WELCOME

Welcome to my amateur radio BLOG. Here at N1CLC.com (aka HamNinja.com), I hope to cover my exploration of ham radio, summits on the air (SOTA) and general RF geek stuff.  My other BLOGS focus on technology (cloudrant.com), photography (cameraninja.com/blog), and life (thethroboflife.com). QSL via QRZ, LOTW, cards.

* Reference Links Page    * SOTA Specific Links  
* My Equipment Loadout    * DMR Tips    * My Youtube Channel

I monitor 146.520 and DMR SOTA (973), track me on the trail HERE.  Donate HERE, Mastodon

Check out the latest videos by the Ham Ninja

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SOTA Safety Tip #4 - Check the Weather

What

Before you leave, check the weather forecast for your area of operation.

Why

You not only want to be prepared for what the weather will be for proper number of layers and water during the day, but don’t forget to look at the night time lows in case you get stuck on the mountain.

I tend to avoid very hot weather and some people aren’t crazy about high winds in freezing temperatures (not my favorite either).

You should have enough survival gear and water to keep you alive if you get hurt.  Calling 911, or using an emergency locator will get a rescue started, but it could take rescue services a while to get to you.  Many places in the United States depend on volunteers who may be at work.  They will need to acquire their gear, assemble and put together a plan to safely get to you and bad weather could keep aircraft on the ground..  Be prepared to spend the night.

What I And Others Do

I use Weather Underground but there are tons of free apss for your phone and websites. My favorite tool is SOTAMĀT.com.  It allows you to use a sms message, email, and use things like inreach to get the weather for your summit.  The night before, I send the command similar to “w w6sc330 1” to get the hourly weather forecast for a summit.  It returns a compact, easy to read forecast for the summit based on the summit location and elevation.  You could also send the lat/long of your trailhead if appropriate.

No forecast is perfect but it does help mitigate risk.  Don’t forget to have a backup plan if things don’t work out.

Visit HamNinja.com/safety for my safety article, and HamNinja.com/safetytips to see all the tips as they are published.  I have more safety tips to come.

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The Ham Ninja’s SOTA Safety Tips

SOTA Safety Tips is a weekly series of quick tips to remember to improve safety of the hobby.  This was inspired by the SoCal SOTA group’s meetings on this topic and will be sourced from my own and others' experience.  Don’t forget, you also need to support your group and others with this knowledge.  I’ll keep these as short as possible.  Send feedback to safetytips@HamNinja.com.

My Experience

I am not a safety or health professional, doctor, or other expert, just an amateur.  Be careful out there and do your research.  I’ve activated 817+ summits since Oct of 2017 in Southern California, Arizona, New Mexico, and several other states.  Over that time I’ve hiked 2,540+ miles and climbed 626,000+ feet.  I don’t have skills beyond class 3 hiking and really, “scrambouldering” and light snow pack are my upper skill limits and my hikes are normally 2 miles, NTE 18 miles.  I was an Army medic and was a certified EMT.  I have received training on desert survival, and recurrent first Aid training in other roles.  First Aid is a perishable skill, get training..

You can contact me at safetytips@HamNinja.com.  

SOTA Safety TIP #3 - Have a First Aid Kit and The Training To Go With

What

Make sure your pack has a first aid kit and that you’ve had the training to use it.  Because most SOTA adventures are pretty short, I recommend just enough gear to stop the bleeding.  Anything more than that and you are probably going to need to press the SOS button anyway.

 

SOTA Safety TIP #2 - Know Your Limits

What

Knowing your limits means knowing what the limits of your skills, capabilities and gear are.  When you plan, or are on the trail, be prepared to push the ABORT Button.  Your assessment includes training, mountaineering skills, assessing your fitness, how much water you have,  layers of clothing, weather, and mission appropriate gear like micro spikes, crampons, ice axe, etc.  Don’t forget to assess the skills of your group.  Many times, SOTA operators are the ones leading the pack, so look out for your team, and don’t let them exceed their limits.

SOTA Safety Tips Index

 All The Ham Ninja’s SOTA Safety Tips Index

SOTA Safety Tips is a weekly series of quick tips to remember to improve safety of the hobby.  This was inspired by the SoCal SOTA group’s meetings on this topic and will be sourced from my own and others' experience.  Don’t forget, you also need to support your group and others with this knowledge.  I’ll keep these as short as possible.  Send feedback to safetytips@HamNinja.com.

Below is an Index of Tips Published to date.

SOTA Safety Tip #1 - Bring Plenty Of Water

 What

As we roll into summer, bringing enough water really is the number one safety tip.  SOTA operators are always trying to reduce the weight of their pack and a big part of that is the amount of water they carry. The Mayo Clinic recommends 3.7 L of fluids for men, 2.7 for women per day.  Temperature and exercise raises that minimum significantly.  

Why

Dehydration can quickly bring death to all ages.  The older you are the more dehydration affects you due to heart efficiency,  being more susceptible to electrolyte imbalances, and more. Severe heat injuries can result in swelling of the brain, seizures, kidney failure, coma and death. I’ve run out of water due to a malfunction in my pack and forgetting to resupply and I was miserable.  

We’ve recently had a death on a small summit near my house due to dehydration, and the SOTA community has had a close call when an operator recounted how he forgot to re-fill and “came-to sitting in his truck with the air conditioning on, not knowing how he got there”.

What I And Others Do

First, I brief the weather.  My minimum for a half day hike is 2 L, if it’s going to be warm, 70 - 80, 2.5 L L, 80+, 3 L.  I hydrate before I leave the car, and make sure I have water at the car for my return.  Consider having an electrolyte replacement additive for hot days.  Look up signs and symptoms of dehydration and heat injury so that you can recognize it in yourself and others.  Learn how to treat a heat injury for yourself and others.

Turn back if you identify a lack of water early.  SOTA operators tend to be very goal oriented, be aware of that and force yourself to mitigate that risk.  If you run out of water on a hot day, consider stopping and staying in the shade until it cools off (don’t let a made up schedule kill you).  Don’t be afraid to ask others for water.

Visit HamNinja.com/safety for my safety article, and HamNinja.com/safetytips to see all the tips as they are published.  I have more safety tips to come.

The Ham Ninja’s SOTA Safety Tips

SOTA Safety Tips is a weekly series of quick tips to remember to improve safety of the hobby.  This was inspired by the SoCal SOTA group’s meetings on this topic and will be sourced from my own and others' experience.  Don’t forget, you also need to support your group and others with this knowledge.  I’ll keep these as short as possible.  Send feedback to safetytips@HamNinja.com.

My Experience

I am not a safety or health professional, doctor, or other expert, just an amateur, be careful out there and do your research.  I’ve activated 817+ summits since Oct of 2017 in Southern California, Arizona, New Mexico, and several other states.  Over that time I’ve hiked 2,540+ miles and climbed 626,000+ feet.  I don’t have skills beyond class 3 hiking and really “scrambouldering” and light snow pack are my upper skill limits.  I was an Army medic and was a certified EMT.  I have received training on desert survival, and recurrent first Aid training in other roles.  Remember: First Aid is a perishable skill.

You can contact me at safetytips@HamNinja.com. 

Road To Goat

The “Road To Goat”, an epic tale of two SOTA operators working across northern Arizona and New Mexico to camp, hike, and do Summits On The Air (SOTA) with their ham radios.  They encounter long drives, rough primitive roads, freezing temperatures, tall mountains, wildfire smoke, closed roads, closed-off summits,  and horrible solar conditions to battle while trying to make radio contacts, make new friends, and contend with ferocious winds.  One operator  is on the hunt for his “SOTA Goat” award.  He wants to earn enough mountain top activation points to exceed the 1000 required for the Goat award.  All these factors test both men’s endurance, radio skills, vehicle strength, and ability to come up with a good wisecrack under pressure.  How can they accomplish 19 summits in 6 days and make this happen?    Read on to find out. (Click on Images for Larger)