Early in 2021 I learned on Twitter that N6DNM would be activating Santa Rosa on May 15. I thought it would be kind of neat to do a channel island activation on the same day and try for a summit to summit contact! So, I chose to research and plan East Peak Benchmark, W6/SC-329 as pretty easy to get to with the regular service to Avalon. The original concept was to stay overnight Friday, but I learned later that it is a 2 night minimum on the weekend. I booked the 7am boat to arrive about 8:30. Surely I’d be on the peak by 11am!
Continue reading Catalina East Peak BenchmarkCategory Archives: Amateur Radio
Summits on the Air
What is SOTA?
Summits on the Air (SOTA) is a form of radiosport that combines portable amateur radio with hiking to designated hills or mountain tops. The sport aspect of this activity includes rules and an honor system of points and awards for operators on the summits (activators) and operators or listeners down below (chasers).
Continue reading Summits on the AirActivators carry portable radio gear up to designated summits and “activate” the peak… Chasers hunt the activators…
http://www.pnwsota.org/content/getting-started-sota
Learning Ham Radio
Why we studied to become licensed operators
Having lived at Pepperdine University in Malibu for a over a decade, we observed that our environment contained some things that we hadn’t seen as much when living in L.A., Pasadena and Burbank. Aside from deer, pumas, sage, sand and sea some of the more notable features were more variable weather than in the basin and valleys, and more frequent power outages… and more disasters like fire and mudslides. The fire and power outages tend to put your communications down at times – we don’t have a telco powered land line and after a while the batteries in the cell towers deplete and your comms are out. Just one of those things that happens for a few hours every few years. But what if they were out for days and weeks?
Continue reading Learning Ham Radio