by Matt (W7MDN)

The Perfect Combination

When my work schedule allows, I try to marry up trail running with a SOTA activation, which adds to the adventure aspect of Summits on the Air. I’ve been tweaking my ultralight SOTA kit recently, with the goal of reducing weight and space to just the essentials needed for a quick activation that can be done during a run.

A few of my SOTA Elmers have activated summits this way and written about the experience, which has inspired me to do likewise. There’s something special about being able to run miles to a peak, activate using just the kit on your back and still make contacts thousands of miles away. It takes me back to when I first learned about SOTA and got excited just hearing about it. In my case, it was enough to make me want to study for and get my ham licenses just so I could try it.

Last night, we had a light dusting of snow, and the temps today were forecast to climb into the mid-30s with some sun visible through the low overcast. In other words, a perfect day for this.

With the XYL and kiddo out of the house, I grabbed my trail run kit for a quick activation of W7W/WE-021 Krell Hill. This local landmark is the highest point within the city and has a large farm of TV towers at the top surrounded by a county park with miles of trails perfect for mountain biking, hiking and trail running. The trailhead for Krell Hill is about a 40-minute drive from my QTH, and I was the only vehicle in the lot when I arrived mid-morning.

I opted to bring the Yak Trax and trekking poles for this trail as it stays icy due to extensive tree cover. Once I donned my pack and started up the hill, I could see tracks where other hikers had slipped on the thin snow concealing several weeks of compacted snow/ice underneath, and I was glad for the added traction devices.

For today’s run, I brought the MTR3B v4 “Currahee”. The MTR3B v4 is growing on me the more I use it. Given its size and capabilities for a small transceiver, it’s easy to see why it has such a loyal fanbase. When the MTR3s were re-released in 2024, I was one of the first to sign up. I’ve heard countless Mountain Topper owners talk about how amazing that little radio is, going back to the original in 2020. Having owned one now for over a year, I’m happy to have it. The 40m-20m-15m bands on this simple radio are ideal for quick activations while retaining the rig’s very small footprint, popular for ultralight SOTA.

My favorite pack for trail running and radio is the Black Diamond “Distance 15” which is designed as a longer-range ultrarunning bag. It holds the complete MTR3B kit and assorted administrivia with enough room for extra clothes, food, and hydration. For a shorter winter activation, it’s the perfect combination of payload and features, while remaining lightweight with enough room for comfort items needed for runs in colder conditions.

Its exterior is water-resistant and mostly smooth, meaning it’s less likely to get caught on branches or brush along the route. The large main compartment has room for a bladder in a pouch separated from the radio gear, an internal sleeve for trekking poles, and the shoulder straps hold two soft flasks for water plus room for a HT or an InReach.

For the antenna, I went with the Reliance Bugout Mini EFHW. Our schedule doesn’t leave me much time to build antenna kits, so I looked for an Off-the-Shelf solution to cover the 40m-20m-15m bands on the MTR3B. After reading about Reliance antennas on QRPer.com, I decided to give them a try. So far, the Bugout Mini has been a great choice and has yielded several solid activations to date.

Other items in the radio kit:

• N0SA designed SP4 SOTA paddle from CW Morse – a solid performer, not too expensive and compact.
• Nitecore NB Air 5000mAh battery – I love how small this battery is and can get quite a few activations out of a full charge. Bonus – it’s IPX7 waterproof!
• Rite-in-the-Rain – Notebook and pencil, also waterproof.

These all fit into a Magpul “DAKA” utility case – It’s orange so it’s hard to misplace on a summit, water resistant and semi-rigid for some added protection for the radio.

In addition to the above I brought:

• Small Reflectix ground cover – very low-cost insulating sheet I use for keeping the radio and gear off the ground. Weighs next to nothing.
• External line-in speaker
• Arborists throw weight and 2mm Dyneema cord
• Packable REI down jacket – I put this on once I’m on the summit and start to cool down.
• A second pair of gloves, hat, neck gaiter, snacks and two soft flasks of electrolytes.

Total pack weight, including water: ~8 lbs.

“Be bold, start cold!”

My running coach used to say this to me when prepping for morning runs in the winter. I tend to “sweat out” gear early in a run, which then leads to heat loss by being wet. This strategy has you dress lightly (slightly chilly at the start) to reduce water loss from excessive sweating. This also reduces the heat loss that goes with being in wet clothes once you stop running and cool down. I started with a dri-fit shirt and a light running jacket. By the time I hit mile 1, I was comfortably warm and not sweating profusely.

By mile 2, I was starting the final series of switchbacks to the summit, but had to walk longer sections so I wouldn’t get smoked. I made the activation zone as a cold breeze started to come over the ridge from the south. Not wanting to take time putting on the down jacket in my pack, I first went about setting up the EFHW antenna using the arborist’s throw line. Once setup was complete, I had a snack, got warm, and sent a CW “QRL?” on 40m before my first CQ SOTA-sequence.

The summit of Krell Hill has a large antenna farm of TV and microwave towers, and I’ve had QRM issues on 40m before on this summit. RBN picked up my CQ but only showed 4 dB heard at the skimmer location. Immediately, I got Josh WU7H through the QRM with a 559, but couldn’t make out the other calls through the noise. Moving on to 20m, I got another 10 or so contacts with considerably better S0-S1 noise conditions. The antenna and rig combination seemed to be working well. Having worked through the pile-up, I moved to 15m for another handful of chasers for a total of 17 contacts, including 4x “Summit-to-Summit” QSOs. Elapsed time on the air was around 35 minutes, with several breaks to warm my hands in pockets with chemical hand warmers.

After packing up the kit, I opted to return to the truck by going down the back of the loop trail, hoping to get in some more running before the day was out. What I didn’t account for was that the second half of the trail doesn’t have the same tree cover, and the previous night’s snow had melted into 1 ½ miles of icy mud. Somehow, I managed to make it back to the lot without falling for a total of 5.4mi of running and hiking, with around 1,300’ of elevation gain. This ended up being a fun day, combining SOTA with running trails in weather that would keep most hams indoors.

In summary, the MTR3B v4 is a very capable radio in a compact package, especially when paired with a high-quality antenna. With a little preparation, pairing SOTA with any other modality is a fun variation on playing radio in the great outdoors. The ultralight kit built around the Mountain Topper allows any POTA/SOTA op to take a minimal amount of radio into the backcountry with a high likelihood of success on the bands.