AA6XA, but also KN6REU.

  • 20 Posts
  • 78 Comments
Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: June 13th, 2023

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  • Some clubs meet in person and on zoom simultaneously, does your local one? I’d get in contact with them anyway, someone might have a loaner rig you can use to get on the air and see what interests you the most.

    Parks on the Air and Summits on the Air are popular an a lot of fun, but you’d need a radio first.

    With some basic tools you could build your own radio from a kit.


  • My reading of the state park map is that the park is on the ocean side of route 1, so that’ll eliminate going up any real hills. I’m not really familiar with that section of the coast, though.

    It also sounds like you want an excuse to expand your antenna collection. Go for it! Antenna experimenting is fun. Set up two, and try some A/B testing, or use WSPR or RBN.

    Its an interesting problem you’ve found. As a frequent SOTA op, its not one I encounter :D





  • A j-pole is a half-wavelength vertical with a quarter-wavelength matching section on the bottom.

    It turns out that the 70cm band is about 3x the frequency of the 2m band (150MHz * 3 = 450MHz, close enough to each band). So the 2m the long leg of the j-pole is 3/4 wavelength (1/2 + 1/4 matching section), and on 70cm the long leg is 2.25 wavelength (3/2 + 3/4 matching). Both are an odd number of quarter waves, as we expect. The ham who made that briefing probably discovered in their testing that the matching stub wasn’t good for both bands, so they added a second one for 70cm.

    This is not a novel design, Arrow Antennas has been selling one like it for years (https://www.arrowantennas.com/osj/j-pole.html)










  • ham_bitiousOPMtoVHF+10GHz and Up Contest
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    1 year ago

    Yes. Usually one person is on a mountain top, and the other is on a different mountain or the valley. Microwaves are mostly LOS, but can and do go farther. Mt Diablo to Frazier Mountain is a popular path here in CA. Last year I heard people coordinating contracts from Frazier to somewhere near Quartzite.

    This weekend might provide a lot of rain scatter opportunities for the SoCal hams.


  • ham_bitiousOPMtoVHF+10GHz and Up Contest
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    1 year ago

    Yes, it is ham radio. I think some people were planning to go up Potosi, but changed their plans with the incoming hurricane. That’s too far and too many mountains for NorCal, so I haven’t been watching their plans closely.

    Theoretically you could listen in, but you’d need to be somewhere in the beam of the stations. At 10GHz an 18" dish had a beamwidth of only a few degrees, so if you’re even a little off you’ll hear nothing.

    I believe there are LNBs people have used to get on the band. Those are probably the cheapest. SBMS is probably the closest microwave club, is check out their website.

    I have a video on YouTube of last year’s contest: https://youtu.be/Ch_j_zfCYgI





  • ham_bitioustoSOTAWhat's in your SOTA Pack?
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    1 year ago

    My gear load really depends on the hike.

    Short easy hike? I’ll bring the KX3 and amplifier. Long hike? Just the MTR3B and lightweight antenna. Crowded or densely wooded summit? I’ll bring an antenna with a small footprint. Having options is nice.

    And of course all the jackets, water, food, and other stuff one needs to be safe in the woods.