AmateurRadio.com

When doing VHF activations for Summits On The Air (SOTA), the radio range is dependent on the height of the summit and the surrounding terrain. The Radio Mobile website from Roger/VE2DBE is a great tool that can be used to estimate the radio range from a particular site. Repeater system owners often use tools like this to predict the coverage of their repeaters. I don’t normally do this type of analysis for SOTA…I just look at a topo map and get a rough idea of how far my signal will go. Then, I decided to spend a little time analyzing a few summits in Colorado to see what I could learn.

Pikes Peak (W0C/FR-004)

Pikes is a 14,115-foot summit that towers over the eastern plains of Colorado, making it an ideal radio site. The Radio Mobile plot shown below shows the solid radio coverage in blue and the fringe area in yellow. I won’t go into how to use Radio Mobile on this post. As you’d expect, you enter the location of the radio site (summit) along with various parameters such as frequency, minimum detectable signal level, transmit power, and antenna gain. I entered some nominal parameters consistent with typical SOTA stations on 146 MHz (2 meters).

Pikes covers about half of the state of Colorado, reaching out to the Kansas state line. To the west, the coverage does not go as far because the radio signals are blocked by other mountain ranges. In particular, the signal tends to drop off at the Sawatch Range, west of Buena Vista. I’ve activated Pikes many times and this plot lines up well with my general experience. The blue area can be worked quite reliably with a decent station on both ends. By “decent” I mean a 20-watt transmitter on the summit with a small Yagi antenna and a 40-watt radio with an omnidirectional antenna at the chaser station. Working stations near the Kansas state line is usually easy on 2m FM. The highest spot in Kansas (Mount Sunflower, not a SOTA summit) can usually be worked without much trouble. However, longer distance contacts are possible, especially using SSB or CW. I’ve written before about the Myth of VHF Line-Of-Sight.

When using VHF for SOTA activations, It is important to consider the potential stations that will be within range and on the air for you to work. Besides being a high summit, Pikes overlooks the major cities in Colorado, from Fort Collins to Pueblo, so finding someone to work on 146.52 MHz is usually easy. It is common to have a pile up of stations calling you.

Colorado has over fifty 14,000-foot mountains and all those are workable from Pikes Peak on 2m FM.

Mt Herman (W0C/FR-063)

Mt Herman is another popular SOTA summit, with an elevation of 9063 feet, not nearly as high as Pikes Peak. This summit also looks out over the eastern plains of Colorado, as shown in the coverage plot below. Although the range is not as good as Pikes, it still covers the major cities, so again it is easy to do a 2m FM activation from Mt Herman. It is more difficult to work stations to the west. I can usually work stations in Woodland Park and Divide from Mt Herman, but reaching Buena Vista is a challenge.

Threemile Mountain (W0C/SP-107)

VHF activations can be much more challenging when the summit is further away from populated areas. Let’s consider Threemile Mountain, which is 10,020 feet in elevation, located about 20 miles south of Hartsel, CO. This summit tends to get blocked to the east by the Front Range and to the west by the Sawatch Range. Even though the summit is higher than Mt Herman, its radio range is not as good.

In particular, it does not cover Denver, Colorado Springs, and Pueblo very well, so the number of available stations to work drops dramatically. There are a number of stations that monitor 146.52 MHz up in the mountains, so if you are patient you can usually make some VHF contacts. This can be a source of frustration for VHF activators, or you can take it on as a challenge.  I have activated Threemile five times and I don’t think I’ve ever worked a Denver station on 2m FM. I have worked some Denver stations from there using 2m SSB, during a VHF contest. Oh, I did manage to work Larry/N0LL in Smith Center, KS on 2m SSB for a distance of 372 miles. See Radio Fun on Threemile Mountain (W0C/SP-107). So you never know what you’re going to get on VHF/UHF.

Conclusions

So what conclusions can we draw from this analysis?

1. Radio Mobile does a good job of predicting typical 2m FM coverage. My experience on these summits aligns well with the Radio Mobile predictions.
2. But much longer distance contacts are still possible. VHF is not limited to line of sight. Radio Mobile is intended to predict reliable radio coverage, not the exceptional radio contact.
3. Be aware of the population density of the coverage area because that is a huge factor for making radio contacts. New VHF activators should start on summits that overlook the major Colorado cities.
4. Improve your VHF activator station. Every additional dB of signal improves your ability to make those weak-signal contacts on the edge of the coverage area.

As always, get off the couch, gather your radio gear, and head for a summit.

73 Bob K0NR

The post VHF Range From SOTA Summits appeared first on The KØNR Radio Site.

Bob Witte, KØNR, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Colorado, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

Hello and welcome to the 458th installment of Linux in the Ham Shack. In this short-topics episode the hosts discuss the rise of the current solar cycle, AMSAT on Discord, GCC and the Linux kernel, Zorin, Sparky Linux, Hamshack Hotline and much more. Thank you for listening and have a great week.

73 de The LHS Crew

Russ Woodman, K5TUX, co-hosts the Linux in the Ham Shack podcast which is available for download in both MP3 and OGG audio format. Contact him at [email protected].

Everyone is aware of what is going on in Ukraine with the Russian invasion. Each day we hear of new sanctions and boycotts regarding Russia. In Amateur radio circles I have heard opinions from both sides regarding contacting Russian stations or not. The RSGB has made it very clear that they will not accept Russian or Belarus entrants in any RSGB contest. At this point in time, I don't believe the ARRL or RAC has made any statements regarding Russian amateurs?

 

Here is my question, coming up next weekend is a very popular Russian contest for both CW and SSB the Russian DX contest. In the past, I have seen lots of participation on the bands regarding this contest and it has a very good turn out of Russian hams. Are you going to take part this year or boycott it? I have read both sides on this one, how ham radio and politics should be separate. Or ham ops also need to boycott as well to send a consistent message to Russia. 

 

This is the first time as a ham that I have run across this issue does participating in the contest show support for what Russia is doing or does it show we support Russian hams by participating and allowing world events to remain a separate issue?

 

What are your thoughts on the RSGB banning Russia and Belarus? 

 

Are you going to take part in the upcoming contest and if you are not a contest fan are you still contacting hams from Russia or Belarus?

 

Should the ARRL or RAC come up with a position either way? 

 

Finally, I would ask those who do comment to keep it polite and realize we all have an opinion that we may not agree with. I also will delete any inappropriate comments. I always think a good healthy debate is a good thing.

Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

Everyone is aware of what is going on in Ukraine with the Russian invasion. Each day we hear of new sanctions and boycotts regarding Russia. In Amateur radio circles I have heard opinions from both sides regarding contacting Russian stations or not. The RSGB has made it very clear that they will not accept Russian or Belarus entrants in any RSGB contest. At this point in time, I don't believe the ARRL or RAC has made any statements regarding Russian amateurs?

 

Here is my question, coming up next weekend is a very popular Russian contest for both CW and SSB the Russian DX contest. In the past, I have seen lots of participation on the bands regarding this contest and it has a very good turn out of Russian hams. Are you going to take part this year or boycott it? I have read both sides on this one, how ham radio and politics should be separate. Or ham ops also need to boycott as well to send a consistent message to Russia. 

 

This is the first time as a ham that I have run across this issue does participating in the contest show support for what Russia is doing or does it show we support Russian hams by participating and allowing world events to remain a separate issue?

 

What are your thoughts on the RSGB banning Russia and Belarus? 

 

Are you going to take part in the upcoming contest and if you are not a contest fan are you still contacting hams from Russia or Belarus?

 

Should the ARRL or RAC come up with a position either way? 

 

Finally, I would ask those who do comment to keep it polite and realize we all have an opinion that we may not agree with. I also will delete any inappropriate comments. I always think a good healthy debate is a good thing.

Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

 I try to keep track of  the last time I cleaned my desktop PC. I would imagine most of us out there depend on PCs for most of our tasks as well as entertainment. For me, it's very important once a year to remove my desktop PC from service and give it a good cleaning and once over. In the past, I have found loose connections, inoperative cooling fans and poorly seated cards. It's very surprising the amount of dust that can build up on components. Not always do I find a surprise when I open up the sides of the PC tower but it's better to find something at an early stage as opposed to waiting for a failure. As we all know these failures happen at the most inappropriate times. This time around nothing that needed attention was noticed and I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of dust inside.....but this is all part of the yearly look-over of the PC. At my station the PC is part of my operations as I use it for logging, contesting and for integrating my radio with the PC. On top of that not to mention blog posts, reading blogs and YouTube.

Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

 I try to keep track of  the last time I cleaned my desktop PC. I would imagine most of us out there depend on PCs for most of our tasks as well as entertainment. For me, it's very important once a year to remove my desktop PC from service and give it a good cleaning and once over. In the past, I have found loose connections, inoperative cooling fans and poorly seated cards. It's very surprising the amount of dust that can build up on components. Not always do I find a surprise when I open up the sides of the PC tower but it's better to find something at an early stage as opposed to waiting for a failure. As we all know these failures happen at the most inappropriate times. This time around nothing that needed attention was noticed and I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of dust inside.....but this is all part of the yearly look-over of the PC. At my station the PC is part of my operations as I use it for logging, contesting and for integrating my radio with the PC. On top of that not to mention blog posts, reading blogs and YouTube.

Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

In this episode, Martin Butler (M1MRB) is joined by joined by Chris Howard (M0TCH), Martin Rothwell (M0SGL), Frank Howell (K4FMH) and Leslie Butterfield G0CIB to discuss the latest Amateur / Ham Radio news. Colin (M6BOY) rounds up the news in brief and in the episode's feature Amateur Radio Resources.

We would like to thank Walter Washburn (KT0D), Patrick Ainge (WM2A) and our monthly and annual subscription donors for keeping the podcast advert free. To donate, please visit - http://www.icqpodcast.com/donate

• Ukraine Maintains Ham Radio Silence in State of Emergency
• Online Training for Ham Radio Exam in Spain
• Amateur Radio, ISS and STEM
• Successful QO-100 Ham Radio Emergency Communications Exercise
• FCC to Consider Radio Receiver NOI in April
• Workshop for Amateur Radio Operators Working to Advance Science
• St Patrick's Day Award 2020
• World's Oldest Radio Amateur

Colin Butler, M6BOY, is the host of the ICQ Podcast, a weekly radio show about Amateur Radio. Contact him at [email protected].