Winlink Station in a Backpack

The Amateur Radio Emergency Response (ARES) team met this week and wanted members like myself to give a quick demo of their Winlink radio stations.  I built one a while back for supporting the ARES mission that fits in a backpack. Not everyone has built a station for doing this and I’m guessing they are hoping more people on the team build one.  This isn't the best setup but it works and you could use the diagram to the right as a sort of reference design.  The solar kit is a bonus and the backpack is, well, my style.

The ARES team in San Diego uses Winlink email to support hospitals and other organizations in times of an emergency.  Should a disaster strike, like an earthquake, normal communications like phone and internet may not work.  When that infrastructure failes, radio is the only game in town.  Organizations can use the ARES team as one of the methods to communicate  inter-hospital or with other agencies, like blood banks or FEMA offices. 

2019-11-17 Tahquitz Peak

I’ve been wanting to do Tahquitz Peak for a while but things have been getting in the way.  It’s located by Idlewild, making it an all day junket.  I was introduced to this one by Adam, K6ARK last year so I knew the drill.  I contacted Adam to see if he wanted to go and was busy.  I reached out to Mark, KG6LI to see if he wanted to go but he’s on the DL.  I forgot to call one other SOTA operator, so, I was solo today. 

2019-11-10 Black Mtn.

I needed some exercise but couldn’t plan a big hike for today so I drove over to the tail head for Black Mtn. by my house (5 minutes) and hiked the 4 miles to the summit with my SOTA pack.  I took Sulu and it was nice to get out and get some fresh air.

Once on top I setup the K6ARK spider thread antenna on my mast and hooked up the KX2.  The noise floor was at S7 on 20, almost 9 on 40 meter.  I spotted myself on side band and didn’t get anything on either band.  I already have the points for this mountain so no big deal but before packing up, I sent out a CQ on CW (morse).  Dan, KI6KU called out to me when he got an alert via reverse beacon network (a very handy service).  Dan slowed down for me and with his contact, I was able to “activate” the mountain. 

The real bonus for this evening was the sunset.  I snapped the pic above a little late but no biggie.  Just as I was packing up, about 40 people in a hiking group showed up.  Younger people that do a meatup once a month.  Of course they were very curious about what I was doing and got a kick out of it.  I walked down in the dark under a full moon so bright that it left a shadow. I didn’t even need my headlamp.  That’s it, nothing more to tell.  :)

2019-10-27 Whale Peak Overnight With Lots Of DX Contacts

I joined Adam (K6ARK) and Jacob (W6RBS) to hike Whale Peak and play with with radios & antennas.  I worked stations in 14 different countries.  This weekend was the CQ World-Wide DX contest so a lot of stations with massive antennas were going to be on the air participating, improving my chances to work multiple countries.  I’ve done SOTA during this contest before with Adam from a mountain top up near Big Bear CA.  This weekend’s trip was just as fun, allowing me to net some new countries worked with my ham radio and hiking with some good friends.  

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2019-10-13 Twin Peaks

Did a quick hike up to Twin Peaks to get some exercise and test out my deployment of the K6ARK Spider Thread Antenna.  The hike was an easy one up to the summit and included a hilarious roll off a rock due to a stupid overcommitment on a step.  It was fairly hot today, about 80.  I was enjoyable to be 9 lbs lighter in the equipment department.  If I can keep the gut weight off, that would be awesome.

After setup, I reached out to the DMR group here in San Diego and asked if anyone wanted to try a simplex call over DMR.  AI6CX is always ready to help and W6CRC in Poway jumped in as well. 

2019-10-06 Mt. Woodson

I wanted to get out and do a quick hike today and play radio.  I was thinking of going over to Twin Peaks and then heard a SOTA buddy, Jake (W6RWS), on the radio as he headed up to that very mountain.  If you remember, a couple of weeks ago, Jake, Adam & I went up to Morena Butte.  Adam jumped on the radio and answered Jake and then we talked about getting out there with Jake.  Adam and I decided to do a quick hike one up to Mt. Woodson, about 30 minutes from the house.

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I'm Presenting at the San Diego Hamfest

I'm looking forward to being one of the many presenters on Saturday, 10/5/201, at the San Diego Hamfest.  I will be presenting "Summit On The Air", SOTA where I'll explain what it is, why you might want to be an "activator" or "chaser" and how to do it, and why I enjoy it... and more.