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Today, March 8, 2015 at 1732z, I made my fourth QSO from Peak 9431, W5N/PW-019 with N4EX. That QSO qualified the activation and thus earned me my SOTA Mountain Goat award. After 2 years and 2 days my point total is now 1,007, hallelujah!!

Peak 9431 was also  the second activation I ever made and I activated it with Fred, KT5X and John K1JD, both of which were with me today. Also this was my first activation using snow shoes the entire way, which actually was sort of fun. I made 37 QSO's and had a nice run of Europeans on 15m. It was a great day. Below is a video and a couple of pictures of today's activation.




Mike Crownover, AD5A, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Texas, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

CIAO Antenna courtesy: https://maps.google.ca/

In spite of the high K index, the broadcast band was in good shape Friday night, with a nice signal from CIAO in Brampton, Ontario. Like many of the new stations out on the west coast, this is a multi-lingual broadcaster, with most programming in Punjabi or Hindi.

Courtesy: https://maps.google.ca/

It is supposedly limited to 250 watts at night but from the sound of their signal, this regulation may not be being followed ... either that or conditions were even better than I thought.

My recording was made at 0600z (10PM local time) while looping E-W with the 10'x20' loop and the Perseus SDR.


See if you can detect the telephone numbers being given. All have an area code assigned to the Toronto region. As well, there is a second station riding beneath. I suspect one of the Cubans, Radio Reloje or Radio Enciclopedia, both on 530. There also appears to be a top-of-hour short time 'pip' ...either from the Cuban or from CIAO.

Perhaps some more experienced readers can help fill-in the blanks for me.


Steve McDonald, VE7SL, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from British Columbia, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

On the topic of operating events for Summits On The Air (SOTA) activations, Guy N7UN suggested focusing on six major events for 2015. Most of these are VHF-oriented but HF activity can also occur on these days.

• Jan 24-26: ARRL Jan VHF Contest + NA SOTA Winter Activity Weekend
  (oops, I guess we already missed that one)
• Apr 18-19: North America SOTA Spring Activity Weekend
• Jun 13-15: ARRL June VHF Contest + NA SOTA Summer Activity Weekend
• Jul 18-19: CQ WW VHF Contest + optional for SOTA
• Aug 1-2:  Colorado 14er Event + NA SOTA Rocky Mtn Rendezvous + W7 SOTA Activity Weekend + ARRL UHF Contest
• Sept 12-14: ARRL Sept VHF Contest + NA SOTA Fall Activity Weekend

Of course, any day is a good day for SOTA activity. I also think six weekends are a great way to focus our operating activity and create S2S (summit to summit) radio contacts. The August 1-2 weekend looks to be the alignment of the planets with four events happening on that weekend. Early August usually offers excellent conditions for hiking the highest peaks in Colorado, so come on out and play.

For more info on VHF SOTA, see How To Do a VHF SOTA Activation.

Get off the couch, put on your hiking boots, grab your backpack, grab your radio but most important: get on the air!

73, Bob K0NR

The post 2015 SOTA VHF Activity Days appeared first on The KØNR Radio Site.

Bob Witte, KØNR, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Colorado, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

Series Eight Episode Five of the ICQ Amateur / Ham Radio Podcast has been released. In this episode Martin M1MRB / W9ICQ is joined by Leslie Butterfield (G0CIB) and Chris Howard (M0TCH) to discuss the latest Amateur / Ham Radio news. Colin M6BOY rounds up the news in brief, and this episodes feature Amateur Radio Book and Arduino Review.

• D-STAR Secret Nuclear Bunker
• Make your own VHF or UHF transceiver
• Libraries Exposure for Amateur Radio
• Stunning Slow Scan TV from International Space Station
• Notice of interruption to MSF 60 kHz Time and Frequency Signal
• VHF Society Call for Papers
• Changes to Frequencies available for Radio Microphones in New Zealand
• Swiss Special Event Station - HE200GE
• National Mills Weekend

Colin Butler, M6BOY, is the host of the ICQ Podcast, a weekly radio show about Amateur Radio. Contact him at [email protected].

Series Eight Episode Five of the ICQ Amateur / Ham Radio Podcast has been released. In this episode Martin M1MRB / W9ICQ is joined by Leslie Butterfield (G0CIB) and Chris Howard (M0TCH) to discuss the latest Amateur / Ham Radio news. Colin M6BOY rounds up the news in brief, and this episodes feature Amateur Radio Book and Arduino Review.

• D-STAR Secret Nuclear Bunker
• Make your own VHF or UHF transceiver
• Libraries Exposure for Amateur Radio
• Stunning Slow Scan TV from International Space Station
• Notice of interruption to MSF 60 kHz Time and Frequency Signal
• VHF Society Call for Papers
• Changes to Frequencies available for Radio Microphones in New Zealand
• Swiss Special Event Station - HE200GE
• National Mills Weekend

Colin Butler, M6BOY, is the host of the ICQ Podcast, a weekly radio show about Amateur Radio. Contact him at [email protected].

There was a tentative plan to do two peaks today to finish of my SOTA Goat quest. However it was not to be. We did activate Viejos Mesa, W5N/CC-020, but evidently I had yet to do a hike through snow and mud on a beautiful sunny day. I can now check that box.

I did the activation with Fred, KT5X and John K1JD. It was a lovely day and the views were simply magnificent, in fact these views captured the imagination of Georgia O'Keefe, and which she immortalized in her paintings. Of all days to forget my camera it was today, but in the picture below, everything in it plus a lot more was what we got to look at while doing this summit. Of course we were a lot higher, 8,000ft ASL, while enjoying the beauty.


As previously mentioned the trail was too wet and too muddy, with some almost knee deep drifts in places, to keep a decent pace, So we didn't' have time to do the second peak. So, I sit at 996 points.

Hopefully tomorrow.
Mike Crownover, AD5A, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Texas, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

Yesterday evening I received an email from Martin Lynch & Sons that they had despatched a package to me. I was a bit puzzled at first, as earlier in the week I had received my early birthday present I had ordered a day or so before, so I couldn't work out what the package would be, perhaps they had made a mistake?

Then I remembered, I had entered the ML&S guess the Caption competition on their Facebook page. A quick surf over there and I found I had won a Kenwood hand towel, which arrived promptly in this mornings post:



I certainly won't be using it on my face, it will be put on the wall in the soon to be refurbished shack.

If you want to keep up with the top deals and offers at ML&S, join in by liking their Facebook page, it is well worth keeping your eye on! 
Steve, G1KQH, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from England. Contact him at [email protected].