Tag: SOTA


  • What a beautiful day for a hike! I spend a great deal of time talking about amateur radio in my day to day life. It is no surprise that I get many questions from non-hams about the hobby and how it works. Recently I decided to host a monthly “nerd hike” where I invite friends…

  • It’s my birthday today and decided to blow off going in to work. My YL Debbie tagged along for a hike to Saddle Peak. 10 years ago we hiked this summit as newlyweds and I wanted to go back. The views did not disappoint! I ran some 2m SSB on the Quansheng, and then switched…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • Mark K3MGM decided to tag along for this activation as a spectator. I was happy to have his company along for what is a short, but steep hike up past the Wisdom Tree and on to the activation zone for Cahuenga Peak. I had heard there was a large SOTA related camp out happening in…

  • A beautiful day for an activation! I was joined with Mark K3MGM, Edward KO6DVZ, Brian WA6JFK, & AJ W6CMY. As usual, we met at my place at 7a for coffee and pastries courtesy of Mark and locally owned Moby’s Coffee House. After a casual hike to the summit, we set up and did our thing.…