Last weekend I took part in the WAE DX CW contest and most of the time when I calling "CQ contest" on my second monitor I have the RBN or reverse beacon network up and running. The main reason for doing this to see where my signal is reaching and if it is targeting in the case of the WAE contest Europe. Now and then I see my signal has been spotted in both interesting places and far away places. This contest was no different, on Sunday morning I was spotted in New Zealand by ZL3X multiple times from 4dB to 11dB, VY0ERC in Eureka in Nunavut at 7dB and finally 5W1SA in Samoa at 8dB. Nice to know my 100 watts are getting out there!

This summer’s Sporadic-E season has pretty much wound-down once again. As E seasons go, this one ranked right up there with the worst of them but this comes with some provisos.

Over the past several years, my only interest has focused on Europe and Asia, looking for any DXCC entities that I have not yet worked and I tend to ignore most domestic openings unless the MUF appears to be climbing into the range of 2m.

 

Good afternoon fellow Bloggers, I have been having an issue for some time now and have just ignored it. The time has come to see if something is up at my end or if others using Blogger have this same issue. I have searched the internet and the Blogger site regarding the issue. There has been advice but nothing has worked.

2. In my blog I go to (Blogger blog) and click on Layout. 

3. In the layout I have a gadget called "Blogs I follow" and I click on edit. 

4. This shows me all the blogs I follow and when I scroll to the end of the list I am given an option to "add a new item" 

5. I click on "add new item" paste the blog URL on the line called "blog URL" and click continue. 

In the past when I did this the name of the blog I want to follow would populate in the line above the blog URL and then ask me again if I wanted to save it. I clicked yes and it was done. For some time now I add the URL of the blog I want to follow and click save and the message I get is "Could not detect a feed" I do have the option to click ok but I am informed that I can still click "ok" but if I do the time and date will not be shown....whatever that is. So I click anyway the complete URL is shown but now the only option I have is to cancel it and I am not given the option to save it. Not sure why this is happening.

 If you still have the old Southgate Amateur Radio News URL in your bookmarks. You will now find it redirects you to ARD Amateur Radio Daily.. 

Click on the link above for more detail. 

In this episode, we join Martin Butler (M1MRB), Caryn Eve Murray KD2GUT, Edmund Spicer M0MNG, Ed Durrant DD5LP and Ruth Willet KM4LAO to discuss the latest Amateur / Ham Radio news. Colin Butler (M6BOY) rounds up the news in brief and in the episode's feature is Types of Coax Connectors.

We would like to thank Nigel Wells (2W0CGM) and our monthly and annual subscription donors for keeping the podcast advert free. To donate, please visit - http://www.icqpodcast.com/donate

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• ARRL and NASA Team Up to Help Teachers
• Landmark PACT for African Amateur Radio Response
• International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend
• GB2RS in Morse code
• When QRP is a Big Deal
• Successful Orbit for CubeSATS Built in the Philippines
• ARRL Files Comments Against “Seriously Flawed” HF Rules Petition

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 handheld Yagi (either a single band 2m or 70cm antenna).

Castle Rock (W0C/SP-112)

On Friday, we activated Castle Rock, a short but challenging climb with plenty of nasty brush to scar your arms and legs. This is a summit that we’ve done before but not in the last few years. It is relatively close to our cabin so we decided to give it a return visit. Frankly, it is a lot of work for only 4 SOTA points, but it definitely gives you the feeling of a real climb. We each made about 14 QSOs, mostly 2m FM, including 2 Summit-to-Summit (S2S) contacts.

Mount Antero (W0C/SR-003)

On Saturday, we returned to Mount Antero at 14,269 feet. I did the first SOTA activation of this summit in 2011 and this latest one is my fifth activation. Dennis/WA2USA, W9 Mountain Goat from Indiana, joined us for this effort. Dennis worked CW on the HF bands while Joyce and I worked VHF/UHF.

We drove the Jeep to 13,800 feet and hiked up from there. This turned out to be the most fun summit of the weekend, because 1) it was a 14er with an excellent radio horizon 2) the weather was perfect 3) we had WA2USA along for the ride and 4) we took our time on the summit and just enjoyed the experience. Overall, I made 28 QSOs, 10 of them S2S. I caught Jon/KM4PEH on South Monarch Ridge on all four bands: 2m, 1.25m, 70cm, and 23 cm. It was a pleasure to work Terry/WB0RBA as he did the first activation of Mount Sopris (W0C/SR-039).

Wander Ridge (W0C/SP-042)

On Sunday, we headed to one of our favorite summits, W0C/SP-042, known as Wander Ridge. See my previous trip report for more detail. This activation starts with a hike on the Continental Divide Trail (and Colorado Trail) from Cottonwood Pass. It really is walking on top of the world.

The weather was sunny and warm but the wind was a bit of a challenge. We made good use of the rock shelter at the summit, sitting in comfort while we made radio contacts. When we stood up to leave, we were almost knocked over by the high winds.

I made 19 QSOs, including 4 S2S. Steve/WB5CTS showed up on 2 meters from Slumgullion Pass, but also had 1.2 GHz gear along, so we made a contact on that band (about 63 miles). I was not expecting 1.2 GHz activity but I did have the Alinco HT, so I used it with just a rubber duck antenna. Hey, it worked!

The Pulverizer (W0C/SP-092)

Finally, on Monday we activated The Pulverizer, near Wilkerson Pass, which is a new summit for us. See my trip report for more info: Activating the Pulverizer.

The first three summits are in San Isabel National Forest and The Pulverizer is in Pike National Forest, so we also submitted our logs as Parks On The Air activations.

We had a great time doing these summits. I enjoyed hearing the other stations having a good time making VHF contacts. It warms my heart when someone makes a VHF contact that they did not think was possible. That is exactly the point…you never know where the signal will go so give it a try and prepare to be surprised!

73 Bob K0NR

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