Amateur Radio · VHF/UHF · Summits On The Air · Colorado Mountains · Adventure
On Twitter, someone recently commented that it would be nice to have more 2m SSB activity for Summits On The Air (SOTA). It is well known that FM is a more commonly used mode but that its performance suffers for weak signals. This got me wondering about which bands and modes are being used for … Read more
While I did not originate the idea, I have been promoting the use of 146.58 MHz as the North America Adventure Frequency. (Rex/KE6MT and George/Kj6VU came up with the idea.) My previous blog post explained the thinking behind it, along with my own personal biases, I’m sure. When presented with the idea of The Other … Read more
Lately, for the ARRL January VHF contest, I try to find a SOTA summit to activate. Operating time is usually just a few hours, so it does not make for a big score. The main advantage is for VHF SOTA (Summits On The Air) because there is a lot more activity on 2m CW and … Read more
Charlie/NJ7V and Gaston/KT1RUN did a comparison of VHF antennas during a SOTA activation. Specifically, they compared a rubber duck antenna, a J-pole antenna on a tall mast, and a 3-element Yagi antenna. Spoiler Alert: the rubber duck sucks (they all do) but the Yagi and J-pole performed about the same. Joyce/K0JJW and I use the … Read more
Recently, on the nasota group, there was a discussion about designating an alternative 2m FM frequency for Summits On The Air (SOTA) use (instead of 146.52 MHz). The main driver for this is that 146.52 MHz can get busy with other radio traffic and/or a busy SOTA activation can tie up the calling frequency for … Read more
After seeing some videos about small HF transceivers for Summits On The Air (SOTA), I feel I need to set the record straight. The following video shows the World’s Smallest SOTA Transceiver in use. Of course, it uses the UHF spectrum because shorter wavelengths enable smaller ham radio stations. The radio shown in the video … Read more