Amateur Radio · VHF/UHF · Summits On The Air · Colorado Mountains · Adventure
The SOTA Management Team launched a special challenge for 2026: a distance-based scoring challenge using CW and SSB on the 2m and 70cm bands. The announcement is here on the SOTA reflector. The basic idea is to encourage SOTA contacts using CW or SSB on these two bands. Because the scoring is based on distance, … Read more
On December 1, most SOTA summits in Colorado gain an additional 3 points due to the Seasonal (Winter) Bonus. Joyce/K0JJW and I were looking for a summit not too far away that was still accessible for us to activate. This time of year, many US Forest Service roads are gated shut. Other roads remain open … Read more
Here’s an update on the most activated SOTA summits in Colorado. See my previous report here. Mount Herman (W0C/FR-063) still leads the pack by a wide margin, with many activations by Steve/WG0AT. Genesee Mountain has passed up Pikes Peak to take second place in the running. Genessee is in a park just outside of greater … Read more
When I get asked why I only use VHF/UHF frequencies for my Summits On The Air (SOTA) activations, I usually reply with: Height Above Average Terrain More specifically, I mean that using VHF for SOTA is fun because Height Above Average Terrain (HAAT) has a dramatic effect on the propagation of my radio signal. HAAT … Read more
A few days ago, someone told me that a rumor is circulating that I don’t own any gear capable of operating on the high-frequency (HF) bands. I laughed out loud, wondering where this came from. Actually, I know where this comes from: most of my postings here at k0nr.com are oriented towards VHF operating, often … Read more
I came across this new antenna, the TWAYRDIO RH 660S, mentioned in this Ham Radio Crash Course video. I have previously been recommending the TWAYRDIO TH770 antenna via this post. The RH 660S is a newer dual-band 2m/70cm telescoping antenna from the same company. For Summits On The Air (SOTA), I generally take along such … Read more