Amateur Radio · VHF/UHF · Summits On The Air · Colorado Mountains · Adventure
We were looking for a SOTA summit to activate near Salida, so I started to poke around using SOTLAS. There is still plenty of snow at the higher elevations, so we wanted to stay lower. SOTLAS has some useful filtering features that allow you to show only the summits of interest. Initially, I looked for … Read more
I do a lot of SOTA activating using 2m FM and have developed a few operating habits that can really make a difference. These may seem obvious but might be overlooked by operators new to the game. To get an overview of using VHF for SOTA, look at this article: How to Do A VHF … Read more
While doing a presentation about choosing the right coaxial cable, someone suggested that RG-8X (also called “Mini 8”) might be the best general-purpose cable for amateur radio. There is a lot to like about RG-8X. It is about 1/4-inch in diameter, and is flexible and affordable. This comment made me realize that I default to … Read more
I don’t usually get pulled into historical investigations, but I recently found something interesting about my call sign, KØNR. I received this vanity call in April 2002. Before me, Craig Larson W3MS held this call sign starting in 1975. These are the only two entries in the FCC database (Universal Licensing System). The story starts … Read more
Followers of this blog know that I like to write stuff. My work shows up in many different venues, with a variety of purposes, but mostly I write with the goal of explaining technical topics to help people learn. My most recent project is co-authoring an Extra Class license book with Stu/W0STU for Ham Radio … Read more
Being an enthusiast for bands above 50 MHz, I suppose I should weigh in on the new IC-905 from Icom. The street price for the basic unit is ~$3500, with various options and accessories at additional cost. Let’s be clear about one thing, this radio is one impressive piece of technology. There is no other … Read more