K9OZ ham radio blog

One of the things that makes Summits on the Air, or SOTA, possible is the background work that's been done by volunteers around the world.  Summits on the Air organizationis based out of the United Kingdom and has a very robust series of web sites that tell the operator anything they need to know, keep track of logs and standings and offer a glimpse into the world of SOTA. SOTA has recently updated its mapping software, and I'm going to use a couple of maps, courtesy of SOTA, to answer the two most common questions I hear -- "Where are the summits," and "How far can you talk." First the reach.  While I've reached Europe a few times from summits, on most activations I can work stations from coast to coast. The map below shows the stations I worked on November 18 from Petit Jean Mountain. The red dots are home stations or chasers.  There are three colored triangles on this map. One indicates my summit, and the other two are other activators I worked. T...

I traveled to the Wichita Mountains in southwest Oklahoma this week on a summit activation trip.  As with most of my trips, my execution didn't live up to my planning. I had hoped to activate 4 summits in two days, but wound up activating two and wisely calling it quits.  I have to remember my legs are 65 years old take it easy on them. As for the activations, the first on Wednesday was up Elk Mountain. It's a pretty 1.1 mile trail that's took me about an hour to climb. The only problem was the weather. I'd studied weather reports and Wednesday was supposed to be sunny and in the 50s -- perfect hiking weather.  When woke in Lawton, OK Wednesday morning there was very thick fog.  My plan was to do Elk Mountain in the morning and Mount Scott in the afternoon, then pick up a couple of nearby summits on Thursday and head home. So I stuck to plan and was at base of Elk Mountain at 9 a.m. and in the fog.  I kept telling myself it would burn off by the time I got t...

For those who are wondering what Summits On the Air, or SOTA, works here's a quick summary. SOTA got is start in the United Kingdom, and has been popular in Europe for years. It has gained popularity in the US the last few years.  The object is to make two-way communication with another amateur station that is being operated portable on a summit.  People activating from a summit are activators, those working them from home or other summits are chasers. Summits are designated by location. Summits in Arkansas are W5A (US fifth call area and Arkansas) and a alphanumeric designation.   When I refer to summits I'm activating, I will give both the common name and the SOTA designation. Every summit is assigned a point value given that is awarded to chasers who work the station and to the activator. An activator has to make four contacts to count it as a an activation.  Lots of information is available at  SOTA's web site , which is comprehensive and very well o...

Over the past year and a half Summits On the Air, or SOTA, has become one of my primary interests in ham radio. In fact, it was July 5, 2017 I made the drive to Mount Magazine (Arkansas' highest peak) and did the short hike to the summit. I pulled out my KX-2 QRP transceiver, hooked it up to a small vertical, and proceeded to make contacts across the country on 20 meters.  I was hooked. Since then I've done about 30 summits. Most have been in Arkansas, but a few in South Dakota.  I'll post some details and pictures from some of my favorite summits and hopefully, start recording the new ones as I get them on this blog. Mount Magazine (W5A/MA-001)  was my first summit.  It's easy to get to on a well-marked trail from Mt. Magazine State Park.  At the top, you are in a cleared, paved area with zero view, so it's a little anti-climactic for most folks. I quickly followed that with another easy drive-up summit, Mt. Nebo (W5A/MA-004).  As fall approached I w...

In moving my blog back to Blogger I managed to lose posts from 2012 on.  That's ok, I really hadn't posted much since 2014 and was ready to start fresh. So here goes. About 5 years ago we uprooted after nearly 30 years in Chicago and moved to Little Rock, Arkansas to be near my wife's family.  It was a good move, and my pre-retirement move. As of July 1, 2018 I retired from full-time work, which gives me much more time to indulge in my hobbies -- ham radio, hiking and Mini Coopers.  I hope to explore all three in upcoming blog posts. Here is view of shack in Little Rock.  It's a modest setup, but gets done what I need. More details to come.  Primary radio is an Elecraft K3 I've been operating for 10 years now.  I've added the P3 Panadapter adn KPA-500 amplifier, so I have the full "K-line" so to speak. This photo is a little dated, as I've replaced the FT-101 with an Icom 765.