Combined SOTA / POTA Activations

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Joyce/K0JJW and I have been doing combined Summits On The Air (SOTA) and Parks On The Air (POTA) activations. Most of the SOTA summits we activate are inside parks as defined by POTA. Our primary focus is using VHF/UHF from SOTA summits with POTA is being a nice addition. Although the two programs have a … Read more

How Far on VHF SOTA?

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Adam/K6ARK recently posted this video of his 2m SOTA activation in California. Adam does a really nice job with his videos and this one is no exception. During this activation, he worked KE9AJ in Arizona at 256 miles. This was an FM QSO, with KE9AJ running 6 watts and K6ARK running over 120 watts. In … Read more

What’s This ARDC Grant Thing?

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You may have noticed announcements about the Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) making substantial grants to various amateur radio and communications technology projects. Where did this outfit come from and how do they have funds to donate? This is my story about it, but I don’t speak for the ARDC. I am a member of … Read more

What Is a Valid QSO?

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Ham operators make radio contacts on a routine basis. We call another station or another station responds to our call, we exchange some information, maybe chat for a while and then finish the contact, clearing out with our callsigns. Most of the time we clearly know whether we had a valid radio contact, commonly referred … Read more

Get Your General License, Colorado

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The Technician Class License is the entry-level ham radio license in the USA. The next step up is the General Class License which provides operating privileges on the high-frequency bands. If you want to work the world with ham radio, you should seriously consider going for the General license. The Tri-Lakes Monument Radio Association is … Read more

Tips and Tools for Managing Logs

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Lately, the majority of my radio activity has been SOTA and POTA activations, sometimes simultaneously. The logging requirements for the two programs are different so I often need to adjust the log file before submitting it. Even more common, I need to double-check and fix errors in my SOTA and POTA logs. Some of this … Read more