5 ms·

Also shout out to Summits on the Air; same idea, but for mountain/hill/local-prominence-tops: https://sotl.as/ https://sotl.as/ It's real easy to get your Tech

Also shout out to Summits on the Air; same idea, but for mountain/hill/local-prominence-tops: https://sotl.as/ https://sotl.as/ It's real easy to get your Technician class license in the US, which will get you limited line of sight range via VHF/UHF and a few other misc. bands. General class unlocks High Frequency operation which allows you to talk around the globe with the right radio. For my field operations, I use a handheld 12V battery pack and a (tr)uSDX, a souped-up ATMega platform that does QRP (<=5W power) operations via CW (Morse code) and SSB (voice). It's the cheapest radio out there that will reliably do (passable) quality SSB, and it's real handy to have something so tiny and light when I'm heading out to hike up a mountain. This is everything I take into the field, and have talked to people states and countries away when geomagnetic conditions were favorable (being on top of a mountain helps haha): https://i.imgur.com/HOx5buc.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/HOx5buc.jpeg Full kit breakdown: https://imgur.com/gallery/ultralightish-tr-usdx-sota-shack-box-kit-QPuv1d9 https://imgur.com/gallery/ultralightish-tr-usdx-sota-shack-b...

thenobsta 2y ago
Wow, this is very cool. I might upgrade to General just for this. Do you take both up? Fishing in mountain lakes and SSB to pass the time sound fun do to simultaneously.
- jkingsman 2y ago
  Haha the fishing rod is actually a mast for my antenna; I'm not much of an angler myself. Collapsible telescoping fiberglass rods are light, cheap, and an easy way to get a reasonably stable point 20 feet up in the air :)
- amatecha 2y ago
  If you have Tech (you're in US I assume?) you can activate parks and summits on 2m and 70cm, too (or even 1.25m or 6m for that matter)! No additional privileges needed.
ljsprague 2y ago
Start a YouTube channel.
- jkingsman 2y ago
  Ah, there are many folks out there much more personable and engaged with PotA/SotA than I. One of my favorites is K6ARK who is a great watch for antenna design, *otA, CW (morse) and more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rKpxAWZ7uM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rKpxAWZ7uM
  - sciurus 2y ago
    Another popular one is https://youtube.com/@ThomasK4SWL https://youtube.com/@ThomasK4SWL of https://qrper.com/ https://qrper.com/ fame.
amatecha 2y ago
I have an extremely similar QRP kit! Same battery, same radio, similar throw weight, though I would usually use EFHW instead of... is that an OCFD? It's always so cool to pick up signals from all over the place with such a minimalistic setup! My alternative "QRP++" kit is a Yaesu FT-857D, I really only ever run it up to 15-20w at the most: https://matecha.net/posts/yaesu-ft857d-off-grid-portable-kit/ https://matecha.net/posts/yaesu-ft857d-off-grid-portable-kit...

thenobsta 2y ago

Wow, this is very cool. I might upgrade to General just for this. Do you take both up? Fishing in mountain lakes and SSB to pass the time sound fun do to simultaneously.

jkingsman 2y ago
Haha the fishing rod is actually a mast for my antenna; I'm not much of an angler myself. Collapsible telescoping fiberglass rods are light, cheap, and an easy way to get a reasonably stable point 20 feet up in the air :)
amatecha 2y ago
If you have Tech (you're in US I assume?) you can activate parks and summits on 2m and 70cm, too (or even 1.25m or 6m for that matter)! No additional privileges needed.

ljsprague 2y ago

Start a YouTube channel.

jkingsman 2y ago
Ah, there are many folks out there much more personable and engaged with PotA/SotA than I. One of my favorites is K6ARK who is a great watch for antenna design, *otA, CW (morse) and more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rKpxAWZ7uM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rKpxAWZ7uM
- sciurus 2y ago
  Another popular one is https://youtube.com/@ThomasK4SWL https://youtube.com/@ThomasK4SWL of https://qrper.com/ https://qrper.com/ fame.

amatecha 2y ago

I have an extremely similar QRP kit! Same battery, same radio, similar throw weight, though I would usually use EFHW instead of... is that an OCFD? It's always so cool to pick up signals from all over the place with such a minimalistic setup! My alternative "QRP++" kit is a Yaesu FT-857D, I really only ever run it up to 15-20w at the most: https://matecha.net/posts/yaesu-ft857d-off-grid-portable-kit/ https://matecha.net/posts/yaesu-ft857d-off-grid-portable-kit...