Amateur Radio

[2xAGM114]

About 2/3 the way up, I was cruising along the trail, a well defined and traveled trail, when I heard a scramble in the low scrub next to the trail and a loud buzz. I literally jumped a few feet back to get clear of the giant rattlesnake that had been chilling there. After my heart climbed down from my throat, I took a wide path around mr snek and continued on, much more watchful of the ground.

I spend a lot of time in the woods, but haven't seen a rattlesnake in 20 years. Lots of non-venomous snakes and more than a couple copperheads, but not one rattler in 2 decades. This was also the first one to rattle at me. Thankfully he decided a warning was sufficient rather than a bite because I was more than two miles into the woods in steep terrain, there was no way I could have gotten back to the car if he had bit me. I did have my tourniquet, but I don't know if that would have been sufficient to slow the spread of venom.

Aye Chihuahua! We don't get many sneks this far north. I did a FA on a hill in SE WA a couple summers ago and stumbled on a 'Rattler Condo' type nest with tunnels, several large adults, etc. // Does anyone carry a snake bite kit for SOTA, and do they work? TQ...check.

[2xAGM114]

Gotcha. Random wires can be surprisingly effective. One of my portable antennas for SOTA is effectively a "random wire" using a 16' vertical "whip" with top hat and an LDG 9:1 unun. The KX2's tuner can get me a match on 40-10 and performance from mountaintops has been impressive. Because it doesn't need supports, it's quick and easy to set up.

I'll be interested to hear how yours performs.

Chris

Chris, can you recommend a EFHW calculator that shows resonant pairs, i.e., 20/40, etc? I'm working on another EFHW matching unit for hopefully 30/17, or maybe 30/15. I built the K6ARK kit last year which got me 10, 15, 20 and 40 without a tuner. I use it with the TX-500 and love it. Would like something similar for WARC bands.

72

Matt

[mtnbkr]

Aye Chihuahua! We don't get many sneks this far north. I did a FA on a hill in SE WA a couple summers ago and stumbled on a 'Rattler Condo' type nest with tunnels, several large adults, etc. // Does anyone carry a snake bite kit for SOTA, and do they work? TQ...check.

They're common here, but I seldom see them.

Ixnay on the snakebite kit and TQ. Neither work and are contraindicated by experts as I learned while reading up on the subject last weekend. Best practice is to be calm, minimize movement and heart rate, and seek medical attention ASAP. Apparently Virginia has had 15 deaths in the last 30 years from rattlesnake bites and the majority of those were folks who did not seek medical attention. Also interesting, about 25% of rattlesnake bites are dry.

Chris

[mtnbkr]

Chris, can you recommend a EFHW calculator that shows resonant pairs, i.e., 20/40, etc? I'm working on another EFHW matching unit for hopefully 30/17, or maybe 30/15. I built the K6ARK kit last year which got me 10, 15, 20 and 40 without a tuner. I use it with the TX-500 and love it. Would like something similar for WARC bands.

72

Matt

Sorry, haven't seen one like that. 20/40 and 10/15/20/40 are kind of the sweet spot for such things, but I think to get 30/17 or 30/15 you'll need traps.

One thing I do with my K6ARK transformer is use a 1/8" banana plug and socket (barely larger in diameter than 26g wire) right after the transformer to allow me to easily change the radiator. I have radiators cut for 10m, 17m, and 20m. Not as convenient as multiband, but works well enough for portable ops.

Chris

[ViniVidivici]

Anybody playing with hotspots? I’m looking at putting a little ZUMspot in my office and using it to talk to my buddies back in Chicago on my old multisite DMR system while I work, just like in the old days. I know squat about them, but I *think* they can be set to transcode where I can use a analog HT to access the hotspot and it will change the modulation to DMR before it squirts it across the Internet.

I use DMR alot, through repeaters only. Alot of the guys I talk to use hotspots, and I don't think there are any that can change an analog signal to digital in that way. They're all using a digital ht of some sort.

Cheap good quality option is a TYT MD-UV380, I have one, works great.

[HeavyDuty]

I use DMR alot, through repeaters only. Alot of the guys I talk to use hotspots, and I don't think there are any that can change an analog signal to digital in that way. They're all using a digital ht of some sort.

Cheap good quality option is a TYT MD-UV380, I have one, works great.

I may do well to pick up an inexpensive DMR HT for this, I’m pretty sure all my Motorola batteries are in bad shape by now. I’ll check that one out, thanks!

Edit: that one is discontinued, but this is actually perfect for what I am trying to do: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07SGCQFVR

[mtnbkr]

Went out today and did 3 SOTA activations. The HF bands were in crap shape, so I ended up doing more on VHF (2m and 1.25m). Between the three summits, I manged a whopping 4 contacts on HF bands (40m and 10m actually). A month ago, I would have done double-digit HF contacts on each summit. Even 40m, which is normally what I use when I need contacts *right now*, was dead as a door nail. Since I wasn't planning on doing anything with VHF, I only brought my Smiley Tri-Band whip and Kenwood TH-D74. Otherwise, I might have brought an antenna I could hoist into a tree for more distance. I did manage one DX contact on 10m to Argentina, but it that was the only decent long-distance contact.

My buddy was using CW and even he struggled to make contacts on HF and ended up making most of them on a VHF HT. Beautiful day for it, but the sun had other plans radio-wise. I suppose it's like fishing, even a bad day is better than a good day at work.

Chris

[2xAGM114]

Went out today and did 3 SOTA activations. The HF bands were in crap shape, so I ended up doing more on VHF (2m and 1.25m). Between the three summits, I manged a whopping 4 contacts on HF bands (40m and 10m actually). A month ago, I would have done double-digit HF contacts on each summit. Even 40m, which is normally what I use when I need contacts *right now*, was dead as a door nail.

Chris

That checks. Bands have been wonky last few days. I did 2x 6-pointers today. Got 20 QSOs on the first, 16 on the second. CW on 15m, 20m and 40m. Lots of QSB, QRM, fading, etc. First time I've had five or more 1/2 QSOs where we exchange callsigns, I give my RST then lose the other guy completely. For SOTA it doesn't count, so I don't even log it. I did manage to get a weak station in the Philippines who sent his call like ten times for me to get it.

Yep, beats sitting in the office any day.

[HeavyDuty]

Two radio projects done in preparation for recovery:

1) The Yaesu ATAS-120a is mounted on the water heater stand that I bought for the purpose and is out on the attic service platform with three 5 conductor thermostat wire radials. It tunes nicely on 10, 15, 17, 20 and 30, struggles with 40 but gets there (the radials on 40 are doubled 20m length tied at the end) and doesn’t like 12 at all. Realistically, I’ll be on 20. Of course, the bands blow chunks - especially with a compromise antenna. I’m hoping I can do a few skeds with people.

2) I got a ZUMspot set up on DMR and connected to a couple of TGs back in Chicago via BrandMeister. The cheap little HT I bought for the purpose seems to sound ok.

[TOTS]

Forgive my ignorance and this may not be the correct thread, but how does an FCC restricted radio operator’s permit factor into the Amateur radio world? Pilots have to obtain these. Does this permit get you any capability elsewhere?