FT8 Adoption: The New Cool Thing

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The new cool digital mode for amateur radio is FT8, made possible by Joe Taylor/K1JT and the WSJT software. At first, FT8 seemed like just the next digital mode to try but it is turning out to have a bigger impact than that. Jeff/KE9V recently posted about the popularity of FT8 here: FT8 is so … Read more

Things On The Air (TOTA) Launched

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The Sundance Mountain Radio Association (Palmer Lake, CO) today announced the creation of the Things On The Air (TOTA) program. The radio association’s Need More Lists Committee spent the past year analyzing the effect of various “on the air” programs, including the Islands On The Air (IOTA), National Parks On The Air (NPOTA) and Summits … Read more

VHF SOTA: Abajo Peak (W7U/SU-014)

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While on a canyon country hiking/Jeeping trip in Utah, Joyce/K0JJW and I decided to do a couple of Summits On The Air (SOTA) activations. Abajo Peak (W7U/SU-014) showed up as a suitable target, being an easy-access drive-up summit at 11,360 feet, just west of Monticello. While the forest service map shows this as a 4WD … Read more

Phone Contesting Tips For DX Contests (AE6Y)

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Proper use of a phonetic alphabet can be very helpful when working phone under marginal conditions. I’ve written a basic article on phonetics over at HamRadioSchool.com, so you might want to review that. I recently came across an article by Andy/AE6Y on some tips and tricks to use during contests. He does a super job … Read more

Are Recent Technicians Getting on the Air?

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Our radio club (Tri-Lakes Monument Radio Association) offers a 2-day Technician license class which has resulted in over 300 new Technician licenses in past years. We also offer a number of activities to help new licensees get started in ham radio. Still, we wonder how many of our newly-minted Techs have actually gotten on the … Read more