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SOTA Expedition to NM and CO

15 July 2013 | by Mike AD5A | Leave a Comment (0)

Last week was a great week. I took a week of vacation and my wife and I headed to the mountains. We flew to Santa Fe, NM on Monday and that night had a nice dinner with local SOTA enthusiasts’,Fred KT5X aka WS0TA, John K1JD and Doc K7SO and their XYL’s. It is always nice to get together with friends with similar interests. We had a lot to talk about as we planned to do two 10 point SOTA summits the next day, a doubleheader if you will. We would work in teams of two and summit the separate peaks at roughly the same time. This would allow us to have summit to summit (S2S) QSO’s with each other. The S2S contacts count toward a separate award within the SOTA program. We would then descend from the peak we were on and ascend the summit that the other team had just activated. You must make 4 QSO's from each summit for it to qualify for activator points.

Since the forests were closed in the Santa Fe area due to high fire risk we went east of Taos, NM. Our activation targets were W5N/SS-019, Peak 10,900 and W5N/SS-024, Sierra de Don Fernando, both are 10 point peaks and are in excess of 10,000 ft. ASL. The activations went well, making HF contacts t qualify the summit and VHF, S2S, contacts with our buddies on the other summits. My portable station, documented in my previous post, worked very well. I used my ATS-4 transceiver, an EFHW strung up in a tree for an antenna and a 500 mAH lipo battery for my power supply.. We had a great time and only had a few rain drops fall on us. We were deep in the forest and the smells and sounds in the mountains are very therapeutic. The plan almost worked to perfection. Fred, Cris (XYL) and myself were on one team and John and Doc on the other. We were down from the second summit when Doc called in on 2m to let us know that they had a flat tire. So we were forced to wait on them in the cool forests of New Mexico.

After successfully activating these two summits we said goodbye to our Santa Fe friends. We then headed to visit Jeff, my old backpacking buddy, and his wife Becky in Red River, NM. There are several 10 pointers in the Red River area and we decided to just do one, Greenie Peak, W5N/SS-015, on Wednesday morning. This would allow us more time to visit and catch up.

Wednesday turned out to be an adventurous day. The Greenie Peak activation went well. There are beautiful views from there and it has a large summit area. Despite poor propagation I quickly filled the log and we determined, with thunder in the distance, we should head down.

Operating on Greenie Peak, NM

My Station is on the right

On the way down however, we saw a sign on the trail to Sawmill Peak. Sawmill is another 10 pointer that I had considered but there is no trail to the top. After seeing the sign, I thought maybe I had found a trail no-one else had found. The 4WD trail dead ended into what appeared to be a hiking trail. It was not, but lead to a bushwhack over 3 lesser peaks to finally reach Sawmill. Again, the summit wasn't planned. We reached the summit, started deploying the antenna and the skies opened up. There are commercial antennas on the top of Sawmill and we found refuge under a pier and beam building there. We got wet. After an hour and a half rain delay we set up again in light rain. My hands were wet and cold and the micro key seemed very small and I had considerable trouble operating it. The rain continued to fall.

I called CQ for 10 minutes before NS7P called and then spotted me. We made a few more QSO's despite the keying problems and qualified he summit. Thanks for those who stuck it out with me. We hiked back in the rain, but with 20 points in the bag rather than 10. Is was a satisfying day, activating Sawmill Mountain, which had only one previous activation, unexpectedly, felt good.

On Thursday morning we bid farewell to our friends and headed north to Colorado. We planned to climb Mt. Sherman which is 14,036 ASL. I previously have climbed 6 of Colorado’s 54 14’ers, but I haven’t done one for more than 15 years. I live near San Antonio, TX, so acclimation to altitude is always a concern. I keep myself in decent shape, but the question in the back of my mind was, “can I still do it”. This climb and activation would culminate a great week of SOTA activations. All four summits for the week were 10 pointers, so going into Friday the plan had gone very well, but the big target for the week was Mt. Sherman, 14,036’ ASL.

My XYL (who has five 14ers to her credit) and I had re-conned the trail-head on Thursday afternoon. There is a gate, open in the summer, and we found that you can drive a long way up the mountain, if you want to, probably close to 12,800 if you have a 4WD. However there were no cars at the trail-head at the time so I wasn't sure where the typical starting point was. So the next morning we arrived at the gate at a little before 7:00 am. There were a handful of cars already parked outside of the gate, but none were parked past it. I didn't want to be the guy that drove his car way up the hill, when everyone else starts at the gate. So we parked there and were quickly on the trail/road up the summit. We followed a local guy, who seemed to know what he was doing, however it turns out that he didn't. We missed the main trail, i.e., the road that goes to 12,800, and is relatively easy hiking. Instead stayed left and climbed up a fairly steep pile of rocks to the old mine. That snafu, while not really adding any distance, probably added 30 minutes to our time. We realized this when we go to the top of that climb when a couple came walking up the road that goes around the rocky slope. Oh well, as my friend Jeff says,” If you know what’s going to happen, it’s not an adventure”.

My XYL Cris on the way up Mt. Sherman

The rest of the climb was just the grind that all 14ers are. You settle into a pace, enjoy the views and try to breathe. We summited at 9:30, a little later than I had hoped, since there was an outside chance I might do Mt. Sheridan, another 10 pointer, which was a across the ridge from Mt. Sherman. We actually felt pretty good at the top, tired by not overly so, and no altitude induced maladies. We enjoyed summiting another 14’er, the views are magnificent.

So now to the radio. I had used an EFHW all week but, in the deluge of rain and hail on top of Sawmill Mountain the previous Wednesday, I had lost the buttons I use as guides for the antenna wire on my crappie pole. So I decided to take my back up Buddi-stick vertical. I've had good luck with this antenna before and it’s very quick to deploy. However, for some reason the SWR was high and I couldn't get it down with quick adjustments of the radials, so my signal suffered in what weren't good conditions to start with. I started well with an S2S with NM5S who was on Mt. Windom in Colorado, another 14er, but then it became hard work. NS7P called in with his usual loud signal and gave me good report and then WA2USA followed with a 229. After that I didn't get any calls for what seemed like an eternity. After several fat finger, altitude induced mistakes, I finally was able to post that I needed one more QSO via my iPhone, and W0MNA, W6UB and ND0C called in. Looking to the west I could see that, while still a ways off, rain clouds were forming. So I packed up. Not a glamorous activation, but it counts. With rain clouds on the horizon, I decided to leave Sheridan for another day.

Operating from the summit of Mt. Sherman

On our way down, at around 13,500 ft. we encountered a husband and wife climbing with their 4 month old daughter. While it is a courageous thing to do, I wondered about the wisdom of such an adventure. My wife said that seeing that made her feel like a wimp. Despite that we pressed forward and made steady progress down the mountain as the rain clouds formed. It always surprises me that people will start up a 14er at mid-morning. We encountered several who were on the way up as we were descending that clearly would not summit before noon, which is the time you should be off the mountain. This time we took the road rather than descend the rocky slope that we needlessly climbed on the ascent and it was fairly easy going once we reached that point.

After we made it back to the car, my XYL and I high-fived, having proven to ourselves that “we still got it”. As we did that, the first rain drop fell. As I shut the door of the SUV, the hail started falling and the clouds let loose. Perfect timing for us, down just in time, but I couldn't help but think about that little 4 month old. I hope the parents were prepared to keep her warm and dry.

The hike is 5.2 miles round trip and ~ 2200 feet vertical gain from the gate. The red track above illustrates our route up and down Mt. Sherman. The left route on the way up is not easiest way up. The red dot on the summit plateau is where I operated from.

So another double header of sorts, another summit activated and finally another 14er climbed. What a great day. For the week, 50 activator points, 76 S2S points and 36 chaser points; not too bad.

AD5A and XYL Cris on the summit of Mt. Sherman

(date and time wrong on the picture)

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

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Welcome Sterling Coffey, NØSSC

15 July 2013 | by Matt W1MST | Leave a Comment (4)

Sterling Coffey, NØSSC

We’re very lucky here at AmateurRadio.com to count as contributors some of the best ham radio bloggers in the world. With the recent demise of Google Reader, I’ve heard from many subscribers about how valuable they find our daily newsletter. Thank you for your kind words and support — without which this site would not be possible.

It’s with great pleasure that I announce our newest regular contributor, Sterling Coffey, NØSSC. In addition to being a full-time college student at the Missouri University of Science and Technology, Sterling serves as ARRL Youth Editor writing the popular [email protected] column. Sterling will bring his youth-focused enthusiasm for ham radio and fantastic writing style. You’ll enjoy his posts!

If you’re on Twitter, make sure to follow him (@n0ssc). Also, check out his YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/sterwing) and posts on Reddit (http://www.reddit.com/user/kawfey).

Welcome aboard, Sterling!

Matt Thomas, W1MST, is the managing editor of AmateurRadio.com. Contact him at [email protected].

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What’s in a name – radio societies all over the world

14 July 2013 | by Sverre LA3ZA | Leave a Comment (0)

Image © Freeworldmaps.net

The IARU HF Championship took place this weekend. This is the contest where every country has national stations which exchange the abbreviation of the radio amateur society. Therefore it was an opportunity to reflect on what the names of the national societies mean. Many of the names in the IARU list portray the heritage of a hundred years. It is not so strange then that this may make some of them hard to understand and even a bit old-fashioned.

Starting with the ARRL – American Radio Relay League or NRRL (Norwegian …) then this is about a network of stations relaying messages in a country with large distances. This is a bit 1920’s to me. Looking at the ARRL web page it looks as if the the ARRL agrees and really would like to modernize the name to the National Association for Amateur Radio. The Portuguese may already have modernized it a bit by the use of network instead of relay: “Rede dos Emissores Portugueses” (Network of Portuguese Transmitters), or perhaps it is just because this is the same word as “relay” in Portuguese?

Most societies have “radio amateur” in the name like the German and the French: Deutscher Amateur Radio Club, Union Francaise des Radioamateurs. My knowledge of Spanish is not so good but this one sounds better to me: Union de Radioaficionados Espanoles as “radioaficionados” gives me the impression of “radio fans”, but perhaps it is just another word for “radio amateurs”?

Just like “radio relay” is a bit old-fashioned, the Swiss also have an old name in Union Schweizerischer Kurzwellen-Amateure. It must have been coined before VHF and UHF as Kurzwelle means Shortwave.

A name which sounds more contemporary despite its age is the Radio Society of Great Britain. Many others have similar names, one example is Amateur Radio Society of India.

The word “club” is used by many and seems to emphasize the hobby aspects, e.g. Radio Club Argentino and Český radioklub (Czech Radio Club).

Contesting is in many ways like a sport, at least in the same sense as chess is called a sport today. Examples that use this word are Chinese Radio Sports Association, Belarussian Federation of Radioamateurs and Radiosportsmen, and Mongolian Radio Sports Federation.

The there’s those who value the experimental aspects, like Vereniging voor Experimenteel Radio Onderzoek in Nederland (Society for Experimental Radio Research), Experimenterende Danske Radioamatører (literary Experimenting Danish Radio Amateurs) and Federacion Mexicana de Radio Experimentadores.

A similar technical emphasis is in the word “transmitter”: Irish Radio Transmitters Society, Foreningen Sveriges Sändareamatörer (literary Society of Swedish Transmitter Amateurs) and Österreichischer Versuchssenderverband (literary Austrian Experimental Transmitter Society).

The protection from the royal family exalts the society, but it is something I could only find in Belgium: Royal Union Royale Belge des Amateurs-Emetteurs / Koninklijke Unie van de Belgische Zendamateurs / Königliche Union der Belgischen Funkamateure.

Finally, these are the most serious and ambitious names I could find: Egyptian Radio Amateurs Society for Development, Syrian Scientific Technical Amateur Radio Society, and above all the Wireless Institute of Australia.

Which words should be used in the name of a radio society today? It’s a balance between reflecting a hundred years of history and communicating with contemporary people.

Personally I don’t like to use the word “amateur”. It comes originally from the same root as “amour” and “amore” and thus means someone who loves and is passionate about something. But today it gives the impression of being unprofessional. A contemporary name should also emphasize the experimental side in my view.

Sverre Holm, LA3ZA, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Norway. Contact him at [email protected].

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Weekend

14 July 2013 | by Larry W2LJ | Leave a Comment (1)

We arrived home from Lake George yesterday. I went to go pick up Sandy, our cat, from the place where we took her and Jesse to be boarded while we were away. When Sandy got home, she was as upset as I was. She was looking all over the house for her “big brother”.

They were real good buddies and it’s quite obvious that I’m not the only one around here who has a bit of a broken heart right now.

The manager of Best Friends came over and explained to me that last Tuesday morning they found Jesse laying on his bed, which wasn’t unusual at all. He was an older dog and was no longer very active. They thought he was asleep and when they tried to wake him, well ……… he didn’t. The manager told me that one of her own dogs did the same thing. He was old and hanging on and hanging on and waited until she and her husband were away to pass. I don’t know if it has any merit or not, but she told me that some dogs do that. It’s like they want to spare their owners the hardship of seeing them pass.

This house is not the same without him, and I am definitely not the same without my pal. The sun just seems to be a little bit dimmer than it used to be. And while I am thinking of Jesse, I’d like to thank all of you who left very kind comments or sent me an e-mail with the same. I appreciate it and thank you so much – you’re all in my prayers.

But life goes on, so even though I really wasn’t in the mood, I decided to go to the Sussex Amateur Radio Club hamfest anyway – to at least take my mind off of Jesse for a while. I got there at 8:30 AM, about a half hour after the doors officially opened. I got there to a double line of cars, backed up, paying admission and waiting to get in. When was the last time you saw THAT at a hamfest that isn’t Dayton or one of the other true “biggies”?

It was sunny and hot and humid! I was sweating just walking around at a leisurely pace. I ran into Don W2JEK who I have worked so many times in various QRP Sprints. I walked up to the table where he was selling stuff and shook his hand and said “Hello”. You could tell he was taken aback for half a split second until he noticed my call sign on my cap. We talked for a bit and then I continued to meander around.

I noticed a lot of QRP stuff on the tables. There were at least two HW-8s and one HW-7 that I saw. There were at least two of the Chinese/TenTec HB-1As and there were several MFJ QRP rigs for sale. I will take it as a good sign for QRP, that when I made my last pass of the tables, all the QRP equipment seemed to have been sold and in the hands of eager, new users.

There was lots of other interesting stuff, too, including this:

A Martin Flash Bug, which is a brand that I never even heard of, before. It looks to be in very good shape, too. However, I didn’t want to part with the $100 the seller was asking for. I also saw this, which was not for sale, but was being demo’ed.

This is the E-APS – the Emergency Antenna Platform System. It’s a robot that will serve as an emergency platform for a VHF/UHF antenna. You put the robot on a light pole in a parking lot, for instance, and then remotely control its climb until it’s at the height you desire. It was designed and built by a team of young Hams from New Jersey including Devlin KC2PIX, Chris KD2CXC, Ben KD2DLM, Joe KD2CQL, Kyle KD2DWC, Gavin KD2DPN and Robert KC2WCQ. This unit is not for sale, but plans and open source programming are available to anyone who wants to build one. For more information you can go to www.wc2fd.com or e-mail for info at [email protected]. It’s good to see young minds with fresh ideas doing concrete things to make Amateur Radio better; and thinking out of the box, to boot!

I ended up buying two items. First, I bought a handful of 3.5mm DC connectors. These seem to have become the de-facto standard power plug for QRP rigs. You can never have enough, so I bought some to have for spare.

The second thing I bought was an HT holder for my Jeep. It fits into the cup holder of my Jeep Patriot. There’s a twist ring at the bottom which allows the insert to expand so it fully fills the cup holder and stays in place without budging.

Before this, I had simply rested the radio IN the cup holder. That was very inconvenient for looking at the display, hitting the search button, etc. I’m by no means an active VHF/UHFer, but had recently started taking the HT with me to work again, as broadcast radio gets boring to listen to after a while (no offense to those of you in the industry). I still need to get my ICOM VHF/UHF molbile radio installed in the Jeep by a professional, and this will carry me over until I can find someone good and reliable who can do that for me. Listening to the local repeaters and even chatting on occasion makes the commute more pleasant.

When I got home, I realized that today was “Scorch Your Butt Off“. I had almost forgotten! And what an appropriate day! Because of the steamy conditions, I decided to not go far. I went to the Cotton Street Park, here in town …… where I went for FOBB last year. When I left the house, the thermometer on the back deck said that it was 92F (33C) but that sensor is in the sun and tends to read a little high. I checked both WeatherUndergound and the National Weather Service. Most local weather stations close to my house were reading 88F (31C), so that was the temperature I used for the exchange throughout. The humidity was a whopping 91%. Can you say, “Ugh”?

There didn’t seem to be too much activity. Either that, or the bands were crud, and it may have been band conditions as I didn’t hear too much activity of any kind, anywhere. My set up was the same, my KX3 and PAR ENDFEDZ hauled up into a tree. I made a grand total of nine QSOs, and the only person I worked on two bands was Rick NK9G on both 20 and 40 Meters. QSB seemed to be deep and fast on all three bands I worked – 40, 20 and 15 Meters.

I stayed until the water and freezer pops that I brought with me ran out. When I got home, the temperature had legitimately climbed to 92F (33C). Another thermometer that I had on the front porch in the shade gave me that reading, as did another check with WeatherUnderground. The humidity had mercifully dropped down to 65% percent, though. Still tropical, but not as sauna-like. The bad news is that it is supposed to remain like this for the rest of the week.

Remember, if you SYBO’ed make sure to get your logs off to Rem K6BBQ!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP – When you care to send the very least!

Larry Makoski, W2LJ, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Jersey, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

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DX #88 HH5/KC0W

14 July 2013 | by John N8ZYA | Leave a Comment (1)

It took me several times to find the correct “split” but I was able to work another new DX country this evening. I put HH5/KC0W in the log book operating from the island of Haiti in the Caribbean.

This station marks my 88th DX entity.

I’ve made very little entries on the blog in the last few weeks. My back continues to improve and I find myself spending as much time outside as possible. Lot’s of other stuff happening too, so the entries may be a little sparse in the near future. It feels really good to move around again. It seems I’ve dodged the bullet once more concerning surgery.

John Smithson, Jr., N8ZYA, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from West Virginia, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

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AmateurLogic.TV 56: Field Day at Johnson Space Center

14 July 2013 | by George W5JDX | Leave a Comment (0)

AmateurLogic.TV Episode 56 is now available for download.

George visits the NASA Johnson Space Center Amateur Radio Club and Clear Lake Texas ARC for field day. Tommy drops by the JARC. Peter searches for comets. And Tommy shows us how to set up a DVAP for D-Star.

Viewer mail, comments, a little comedy, and a special show announcement.

1:02:44 Out of this world adventure.

Download

View in web browser: YouTube

Editors Note: There is a typo on the title of the Johnson Space Center segment. George was talking with John. John does not own a space center.

George Thomas, W5JDX, is co-host of AmateurLogic.TV, an original amateur radio video program hosted by George Thomas (W5JDX), Tommy Martin (N5ZNO), Peter Berrett (VK3PB), and Emile Diodene (KE5QKR). Contact him at [email protected].

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IARU contest in the books

14 July 2013 | by Mike VE9KK | Leave a Comment (4)

I told Oliver (A.K.A RF) sleep is for after the contest

I always look forward to the IARU CW contest each year, I find it is just the right length and lots (most of the times) of DX to be had. This year I entered as Single op, QRP power, all band. Last year's IRAU contest I was QRPp for most of the time making some very amazing contacts and breaking my all time miles per watt record. This year it was tough going and then only having 5 watts as well made things more of a challenge.
I found the bands during Saturday morning and afternoon were really only open to the U.S. There was very occasional openings on 10m and 15m. It seemed 20m was the way to go and I found myself just checking 10 and 15m now and then . I did have what I considered a DX contact during the afternoon which was Mexico! Pretty sad for that being my early afternoon DX!!
The solar conditions were not to bad considering how the last few weeks had gone for solar flares and high K index's. As the afternoon wore on 20m started to have opening to Europe and South America. But again with only 5 watts it was a challenge. As the evening rolled around 40m was busy with lots of action. Europe was booming in but for some reason I have always had it tough on 40m. I am not sure why but the U.S has never been a problem but getting over the pond has been frustrating. Having said that I did make it into Germany, England, France and Italy. I was very surprised but did have to make many repeats and I got the feeling I was just making it over there.
My score is as follows.
144 contacts
23 HQ stations
21 ITU's
Overall I had a blast and again am looking forward to it again next year.

Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

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