Welcome to the 378th installment of Linux in the Ham Shack. In this episode, the hosts discuss lots of space- and satellite-related topics, FCC application fees, Dell and security, RISC, Raspberry Pi 400, the Icom IC-705 and much more. Thank you for listening and we hope you have a great week.

73 de The LHS Crew

In this episode, Martin M1MRB is joined by Leslie Butterfield G0CIB, Dan Romanchik KB6NU, Edmund Spicer M0MNG and Matthew Nassau M0NJX to discuss the latest Amateur / Ham Radio news. Colin M6BOY rounds up the news in brief and this episode’s features is Interview with Homebrew Hero 2020.

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- New Optical Communications Station - Developer Expresses Puzzlement over FT8 Contest Use - ARRL Urges Members to Strongly Oppose FCC’s Application Fees Proposal - Guidelines Issued for ARRL DX Contest Multi Operator Stations - Oldest Known US Radio Amateur, Cliff Kayhart, W4KKP, SK - Successful Mine Rescue Special Event - XR33M - Historic Radio Books Available for Download - Stenigot Radio on the Air

Recently, I gave a presentation to the ARROW radio club in Ann Arbor, MI on the topic of “Having Fun With VHF”. I’ve given this talk several times now, highlighting some of the topics in my book, VHF, Summits and More: Having Fun With Ham Radio. When I discussed my Summits On The Air (SOTA) activities, Thom/W8TAM mentioned that Parks On The Air (POTA) was probably a better fit for Michigan. (There are SOTA summits in Michigan but most of them are in the upper peninsula or the northern part of the lower peninsula.) This got me thinking about POTA and I followed up with Thom via email a few days later to get a bit more information.

Being a fan of the US National Parks, I had done a few activations during the ARRL National Parks On The Air event in 2016. (Holy decibels, was that really 4 years ago?) The POTA program is similar but is an ongoing program, kind of like SOTA.

What’s A Park?

I am not sure of the specific criteria for parks to be included in POTA, but it seems to be pretty much National Parks (including National Forests) and State Parks. The POTA website talks about these typical categories of POTA stations: backpack, picnic table, campground and Field Day.  Backpack looks very much like a typical SOTA activation, a small portable station carried by humans (or maybe goats) to the activation site. Picnic Table is a little bit different, with more gear and less hiking. Campground and Field Day take advantage of operating close to or inside a vehicle.

I see quite a bit of overlap with other activities that I like: SOTA, hiking, camping, parks and travel.

Colorado

To get a handle on local opportunities, I looked at the 85 POTA parks listed for Colorado. (Compare this to over 1805 SOTA summits in the state.) These are National Parks, National Monuments, National Wildlife Refuges, National Recreation Areas, National Grasslands, National Scenic Trails, National Historic Trails, National Forests,  and Colorado State Parks.  In short, POTA includes the National Park System, National Forests, and State Parks. Cool!

We see a similar picture in Kansas, which has zero SOTA summits. (Sorry, it’s just too flat.)

SOTA activation opportunities are obviously skewed toward mountainous areas. Islands On The Air (IOTA) is generally near large bodies of water. However, POTA is available everywhere. Americans like parks and we have lots of them.

First impressions

I have been heavy into SOTA, so that’s the perspective I have when checking out POTA. POTA requires 10 QSOs to obtain points for an activation, while SOTA requires only four. SOTA activations must not be in, or in the close vicinity of a motor vehicle, cannot use a permanent electrical power source, nor use a fossil fuel generator.  Also, no part of the station may be connected in any way
with the motor vehicle. All equipment must be operated from portable power source (batteries, solar cells, etc). The POTA rules don’t have these restrictions.

The SOTA points system and logging database are pretty much on the honor system. Send in a log (Activator or Chaser) and you’ll get credit for the points you claim. POTA only collects logs from the Activators. So if you are a Chaser (Hunter, in POTA terminology), you don’t submit a log and your points are dependent on the Activator getting a log submitted. POTA log submission is via email and may take up to two weeks to get processed, while SOTA is instantaneous.

What’s Next

I have not quite figured out how I will participate in POTA. For starters, it can be a nice overlap with SOTA. Most of the SOTA summits we activate are on National Forest land, so they also count as POTA activations. Lately, Joyce/K0JJW and I have been RV camping in state parks, so that sets us up for an easy POTA activation. We are also working on visiting all of the US National Parks. POTA probably isn’t a great match for VHF operating, unless it has some Height Above Average Terrain.

I can appreciate the accessibility of the POTA program. It does not require a lot of physical ability to do an activation. The flexible rules allow hams to set up a station in a variety of ways and it seems most hams have a park nearby they can activate.

73 Bob K0NR

The post How About Parks On The Air? appeared first on The KØNR Radio Site.

It's time once again for The Weekender. This is our bi-weekly departure into the world of amateur radio contests, open source conventions, special events, listener challenges, hedonism and just plain fun. Thanks for listening and, if you happen to get a chance, feel free to call us or e-mail and send us some feedback. Tell us how we're doing. We'd love to hear from you.

73 de The LHS Crew

Welcome to the 376th episode of Linux in the Ham Shack. In this episode, we talk with Sterling Mann, N0SSC, about his past involvement in the youth of amateur radio, his current roles with the IARU and YOTA, the highlights and lowlights of amateur radio, the future direction of the hobby and many other topics too numerous to mention. Thank you for listening to this extended episode. We hope you enjoy and please send us feedback. We want to hear from you!

73 de The LHS Crew

On January 15th, 2020 I posted my short ride with Windows 10 installation on my PC.  I was having issues with the upgrade and I decided to downgrade back to Windows 7 pro. It's now 10 months later and I am getting the Windows 10 itch again. I was having sound card issues for my WSJT-X and JTDX programs when using Windows 10.....but I am hoping now those issues have been dealt with. I have also read and seen some YouTube videos on how to stop Windows 10 from doing updates. It seems at times Windows updates cause issues with some ham radio software. This time around if I go ahead with Windows 10 I will do a fresh install and not overtop of Windows 7. 

I am looking forward to the input of those of you who are using or have upgraded to Windows 10 and what has been your experience and what advice do you have?

For Summits On The Air activations, I have been exclusively using the VHF/UHF spectrum. I like the HF bands but for SOTA, I just think that Height Above Average Terrain (HAAT) of a summit is an ideal match for frequencies above 50 MHz.  See Summits On The Air VHF Mountain Goat.

After much nagging peer pressure encouragement from my fellow W0C SOTA activators, I decided to give HF a try. (The solar index had markedly increased in the past week, so the timing seemed right.) I chose an easy summit to hike (Threemile Mountain), so I could just focus on the radio operating.  Plus, Joyce/K0JJW and I were carrying a bit more radio gear, the usual VHF station plus my Yaesu FT-817 for the HF bands. For HF antennas, I dug two single-band EndFedz halfwave antennas for 20m and 15m out of the basement.

We quickly made four contacts on 2m FM and then set up the HF station. I used a telescoping fishing pole as the antenna support, strapped to a conveniently-located pine tree. The halfwave antennas were mostly horizontal and not that far off the ground (maybe 15 feet at the highest point).

A quick check of the SWR using the internal FT-817 meter showed that the transmitter was happy. Then, I called Bob/W0BV on 14.346 MHz to see if I was radiating anything. I was not real strong at his location but we made the contact. As soon as he spotted me on SOTAwatch, I had a nice pileup of stations calling. In the meantime, Joyce kept working stations on 2m FM.

I quickly made 12 QSOs on 20m, including F4WBN in France (best DX for the day). Before I left 20m, Bob/W0BV met me on 14.061 for a CW contact. Just because. Then, I took the 20m antenna down and hoisted the 15m halfwave, the same configuration but a bit shorter in length. The 15m band was not quite as good and had more fading but I made 7 QSOs there.

I was very pleased with the results, especially being able to use the 15 meters, my favorite HF band.  I could have brought along additional antennas to try 17m, 12m and 10m, but there’s always next time. I had a great time working the SOTA chasers on HF, so I will surely do it again.

73 Bob K0NR

The post HF SOTA on Threemile Mountain appeared first on The KØNR Radio Site.