N0B & N6IZ have First HF(QRP) 14er-to-14er QSO (state-to-state)

Video #2 "Gaining Altitude" is an account of N0B's journey into thin air with Rooster and Peanut is now online!

You can view the video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ug2sQj908go&eurl=http://n0b-14er.blogspot.com/

On August 10 2008 N0B (operators Guy/N7UN and Steve/N0TU) along with their faithful Sherpa/goats (Rooster and Peanut) set out to climb Uncompahgre Peak, CO (14,309') from the Nellie Creek Trailhead (11,400'). Meanwhile in CA, Brian/N6IZ was climbing Mt Whitney (14,498' highest peak in lower 48) had 8 miles and 6200' between him and the summit, almost double the effort of N0B! The Ham 14er Event (http://www.14er.org/) provided a perfect venue for our Old Goats QRPexpedition adventure. The video tells the rest of the story.

BTW this adventure was so inspiring Guy and Steve are already making plans for next years Ham 14er Event! Meanwhile Rooster and Peanut suggest we stick to lower elevations for our QRP/goat hikes.

So here's the N0B list of productions by Steve/N0TU:
Video # 1 "Getting Attitude"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCYROUAefsU
Video # 2 "Gaining Altitude"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ug2sQj908go
Video # 3 "Altitude with Attitude"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV_0eaTX_R0

Related links:
http://n0tu.blogspot.com/
http://n7un.blogspot.com/
http://www.14er.org/

We Made It!!

Wow!! What a trip! We made it to the top of 14,309’ Uncompaghre, spent several hours on HF and VHF making numerous contacts before our descent. In spite of early clouds and 30 mph winds, we braved the harsh mountain top conditions until the sun broke through and warmed our bodies and spirits. The next 2 hours was “fun on HF CW and SSB” as we made contacts around the country. Our most notable contact was with Brian, N6IZ, on 14,497’ Mt. Whitney in California! We had coordinated our mountaintop schedule to align with Brian's in an attempt to be the FIRST to have a Colorado 14er contact with an out-of-Colorado 14er. Brian had a KX1 at 3w and a vertical and we had a K2 at 5w to an inverted Vee dipole on a Jackite 28’ mast. And Steve’s “mountain” pack goats were our invaluable sherpas! More information, writeups, and videos will follow as we craft our stories! Steve/N0TU has posted a few pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/n0tu.qrp/14er/photo#5234032384522587906 .

Update #2 Old Goats QRPxpedition Coloradio 14er Aug. 10th

Time is getting short! The Old Goats team of N7UN/Guy and N0TU/Steve will spend Saturday driving to Uncompaghre Mtn (14,309') trail head at 11,000 ft, camp the night until our planned 3 am start, summit around 6 am for sunrise, setup our antennas and be on the air around 7 am. Weather permitting of course!!! We intend to operate primarily on the HF Pack frequencies: CW: 7038.5, 14059, and 18081.5 and SSB: 14342.5 and 18157.5. Steve will be on 6M at 50.125 SSB or CW as well as HF. We will have 2M FM handhelds on 147.42 and up.

N7UN will have a Jackite 28' pole and multi-band 40-30-20m dipole. N0TU will have a HF Buddipole, 6m 3el spider beam and 2m/70cm 5el-beam.

A Google Map link to all planned ham operations on Colo.14-ers is at http://tinyurl.com/58f4t5 . Click on the callsign on the left to get more information about a specific operation. A website for this overall event is at http://www.14er.org/ .

Rooster and Peanut will be our sherpas and an invaluable part of this Old Goats team. Steve and I both plan to take a lot of pictures and videos to share the "story" with our friends. Look for N0B (http://n0b-14er.blogspot.com/) this Sunday morning! Hope to hear from you!