I made it to Bunker Hill yesterday and activated the summit. I will post a separate report, including driving info, as an activation report. This post is more about stuff I learned during this activation.
Given the drizzle, this was a good test for my backpack setup. My FT-817 stayed in the pack, with the antenna coax, mic, key, and earbuds snaked through the side opening. I also carried the V8X HT for APRS and 146.58 FM QSOs. It worked pretty well, I had access to what I needed, and it stayed dry.
Here's what else I learned from this trip:
I probably need to start later or stay longer. When I was hiking Colorado peaks, I tried to summit as early in the day as possible. Being high when afternoon lightning appeared was not fun. I am finding, though, that I don't get many SOTA contacts before 1030AM. Looking at SOTAWatch suggests I either have to start my day later or plan on being out longer.
An inverted vee or sloper is probably a better SOTA HF antenna. I've been using a vertical or inverted L antenna, which I figured was a good compromise on takeoff angle and setup. Yesterday I heard stations as far away as Georgia, which is always fun but... with only five watts (vs their five hundred) none of them could hear me. If I switch to an antenna with a higher takeoff angle like an inverted vee, my signal will cover a smaller, closer area where chasers are more likely to be found.
I have to find a more reliable way to spot myself. This was the third SOTA summit for which I had no spots. I was unable to spot myself using a cell phone. No one spotted me. I was picked up on RBN (good) but not spotted to SOTAWatch (bad). I had a good APRS connection but my VX8 doesn't support long call signs so I couldn't use it to spot myself. I need to upgrade my APRS (mobilinkd, here I come) system and figure out why my RBN spots aren't getting through RBNhole to SOTAWatch.
Big contest days may not be the time to do a SOTA activation, especially on CW. Forty and twenty meters were hopping by 1115AM with several QSO parties and the NEQRP qrp afield contest. Unfortunately, that meant there were a lot of operators using the same frequencies, so it was really hard to pick out signals or figure out who was calling whom. The contesters were focused on the contest and very few of them them wanted to answer a SOTA CQ at 13WPM. Generally not a beginner-friendly situation.
So... think more about antennas appropriate to the goals, figure out how to get spotted every time, and look at the start time and the contest calendar when planning an activation.