Amateur Radio · VHF/UHF · Summits On The Air · Colorado Mountains · Adventure
Sometimes you just want a close-in SOTA summit that is easy to access and allows you to get on the air. On the west side of greater Denver, a few summits meet that requirement. One of them is Green Mountain (W0C/FR-107), near the intersection of I-70 and C-470. This would make a good beginner summit … Read more
Sorry that I have not been posting much on my blog. I have several other projects consuming my time and this blog has been neglected. Then, it hit me: I should just let ChatGPT, a free artificial intelligence (AI) platform that is getting a lot of attention, write my blog for me. All the Cool … Read more
My standard SOTA setup is a Yaesu FT-90 compact VHF/UHF transceiver stuffed into a fanny pack with its Bioenno battery pack. The fanny pack is a pretty nice flyfishing pack that I position on the front side of me so I can easily see and operate the radio. I am usually holding the 2m or … Read more
Who really uses the VHF and higher bands (>50 MHz) for Summits On The Air? Last year, I pulled some data from the SOTA database and provided some analysis. Looking at VHF/UHF SOTA Data Here is the short story: Roughly 20% of the SOTA contacts worldwide are on VHF/UHF frequencies and about 90% of these … Read more
Recently, I engaged in a discussion about a UHF (Ultra High Frequency) radio. It seems a ham was complaining that someone had advertised an 800 MHz radio, describing it as “UHF”. His issue was that in land mobile radio, UHF is commonly used to refer to radios in the 380 to 500-ish MHz range. I … Read more
Last year, Joyce/K0JJW and I tried to activate Red Mountain Number 3 (W0C/UR-016) for SOTA in the San Juan mountains. The map showed there was a road to the top, so we were expecting easy access. However, the road is gated off about 2 miles from the summit, requiring a hike. So we hiked almost … Read more