VHF/UHF

When All Else Fails or SHTF?

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A while back, Dan KB6NU noted the increasing number of preppers getting involved in ham radio. Preppers are people who are actively preparing for emergencies, natural disasters and disruption of social order. In our Technician license course, we’ve noticed an increase in the number of people identifying themselves as preppers. Of course, amateur (ham) radio has a long history of … Read more

A Great Bag for the FT-817

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One of my favorite rigs is the Yaesu FT-817, the QRP transceiver that covers HF through 70 cm. I use it for mountaintop VHF, including Summits On The Air (SOTA) activations. At Pacificon, I came across this bag by AMP-3 which is custom designed for the FT-817. David KF7ETX did a great job designing this … Read more

Digital Voice at Pacificon

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Last weekend, I had the privilege of attending the Pacificon amateur radio convention in Santa Clara, something I have been trying to do for several years now. It is a great event, with good technical programs and a super venue. The most interesting presentation I saw was the one on digital voice (DV) technology by Bruce Perens … Read more

A Soggy Mount Herman SOTA Activation (W0C/FR-063)

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Although I’ve operated a number of VHF contests from the summit of Mount Herman, I had not yet activated it as a Summits On The Air (SOTA) peak. Mount Herman is a 9063 foot mountain just to the west of Monument, Colorado, pretty much in “my back yard.” Steve WG0AT did the first SOTA activation of Mount Herman, back in … Read more