Amateur Radio · VHF/UHF · Summits On The Air · Colorado Mountains · Adventure
I’ve been referring to the VHF FM as the utility mode for quite a while now. I picked this up from Gary Pearce/KN4AQ when I inherited the FM column from CQ VHF magazine (no longer being published). Gary recently filled me in on the origin of this term, which he captured in his first FM … Read more
Many small electronic devices have switching regulators in them that can generate a bunch of Radio Frequency Interference (RFI). This is not my first encounter with RFI-spewing devices. See this article about a automotive 12V-to-USB adapter giving me trouble: This Interference Seems To Follow Me Everywhere I recently bought a couple of adapters that are … Read more
Joyce/K0JJW and I had intended to hike Pikes Peak this year for a Summits On The Air (SOTA) activation but somehow the plan never came together. I still had my eye on it as a drive-up activation before the end of 2017. The road to the summit is open year round now but closes frequently … Read more
Walt/W0CP had recommended this Summits On The Air (SOTA) summit (W0C/SP-076) to me a while ago. Somehow it had escaped my attention, probably because it’s an unnamed peak and not that well known. Joyce/K0JJW and I decided to give it a try today and it turned out great. We followed Walt’s directions on the SOTA … Read more
At our radio club meeting on Monday night, I talked about DMR radio, the fastest growing digital format on VHF/UHF. Wow, did I get a positive response! There is a lot of interest in this topic and many of our members are out buying DMR radios and getting on the air. My presentation is available … Read more
Here’s the SOTA activator scores for Colorado (W0C). I have to admit that I like checking this to see how everyone is doing. Some of it is friendly competition but mostly its enjoying the accomplishments of my fellow SOTA enthusiasts. We’ve got 10 “Mountain Goats” in Colorado now, with 1000 or more points. Carey, KX0R … Read more