Amateur Radio · VHF/UHF · Summits On The Air · Colorado Mountains · Adventure
Joyce/K0JJW and I enjoy visiting the National Parks in the US, an activity that naturally combines with Summits On The Air (SOTA) and Parks On The Air (POTA). While planning a visit to Isle Royale National Park in upper Michigan, we decided to activate at least one SOTA summit as well as activate the park … Read more
For the Colorado 14er Event, Joyce/K0JJW and I decided to do one activation per day during the four-day event. We focused on 2m and 70 cm FM but also took along handheld radios for 1.25m and 23 cm. Our standard 2m/70cm portable station is a Yaesu FT-90, powered by a Bioenno battery, driving a small … Read more
There is a SOTA summit next to Wilkerson Pass called The Pulverizer (W0C/SP-092). With such an inviting name, of course, we had to activate it. According to its Summit Post page, this summit was named by well-known mountaineer and author Gerry Roach. Apparently, this name is an adaptation of the name of a nearby summit, … Read more
The FT8 mode was first released as part of the WSJT-X software in 2017. This new digital mode was adopted relatively quickly and is now a major force in amateur radio. You’ve probably heard the praises and complaints about it. On the plus side, it enables radio contacts under very poor conditions while detractors say … Read more
Amateur Radio operators from around Colorado will be climbing Colorado Summits On The Air (SOTA) peaks and communicating with other radio amateurs across the state and around the world. Join in on the fun during the annual event by activating a summit or contacting (chasing) the mountaintop stations.
I caused a minor kerfuffle on Twitter recently, when I posted this: This connector, properly called a PL-259, is the most common RF connector for ham radio use. The female counterpart is called the SO-239 connector. While these connectors are often called “UHF” connectors, they actually don’t perform very well at those frequencies (300 to … Read more