W3/PW-071 Sandy Ridge

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For the second half of fall break, I took a drive to State College to peep at leaves and do some more SOTA. I stopped by Sandy Ridge in State Game Lands 33 in Centre County, driving south along Sandy Ridge Trail road from US-322. After 4 miles of easy gravel road driving, I was in the activation zone.

Entrance to Sandy Ridge Trail from US-322.
Hunters wear orange — so should you! Many trails go deeper into the game lands from Sandy Ridge Trail.
The road was straight and easy to drive on, though a bit narrow for when I had to pass a few trucks.

I had never worked from a game land before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Since it was early October, it wasn’t yet rifle hunting season. I still wore blaze orange and did my best to not appear grouse-like (honestly, good policy most of the year). I used a throw line to get my end fed up into a nearby tree in the parking area.

Operating location in the parking area.

The sunspots pulled me into a fugue-like state and I operated for one hour, notching 53 QSOs. Ten meters was crazy. I got a bunch of DX: G4OOE/P on Bishop Wilton Wold (G/TW-004), DL2DXA, DL1HBT, IK4IDF, SQ9IDE, DL1FU, DL1AX, SM0GJN, SP9FMP, OK1KT, EA2BD, CT1HIX, MW0IDX, EA4R, and SV2OXS. Incredible!

  • Trailhead: 40.841634, -78.132874 : Sandy Ridge Trail and US-322
  • Map: [AA3TZ SOTA] – Driving track along Sandy Ridge Trail
  • Route: Drive-on via 4-mile gravel road, good condition
  • POTA: PA 033 State Game Land (US-8732)

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Published by Tom AA3TZ

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