Posts Tagged ‘SOTA’
SOTA Signal Reports Using 2m FM
September 9th, 2024 | 
Author: 
Everyone wants to know how their signal sounds on the air and often the best way to find out is a signal report from other ham radio operators. The standard signal reporting method for amateur radio is the RST (Readability-Signal Strength-Tone) system. See Practical Signal Reports on HamRadioSchool.com.
When using 2m FM on Summits On The Air (SOTA), we can simplify the signal report. Because it is a voice mode, we drop the reading for Tone and just give RS reports, so a perfect signal on voice is RS 59 or simply “five nine.” The Readability report is a number between 1 and 5, while the Signal Strength report goes from 1 to 9. (See the listing at the bottom of this article.) The signal strength generally corresponds to the S meter reading on your radio but most FM rigs have very basic meters. Some don’t provide a meter reading at all. The photo to the left shows a typical bar graph on a Yaesu FT-60. Don’t expect high accuracy, so if the meter reads full scale, give an S9 report. If it reads half-scale, that’s probably S5, etc.
On VHF FM, signal reports may also be given in terms of FM quieting. A strong FM signal is said to “quiet the receiver” since there is virtually no noise present in the received audio. As the signal strength is decreased, noise starts to appear on the received signal. At lower signals levels, the noise increases dramatically and the signal becomes unreadable. This dramatic increase is called the threshold effect, meaning that FM signals do not gradually fade out, they tend to fade quickly into the noise. The key idea here is that you want your signal to be strong enough to be above this noise threshold. In terms of a signal report, a strong signal may result in a “full quieting” report. If the signal is less than full quieting, you may hear a report like “90 percent quieting” or “you have about 10% noise”, which both describe the amount of noise present in the signal. If the signal is really noisy, the report might be “50% quieting.”
Keep It Simple
For practical 2m FM operating, don’t overthink these signal reports. If the signal is easy to hear and is full-scale, give a 59 report. If it is easy to hear but the meter reading is less than full scale, reduce the signal level report to something like 56 or 57. If there is some noise present, you might want to reduce the readability to 4, so maybe give a 44 or 45 report. (Usually, if there is a readability issue, the signal strength will also be lower.) If you are having a difficult time hearing the signal, it’s probably a 33 or less. Readability of 1 or 2 is rarely used because it indicates you are not actually hearing the other station.
One final note is that sometimes the operator on the other end is looking for a more critical evaluation of his signal quality. If he says something about “checking out this new microphone” or “have been working on solving an audio problem”, that may be the clue to spend a little extra time really listening to the signal and providing more comments on how it sounds. For most of us, we don’t actually get to hear our own signal on the air, so it’s very helpful to get quality feedback from other radio amateurs.
73 Bob KØNR
The RST system as listed on the ARRL web site, Quick Reference Operating Aids:
Readability
1 – Unreadable
2 – Barely readable, occasional words distinguishable.
3 – Readable with considerable difficulty.
4 – Readable with practically no difficulty.
5 – Perfectly readable.
Signal Strength
1- Faint signals, barely perceptible.
2- Very weak signals.
3- Weak signals.
4- Fair signals.
5- Fairly good signals.
6- Good signals.
7- Moderately strong signals.
8- Strong signals.
9- Extremely strong signals.
The post SOTA Signal Reports Using 2m FM appeared first on The KØNR Radio Site.
SOTA Signal Reports Using 2m FM
Everyone wants to know how their signal sounds on the air and often the best way to find out is a signal report from other ham radio operators. The standard signal reporting method for amateur radio is the RST (Readability-Signal Strength-Tone) system. See Practical Signal Reports on HamRadioSchool.com.
When using 2m FM on Summits On The Air (SOTA), we can simplify the signal report. Because it is a voice mode, we drop the reading for Tone and just give RS reports, so a perfect signal on voice is RS 59 or simply “five nine.” The Readability report is a number between 1 and 5, while the Signal Strength report goes from 1 to 9. (See the listing at the bottom of this article.) The signal strength generally corresponds to the S meter reading on your radio but most FM rigs have very basic meters. Some don’t provide a meter reading at all. The photo to the left shows a typical bar graph on a Yaesu FT-60. Don’t expect high accuracy, so if the meter reads full scale, give an S9 report. If it reads half-scale, that’s probably S5, etc.
On VHF FM, signal reports may also be given in terms of FM quieting. A strong FM signal is said to “quiet the receiver” since there is virtually no noise present in the received audio. As the signal strength is decreased, noise starts to appear on the received signal. At lower signals levels, the noise increases dramatically and the signal becomes unreadable. This dramatic increase is called the threshold effect, meaning that FM signals do not gradually fade out, they tend to fade quickly into the noise. The key idea here is that you want your signal to be strong enough to be above this noise threshold. In terms of a signal report, a strong signal may result in a “full quieting” report. If the signal is less than full quieting, you may hear a report like “90 percent quieting” or “you have about 10% noise”, which both describe the amount of noise present in the signal. If the signal is really noisy, the report might be “50% quieting.”
Keep It Simple
For practical 2m FM operating, don’t overthink these signal reports. If the signal is easy to hear and is full-scale, give a 59 report. If it is easy to hear but the meter reading is less than full scale, reduce the signal level report to something like 56 or 57. If there is some noise present, you might want to reduce the readability to 4, so maybe give a 44 or 45 report. (Usually, if there is a readability issue, the signal strength will also be lower.) If you are having a difficult time hearing the signal, it’s probably a 33 or less. Readability of 1 or 2 is rarely used because it indicates you are not actually hearing the other station.
One final note is that sometimes the operator on the other end is looking for a more critical evaluation of his signal quality. If he says something about “checking out this new microphone” or “have been working on solving an audio problem”, that may be the clue to spend a little extra time really listening to the signal and providing more comments on how it sounds. For most of us, we don’t actually get to hear our own signal on the air, so it’s very helpful to get quality feedback from other radio amateurs.
73 Bob KØNR
The RST system as listed on the ARRL web site, Quick Reference Operating Aids:
Readability
1 – Unreadable
2 – Barely readable, occasional words distinguishable.
3 – Readable with considerable difficulty.
4 – Readable with practically no difficulty.
5 – Perfectly readable.
Signal Strength
1- Faint signals, barely perceptible.
2- Very weak signals.
3- Weak signals.
4- Fair signals.
5- Fairly good signals.
6- Good signals.
7- Moderately strong signals.
8- Strong signals.
9- Extremely strong signals.
The post SOTA Signal Reports Using 2m FM appeared first on The KØNR Radio Site.
2024 Colorado 14er Event (SOTA)
Amateur Radio operators from around Colorado will be climbing Colorado Summits On The Air (SOTA) peaks and communicating with other radio amateurs across the state and around the world. Join in the fun during the annual event by activating a summit or contacting (chasing) the mountaintop stations.
This event is normally held the first full weekend in August. Again this year, we will add two bonus days to the Colorado 14er Event. The main two days remain Saturday and Sunday (Aug 3 & 4), while the bonus days are Friday Aug 2nd and Monday Aug 5th, for those SOTA enthusiasts that need more than two days of SOTA fun! Be aware that many mountaintop activators will hit the trail early with the goal of being off the summits by (1800 UTC) noon due to lightning safety concerns.
The 14er event includes Summits On the Air (SOTA) peaks, which provide over 1700 summits to activate. (See the W0C SOTA web page or browse the SOTA Atlas.) The Colorado 14er Event was started in 1991, about 19 years before the SOTA program was set up in Colorado. As SOTA grew in popularity, this event expanded from just the 14,000-foot mountains (14ers) to include all of the SOTA summits in the state. We still call it the Colorado 14er Event because, well, that’s where it all started and the 14ers are the iconic summits in the state.
Important: The recommended 2m FM frequencies have been changed to 146.58, 146.55, and 146.49 MHz, to align with the use of the North America Adventure Frequency for SOTA (146.58). The National Simplex Calling Frequency (146.52) may be used as appropriate. There will be plenty of action on the other ham bands, for more information see the operating frequencies page.
Resources:
Colorado 14er Event webpage – Everything to Know About The Colorado 14er Event
Beginner Guide – For the first-time activator
Ham14er Groups.io – Discussion Group for the event
Colorado SOTA groups.io – Colorado SOTA discussion group
Colorado 14er Event Task Force
[email protected]
The post 2024 Colorado 14er Event (SOTA) appeared first on The KØNR Radio Site.
A Reason To Get On The Air
I don’t need much but I do need a reason to get on the air. This can take many forms as I wrote in this blog post some time ago. I see quite a few new hams struggling with the problem of “I got this license but now what?”
Operating goals or awards are a fun way to keep focused on accomplishing something via ham radio. Really, it’s a specific reason to get on the air and make radio contacts. I am not big on idle chit chat via the radio (“the weather here is 65 deg and raining”) so having a reason to make contacts helps me get on the air. I’ve tended to pursue awards in a serial manner…once I hit some level of accomplishment, I usually declare victory and move on to something else.
Way back in the wayback machine, the first award I pursued was Worked All States (WAS). It does take some effort but I was pretty active on the HF bands at the time, so many of the states just showed up in my log. But to really drive it home, I kept track of which states I still needed and actively looked for opportunities to work them. Later, I pursued Worked All Continents (WAC), which obviously requires working some DX. But then I decided that if I had any DX cred at all, I needed to get DX Century Club (DXCC). Recently, the popularity of FT8 has been a game changer and I currently have about 175 entities confirmed (thank you, Logbook of The World). I don’t chase paper QSL cards anymore, which is just too much trouble for a Slacker DXer
.
The VHF and higher bands have always been a passion for me, so I pursued the VHF/UHF Century Club (VUCC) awards. First, it was 6 meter VUCC, the easiest one to get. A really good run during the ARRL June VHF contest can produce the 100 grids you need for the award in one weekend. Later, some mountaintop activity resulted in 10 GHz VUCC. At one point, I got into working the LEO satellites and confirmed the required 100 grids for satellite VUCC. (Hey, Technicians, this is something you can do right now!) I still don’t have very many grids confirmed on 2 meters, so that one is still calling to me.
Summits On The Air
If you read my blog, you know that Summits On The Air (SOTA) is my number one activity lately, both activating and chasing summits. This is a natural fit for me as I’ve enjoyed mountaintop operating in various forms, mostly on VHF and UHF. (See my SOTA blog postings.) My hiking partner and wife, Joyce/K0JJW is almost always activating with me. Her #1 ham radio activity is also SOTA. We both achieved Mountain Goat status (1000 activator points) using only VHF and higher frequencies. (Technicians can have a lot of fun with SOTA on VHF!)
The SOTA program has a wide variety of awards, supported by a comprehensive database used to record SOTA radio contacts and keep track of the scores. It is not really a competition but there is friendly rivalry between SOTA enthusiasts as they monitor each other’s posted scores. Here are the “badges” that pop up when I check my SOTA info.
Parks On The Air
In the past few years, we have added the Parks On The Air (POTA) program. It turns out that not all regions of the country have interesting SOTA summits but they all have state or national parks. This fits nicely into our outdoor hiking/camping/4WD activities.
Many of our SOTA activations are in parks (national forests, national parks and state parks), so we usually try to make the SOTA activation count for both programs. This means that many of our POTA activations are done using VHF/UHF only, if from a summit. More commonly, we use the HF bands for POTA activations. Our standard POTA setup is a Yaesu FT-991 driving an endfed wire antenna, usually on SSB or FT8.
POTA also has a great database, good tools and plenty of awards available. Here’s what shows up on my POTA awards page. Just like SOTA, POTA is not a competition but it is interesting to see what other hams are doing and compare you level of activity.
So those are my thoughts.
What motivates you to get on the air?
73, Bob K0NR
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Fraser Does Pikes Peak
Pikes Peak is a great summit for a SOTA activation. You can hike up, drive up, or take the cog railway to get to the top. Pikes towers over eastern Colorado and has an excellent radio horizon in all directions. It is easy to work a bunch of stations on 2m FM. With a bit of effort, you can work Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, and New Mexico on VHF.
Fraser/MM0EFI was visiting from Scotland, operating here in the US as W0/M0EFI. Here’s his HF operating experience, with cameo appearances by Carey/KX0R, Christian/F4WBN, Elliot/K6EL, and Steve/WG0AT.
Now for the VHF fun on 2m FM. I happened to be on South Monarch Ridge (W0C/SP-058) that day and we completed a Summit-to-Summit contact on 146.52 MHz, at a distance of about 80 miles—easy contact using just HT’s on both ends.
Fraser, thanks for the fun videos from America’s Mountain.
73 Bob K0NR
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Check Wx Using FAA Webcams
While investigating some potential Summits On The Air (SOTA) peaks, someone sent me a link for the FAA weather cam that was on a particular peak. I was able to get a real-time look at the snow on the summit and see the terrain. Of course, the world is full of many different webcams providing real-time video but somehow I had overlooked the FAA webcams. (I am sure some of the pilots out there are thinking “duh, everyone knows about these.”) This caused me to spend some time looking at the various FAA webcams available.
Monarch Pass
There is a weather cam at the radio site on South Monarch Ridge (W0C/SP-058), a popular SOTA summit. It is labeled Monarch Pass, which is located below the summit. The orientation of the four cameras is indicated on the map. Besides being on a SOTA summit, this camera is in a great spot to see Monarch Ski Area, the south end of the Sawatch Mountain Range, and the north part of the Sangre De Cristo Mountain Range.
Here’s the camera view looking northwest from South Monarch Ridge. You can see towers and cables for the tram that goes up to the summit during the summer months. The Continental Divide and the Monarch Pass Ski Area are in the center of this image.
Wilkerson Pass
Another popular SOTA summit, Badger Mountain (W0C/SP-072), has a weather cam on it, labeled for Wilkerson Pass, just below the mountain. Shown below, the SW camera from Wilkerson looks out over South Park with the Sawatch Range off in the distance.
There are many more weather cams around the state and across the USA. They provide a real-time look at what is happening in the mountains which is complementary to a good weather forecast. Take a look to see what cameras are in your area that can be helpful.
73 Bob K0NR
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ARRL POTA Book
I was happy to contribute an article to the recent ARRL Parks On The Air (POTA) book. This piece is based on my Pikes Peak mountain topping article that appeared in the June 2023 issue of QST. This book is a collection of articles about POTA from 14 different authors, each writing about a different aspect of the program. The articles are all easy to read and generally provide a first-hand account of how the author has experienced POTA operating. There is plenty of beginner information and operating tips sprinkled throughout the book. More experienced POTA enthusiasts will probably pick up a few new ideas as well.
The Table of Contents below lists the articles and authors, giving you a good idea of the material covered. The meat of the book is only 118 pages long and it is quite easy to read.
My piece covered the triple activation I did from the summit of Pikes Peak, combining POTA, SOTA, and the June VHF Contest into one mountaintop adventure. For POTA, the park was the Pike National Forest (K-4404). I’ve done this type of combo activation in the past, sometimes just SOTA + POTA or just SOTA + VHF Contest. This time I did all three.
The book is available directly from the ARRL or from the usual book outlets such as Amazon.
73 Bob K0NR
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