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 or APRS.

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Sept. 11th 2019 Presentation to LARC

Here is a link to the slides I used for the presentation I gave on Summits On The Air (SOTA) at the the Lakeside  Amateur Radio Club on September 11th, 2019 in Santee, CA.  This is a great bunch of hams that are driving the only "Ham Fest" in the area and give free classes to get a ham radio license.  They will also have a walk-up license testing available at Ham Fest so for a small team, they really punch above their weight.

Thanks to the other SOTA operators that contributed to this presentation, (KE6MT, K6ARK are a couple that come to mind).  I always enjoy sharing what little I know as well as my enthusiasm for SOTA.  I had a lot of great questions from the group and the presentation was well received.  I hope to hear some of the members on the air as "activators' or "chasers" the next time I'm on the summit.

Thanks and 73,
N1CLC
Christian Claborne
(aka chris claborne)

September 4th SOTA Presentation to PARC

Here is a link to the slides I used for the presentation I gave on Summits On The Air (SOTA) at the the Palomar  Amateur Radio Club on September 4th, 2019 in San Diego, CA.  Thanks to the other SOTA operators that contributed to this presentation, (KE6MT, K6ARK are a couple that come to mind).  I always enjoy sharing what little I know as well as my enthusiasm for SOTA.  I had a lot of great questions from the group and the presentation was well received.  I hope to hear some of the members on the air as "activators' or "chasers" the next time I'm on the summit.

Thanks and 73,
N1CLC
Christian Claborne
(aka chris claborne)

2019-09-02 Pole Knoll via Elk Trail

The last peak on my punch list for Arizona this year was Pole Knoll, W7A/AP-003.  It is the fourth and final peak during my Labor Day stay.  I was saving the best for last on this trip.  It was a gorgeous day.  I did this hike last year about this time and it was really beautiful.  Green, lush, and devoid of other people.  I was waiting for a day when Jeanette and her friend could join but they were planning to attend a mushroom class near the summit in Grear, AZ.  This may be the last chance to hike Pole Knoll this year unless we come up here on Thanksgiving.  Unfortunately, instead of attending the class, they were both sick from what they think was a mushroom they consumed yesterday.  They are getting better, Jeanette got the worst of it.
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2019-09-01 Red Butte First Activation

My original plan for today was to not hike, kick around the cabin, meditate, and then watch the rain come down... Then I started thinking about how I might be able to do both.   At about 9 I decided to jump over to New Mexico to activate a summit that had never been activated, Red Butte (W5N/AP-035). 

The drive over to the planned trailhead took about 45 minutes from the SOC (Sota Operations Center, AKA my cabin), and it was a beautiful drive through the national forest.   The initial route up is charted HERE and the IAF (turn onto a road) at 33.92855, -108.9152.  There is a jeep trail that actually took me up past half way to the summit.  The truck has four-wheel-drive which was needed only in one spot.  It ends at a large clearing.  I passed some guys on the way down.  I think they were target practicing up against the hillside there.  It’s actually a good place to do that. 
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2019-08-31 Wishbone & Cerro Gordon

Today’s expedition takes me to a couple of summits in Arizona, Wishbone Mountain (W7A/AP-027) and Cerro Gordo (W7A/AE-021) on the Apache India Reservation (permit required).  Getting to my plained ingress onto the summit via my dad’s truck was an adventure.  I had mapped out a route, followed it and then sorta got lost trying to figure out why the road was angling off the wrong way.  I back tracked and found a turn, wrong one, back tracked and found the correct turn.  Unfortunately 50 feet from that correct turn was a fence blocking the continuation of the road with no gate.  I have a feeling this was done at the request of the Apache Indian Tribe as I may have been at the border. 

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2019-08-25 Hill 1715

Today’s expedition took me to Hill 1715 for lack of a name, SOTA designator W6/SC-445.  It’s right next to Monserate so I may have to do a double next year. I was looking forward to getting on the trail and exercising my legs in preparations for a few over the 3 day weekend coming up as well as seeing how my leg performed.  I had the stitches pulled out Monday and they said, “Hmmm, you’ve got a nice infection going on here.”, so I’ve been on antibiotics.  It’s still tender but fully operational. (See this article to see what happened)

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