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*                  ATGP 2017 Report for Katahdyn                         75
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There two versions to our log. Read the long one if you wish!

SHORT VERSION:

Leo (KC1FOD) and Tim (KA1YBS) were at the Baxter peak Summit (Mt Katahdin) 
for the ATGP event. Everything worked well.

LONG VERSION:

This year, a FIRST for KATHDN-15, TWO hams!

Leo (KC1FOD) and Tim (KA1YBS) Paired up from this ATGP group a few months 
back and have been planning for a while. Leo and I had to make separate 
reservations, resulting in different campgrounds and starting points... 
over an hour's drive apart! This is only a slice of the park, as well. 
It's massive... (over 200k square acres)

Anyway, we both failed to QSO on the Millinocket Maine Repeater the night 
prior to the event. We both seem to be deaf on the machine...

Leo and I started our hikes at approximately the same time (~7:15AM). Leo 
took the Hunt Trail (my old standby), and I took Chimney Pond and 
Cathedral Trails. Both routes are different in length and style, but we 
managed to get up on time (~11:15), with Leo waiting for me.

Once up top, we immediately made contact over the 70cm simplex frequency 
with Dan (VA2KEY) over at Mt. St. Joseph. We immediately exchanged packets 
at 9600bps.

It appeared to me that Dan's rig (Kenwood D72?) was not digipeating every 
time... he checked with Lynn, and his settings appeared correct. Dan could 
see: us(15), (he was 14)... 13,12 and 11, but we(15) could only see him(14).
I now wonder if Dan's APRS delay setting was too short. That seemed to be 
part of the discussion for that particular rig, post-event. 

Anyway, either Dan fixed his rig, or MTWASH picked up digipeating... 
eventually, the holes began to fill in. We eventually saw 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 
7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and of course, ourselves. We never saw 2 
come up for some reason. We also saw N3MUY-7 and tried to message, but 
he failed to RX the msg)

We did an APRS test at the conclusion with MTWASH... 1w was all that was 
needed to transcend the northern New England wilderness with only John's 
5/8 wave mobile mag mount antenna, and my 0db whip! We did not try 9600bps, 
but 1200 worked FB. I wonder if GREYLCK and MTWASH can accomplish a 
similar test next year?

After the 1W test, Dan asked if we thought it would be a good idea if we 
extended the event into Canada... I thought that was a brilliant idea. 
We really don't need to man Sugarloaf anymore, as Mt Washington could 
use the backup. Dan thinks he can convince hes fellow Canadians to man 
apossibly a few peaks along the International Appalachian Trail! This 
does mean digipeating up on Katahdin. I'm sure I can beg/borrow a TH-D72 
from a local ham (such as KB1POR) for this.

It was so much fun to see Leo "working DX" from his HT... he is a 
relatively new ham, so I definitely saw him being nervous and excited at 
the same time... ahh, the joy of simplex RF... oh, and we both swear we 
heard Equinox on 70cm for one transmission... probably caught up in the 
moment, or was it possible for real? So much fun up there :)

Also, we heard about some SOTA activity, Dan and Bram were also working 
40m up on St. Joseph... they must have had a pileup!

Anyway, Leo and I stayed put until 15:00 and the WX got nasty, but all 
stations were in the 'chain' log at that point.

I wish the FT1D had logging capacity, but it does not. Leo and I vow to 
bring a backup TNC next time with perhaps a Serial over Bluetooth 
virtual COM port for analysis. Leo has one that is 1200bps, but did not 
bring it because we were doing 9600.

The day following the summit, Leo and I kayaked around Kidney Pond, 
took a dip in a fast moving stream, ate some wild berries and talked 
about our QTH's. It was a FB couple of days up in Maine.

We wish to thank EVERYONE! All stations, their kids, XYL's, pets, etc. 
This includes Lynn, a key Shack Potato! So happy to hear we got the 
chain working!

For 2018, Leo and I like the idea of trying to also do SSTV over 
144mhz. Perhaps we can add a column to the spreadsheet for those 
willing to use their cell phone, tied into their HT for some SSTV 
during the event! I would love to send pictures to MTWASH from KATHDN 
and then post to the group!!!! What a fun idea... maybe we can somehow 
'digipeat' the images :) how cool would that be :)

Thanks Again and 73 Everyone! 

Tim KA1YBS and Leo KC1FOD




DATA:

Drive: 
278mi (Tim) 5.5 - 6 hours (with 1 stop)
65mi (Leo) 1:45 hours  (estimated)

Hike:
10.0mi total (Tim) on Chimney Pond and Cathedral trails
10.4mi total (Leo) on Hunt Trail

Summit WX:
Mostly Cloudy. low visibility (.5-2mi) Temperatures varied somewhere between 55 and 65 degrees, then moderate rainfall for about 30 minutes as we descended separate trails. Light winds 5-10mph

Equipment:
Voice: Baofeng dual band HT (now lost-in-woods)
APRS: Yaesu FT1D dual band HT with Diamond SRH77CA SMA whip antenna
Did not use: Arrow 4 element backpack 144mhz yagi