The Station
Welcome to my radio shack! My main HF radio is a Yaesu FTDX-10 loading up a multiband doublet that is resonate on 40m. It is up about 40 feet in the trees around the shack. additionally I am running an M2 three element Yagi on 6 meters and a 80m half wave end fed antenna. For 2 meters and 70 centimeters I have a Comet CX-333 vertical driven by a Kenwood TH-G707. On the right on the wall is a Davis Instruments Vantage Pro 2 weather station.
Using Boot Camp on a vintage iMac, I run Windows 10 native. I use the Ham Radio Deluxe suite including Digital Master 780.
The SOTA station incorporates an Elecraft KX2 with a Bioenno 3AH external battery. My main SOTA antenna is a home brew 20 AWG zip cord doublet that is resonate on 40m. I also carry a PackTenna end-fed random wire antenna for quick deployment in tough conditions. For 2m and 70cm I use a Kenwood TH-F6a and a roll-up Slim Jim. Recently I’ve added a Yaesu FT5DR and APRS capability. The antennas are supported with a Goture 20′ carbon fiber fishing pole, a Jackite 30′ and a Jackite 20′ fiberglass masts.
The SOTA station carefully wrapped up for quick, snag-free deployment
Latest Posts
Summit 8,673′
First time activation of this obscure summit was a lot of fun.
Blue Mountain & Grid DN12
Maidenhead grid DN12 is very sparsely populated. Here is a lonely stretch Highway 95 looking south. 13 MAY 2023 W7O/SE-007 Elevation:7,435’Route: Drive upHike Distance: n/a Elevation Gain: n/aNavigation: EasySteepness: n/aVehicle: 4×4 high clearance suggestedRoad: Steep dirtCell Coverage: Excellent (Verizon), No APRSHike basics My original plans called for setting up a camp and spending the night,…
Winnemucca Mountain & DN11
Sunrise on my way up to Winnemucca Mountain. Good road all the way to the top. 12-13 MAY 2023 W7N/HU-089 Elevation:6,742’Route: Drive upHike Distance: n/a Elevation Gain: n/aNavigation: EasySteepness: n/aVehicle: Passenger carRoad: PavedCell Coverage: Excellent (Verizon), No APRSHike basics So I looked for two mountains in those two grid squares that I could drive up…
Silver Peak
David Hodge N6AN on the summit 29 APRIL 2023 W6/CT-073 Elevation:6,756’Route: Dirt road and use trailHike Distance: 4 miles round trip Elevation Gain: 1000’Navigation: A bit trickySteepness: Very steepVehicle: Passenger carRoad: Forest service dirtCell Coverage: Excellent (Verizon), APRS ExcellentHike basics David N6AN and I had been talking about doing another activation together for a while…
Loading…
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.
KG6MZS 