8th SOTA activation in two days, but throwing my rock bag has become an art form. I guess practice does pay off. With my antenna up, I made several contacts on both 20 and 40 meters. Worked several of my favorite stations including W0MNA and W0ERI. Managed to work two DX stations as well. Lately I feel my CW speed increasing and bumped up the keyer speed to 14 WPM. Anything outside the normal SOTA exchange I still struggle with, however the basic exchange makes for easy head copy.

Barnard SOTA log

On the Air:

DX Contacts

2

Spotting

Yes

Power (Watts)

5

Radio Logs

Uploaded

Bands

20 & 40 meters

Radio Mode

CW

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