This report is from my observations and experiences of High Altitude Radio operations in Colorado.
The effects of high altitude sickness is more full described at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altitude_sickness
It includes headache, confusion, fatigue, stomach illness, and dizziness
i get a little light headed at altitude (I am over 80 years old) and when some big winds came up on a recent hike they buffeted me around and i got a little dizzy until they stopped. (That is a sign of altitude sickness).
The effects of headache, confusion, dizziness that I have seen resulted in the inability to operate the software and menus of newer radios.
Confusion remembering schedule times and dates, recording call signs and data in a log book, leaving antenna parts, wires and tools behind on a hike.
One effect I saw was a fisherman who locked his keys in his car at 11,000 feet being 100 miles away from help. Dizziness during walking can lead to having unstable footing and a fall.
Fatigue is one of the easiest ways to recognize sickness. This is determined my your fitness and heart condition (Blood Pressure). The fatigue feeling can be like having ‘Cement Boots’ on while walking. It may come on you slowly after a few hours at altitude. The other effect is called ‘Hitting the Wall’, Your body just stops working.
One of my comrades came from sea level and had several fatigue incidents. One time after riding the COG Railroad to 14,000 feet (Pikes Peak), He got off the train and made it 100 feet across the top of the mountain and had to sit down for 10 minutes to recover.
Another friend set up a tower at 14,000 feet for a contest. Bad winds came in and blew the tower over. He and his friends had only attached 2 guy wires to the tower.
(Walmart now sells small canisters of oxygen for hikers).
The other incident occurred while we were climbing to Devils Head Fire Tower at 9,700 feet. (https://dayhikesneardenver.com/devils-h ... kout-hike/ ), He did well going up the 800 foot climb but ‘Hit the Wall’ going up the last 100 feet of stairs. He was stopped in his tracks.
I recognized the effect and He said his body just could not move any more. He quickly recovered.
The best way to recover is to descent to a lower altitude.
If you are visiting the Colorado area, One good way to check your ability to operate at altitude is
to climb the Manitou Incline in Manitou Springs, Colorado. If you can make the climb without observing any altitude sickness you can probably successfully climb the 14ers. It is 2744 steps with an altitude gain of 2020 feet. See https://manitousprings.org/where-to-pla ... u-incline/
Weather Conditions at Altitude
The obvious danger in High Altitude Operations is the weather. Almost all hikers start in the early morning to avoid the afternoon thunder storms. The remedy for bad weather is to move to lower elevations slowly (recalling that high elevations cause dizziness and poor footing). Getting back down below tree line is important.
On one early morning hike in Rocky Mountain National Park (Marmot Point) at 12,000 feet, on the Continental Divide, (https://www.summitpost.org/marmot-point/384006 ), i heard a little precipitation static in my headphones (Crackle – Crackle) and a snow squall was blowing through. The snow was just little ice flakes hitting me in the face, not wet snow. There was no lightning or thunder in the area. Then I felt a few prickly zaps in my shoes and off my handset. Those were electro-static discharges !
I quickly got off the ridge line and took the radio off my back and removed the whip until the snow squall blew by. When I put the whip back on the radio, the antenna tuner would not tune the whip. The precipitation static blown my antenna tuner up.
Later in the shop, i checked all the parts that might have been damaged but found no defects. The static had upset the antenna tuners’ microprocessor soft ware.
This tuner even has a Victoreen (style) gas discharge tube (Like a NE-2) across the antenna terminal but that did not save the microprocessor software .
i was using my Military Backpack Radio, the radio was OK, The expensive tuner was never able to be fixed.
Now whenever I am operating at altitude, i use a shorted ¼ wave coax stub as a drag wire counterpoise.
Here is a cool cartoon link about what P-Static is like.
https://tinyurl.com/yvb37yh2
Paul w0rw
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