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What a beautiful day for a hike! My friend Chris W tagged along to see what Summits on the Air is all about! He, like many others in my personal life, are always full of questions when I bring up ham radio. It is always nice when friends take interest in some of my nerdy…
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Get it on WordPress.org → Interactive GPX Track Map Upload your GPX file and Activator Toolkit for SOTA renders a full interactive map with your track, a summit peak marker, and the precise SOTA activation zone boundary. Switch between Topographic, OpenStreetMap, and Minimal base layers. An elevation profile chart sits directly below the map —…
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Beautiful day for a hike! A.J. W6CMY joined me for an activation at Vetter Mountain. This site is neat because a fire lookout is at the summit. This lookout burned down in 2009 in the Station Fire but was rebuilt. It’s a tough location for 2m / 70cm, Mt Wilson hides a clear view of…
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Blessed to have this summit right in my backyard… but man, the hike is a real grind. About a 2,000 Ft climb, with 1,800 over a short distance. I worked this entire activation on 2m, but mostly CW and SSB. I was in a time crunch to get back. I had my KH1 with me…
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Images are of the Version 4 Prototype Inspired by DL6YYM’s concentric design of the TP-III, I sought out to design a miniature concentric key using the same idea. The design would have to be small to accommodate the KH1’s form factor along with fitting inside the KH1 carry case. The design above was created around…
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Frankly, I owe myself an explanation to this simple question also. This project is WAY out of my league! A little background is probably valuable to understand first. I am very new to CW, only having started in May 2025. My goal then was to cram every single day for at least an hour with…
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AJ W6CMY and I met at 7 a.m. to head into the Angeles National Forest for an activation. Initially, I thought we might tackle Josephine Peak or attempt a two-for-one with Strawberry Peak and Mount Lawlor. However, we weren’t feeling motivated enough for either. Instead, Kratka Ridge, deeper into the forest, caught my attention. It’s…
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Went for a solo activation this morning after dropping my youngest daughter off at preschool. I had a tight window of time so I planned on packing a light kit for this one. Notes online said that the hike was steep. They were not kidding! I have never owned and trekking poles, but decided to…
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I made a cryptic post the other day, new rig in the house!! I opted to get the ‘Edgewood Package’ which included a case, internal ATU, and all the accessories. Anyone who knows me well enough knows that I am a huge proponent of built in auto tuners. Having less gear to lug out, hook…
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Started the day early with my SOTA team, Mark K3MGM, AJ W6CMY, and Edward KO6DVZ. Wheels up at 0530 from my QTH got us on the trail by 0600. The last half mile of this hike was grueling and steep. Would not recommend for the casual hiker. We all wiped out on the way back…