Judy and I rode our bikes along the Pemigewasset River today. It was a beautiful, beautiful day. I worked Bulgaria, Italy, Switzerland, and Hungary.

We rode south from Old Hill and stopped at the old bridge to Sanbornton. It was nearly 80F with an unbelievable stillness in the air. Brown, curled-up leaves covered parts of the old road and crunched beneath our bike wheels. The apple trees along the way have begun dropping fruit. Judy stopped to pick up some apples. The road was lined with asters.

I stopped at a huge pine tree a couple of miles down the road. I tossed my wire nearly 40 feet over a branch and sat on some moss. I used the KX3 and a 33 foot wire.

The bands were good. I worked eight stations. Here’s my log:

23 Sep-17 1935 14.014 LZ100SK CW 599 599 Bulgaria
23 Sep-17 1943 18.086 IK5ZWU CW 439 579 Italy
23 Sep-17 1947 14.019 HB0/DL5YL CW 559 589 Switzerland
23 Sep-17 1950 14.028 HA60KNA CW 579 599 Hungary
23 Sep-17 1955 14.030 W5FMH CW 599 599 TX
23 Sep-17 1957 14.032 VE4RAC CW 599 599 MB
23 Sep-17 2002 10.117 W8IX CW 549 599 IND

Today was a perfect day for getting outside and making a few radio contacts. At this time of year, I can count the days like this on one hand. I wish they would never end.

Jim Cluett, W1PID, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Hampshire, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

Amateur Radio Weekly is curated by Cale Mooth K4HCK. Sign up free to receive ham radio's most relevant news, projects, technology and events by e-mail each week at http://www.hamweekly.com.

Judy and I hiked up Rattlesnake Mountain overlooking Squam Lake this afternoon. It was gorgeous! And… I worked St. Pierre and Miquelon, Belgium and Florida.

The hike is pretty simple… about 40 minutes. Huge rock ledges cap the peak at about 500 feet above the lake. It was sunny and about 72F. A perfect day for an outing.

I set up on a northern ledge and tossed my line into a stubby pine tree that was about 25 feet above the rock. I had a sloper.

I started out on 30 meters and heard FP/G3ZAY on St. Pierre and Miquelon. These two French islands sit off the coast of Newfoundland… a favorite for small dxpeditions. I was thrilled to work them from Rattlesnake Mtn. because I’d been trying unsuccessfully for a couple of days from home. We exchanged quick 599s and I switched to 20 meters.

As I tuned across the band I heard Bernie KB4JR calling CQ from Florida. He gave me a 559 and we chatted for a few minutes before signing. A little farther down the band John ON4UN was calling CQ from Belgium. He was strong as always and we had a quick exchange. I told him I was QRP on a mountain top and he wished me well.

Judy and I had a snack before packing up. Judy got a quick photo as I enjoyed the view a final time before heading down.

Jim Cluett, W1PID, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Hampshire, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

Kaufman Ridge is a ridge line that runs along the border of Park and Chaffee Counties in Colorado, near Trout Creek Pass. There are two Summits On The Air (SOTA) summits on this ridge: Kaufman Ridge (W0C/SP-081), formerly Kaufman Ridge HP, and North Kaufman Ridge (W0C/SP-085), formerly Kaufman Ridge North. I have activated these summits before including a winter activation of North Kaufman Ridge. These summits have turned out to be popular SOTA activations because they are easy to access, easy to hike and have outstanding views of the surrounding area.

Joyce/K0JJW and I decided to do a SOTA activation on a pleasant September day. On previous trips, we approached the summit from the east without much thought to the route. This time we approached from the north, based on a tip from other SOTA activators. This route is a little bit longer than coming from the east but it turned out to have fewer steep spots and less downed timber to navigate.

To get to the start of the hike, we went south on Windmill Drive to FS 318, entering the San Isabel National Forest. There is a gate at the entrance to the forest that is closed from December to April. We turned right onto FS329, which may not be marked but is an obvious 4WD road heading to the north. We drove to the end of the road and parked near the National Forest boundary. These are really easy 4WD roads such that a high-clearance 2WD vehicle should have no problem.

At this point, we aimed straight at the summit and started hiking. We found only bits and pieces of a trail here and there. Someone has attempted to mark the trail in places but it was difficult to follow. No worries though as the route was relatively smooth without many obstacles such as rock formations and difficult downed timber. We had to do some minor route finding but just looking ahead for obstacles was sufficient. The one-way distance was 1.1 miles with a vertical gain of 800 feet.

On top, we both snagged plenty of radio contacts on VHF/UHF and enjoyed the excellent views in all directions.  This made for a nice SOTA activation on a sunny fall day!

73, Bob K0NR

The post SOTA Activation: North Kaufman Ridge (W0C/SP-085) 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].

In this episode of the Everything Ham Radio Podcast, we talk with Vance Martin, N3VEM, about how he takes his Ham Radio Equipment with him when he goes on business trips. If you travel at all, you know the boringness of sitting in a hotel room after working all day, right? Maybe it is a new city, or maybe you have to be up early and don’t want to “go out” and be out late so you are able to function the next day.

So why not take your ham radio equipment with you while you travel and use that down time to make some contacts? This can also give you a chance to get out of your shack and get some fresh air and make some contacts to boot.

Vance and I talk about everything from what he does before he leaves, to what to do at the airport to how he operates while he has down time while traveling. Check out the show notes and listen to the episode by following the link below:

http://www.everythinghamradio.com/podcast/87

Curtis Mohr, K5CLM, is the author/owner of Everything Ham Radio Blog and Youtube channel. Contact him at [email protected].

Summer is over and we’re back to work full time. My much anticipated “Antenna Summer” ended rather uneventful. The weather was mostly to blame: it was either too hot to work outside (I burnt myself while working on the metal roof), too wet (two typhoons and a tropical storm passed) or too windy (“Wind! The thing feared most by ham radio operators and stamp collectors”). The only thing I could do was to prepare and prepare more. There are three antennas projects in the pipe-line now, but I still haven’t found the opportunity to put them up. Sigh!

The only antenna project which I could finish indoors was my big loop for medium- and longwave. I started this more than a year ago, but the first iteration was a size too big to be sturdy enough to withstand the strong winds here in Taiwan. A second -smaller- one was build, but not finished before last winter, so I shelved it. When I took it out I found that the wooden spreaders had split due to moisture and the old surplus wire had snapped in several places. Even several coats of lacquer can’t prevent wood from decaying here in the sub tropics, so it was back to the drawing board.

I pulled out my wallet and bought new, thicker wire and PVC pipe for new spreaders. I made a special vice to hold the PVC pipe, templates for the holes and rolled up all of the 180 meters of wire on an old garden hose reel. Being well prepared pays off because I already have half of the loop windings in place. I won’t be able to finish this antenna this summer, but it will be finished this fall.

Currently there are no typhoons heading our way and the temperature has gone from scorching hot to very hot, so the prospects look good. But that leaves me with a conundrum: should I call my next installment on antenna improvement “Antenna Fall” or not?

Hans "Fong" van den Boogert, BX2ABT, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Taiwan. Contact him at [email protected].

SN-408 courtesy: www.ve3gop.com

This coming weekend will see another CLE challenge. This time the hunting grounds will be:  400.0 - 419.9 kHz.



For those unfamiliar with this monthly activity, a 'CLE' is a 'Co-ordinated Listening Event', as NDB DXers around the world focus their listening time on one small slice of the NDB spectrum.





A nice challenge in this one is to hear the Saint Catharines (Ontario) NDB, 'SN', on 408 kHz. 'SN' is a 15-watter and is well heard, having been logged from coast-to-coast. Look for 'SN's CW identifier, repeated every 10.5 seconds, on 408.398 kHz with your receiver in the CW mode.

Late summer CLEs can often be challenging, not because of poor propagation but more likely, lingering summer lightning storms ... hopefully it will be quiet for your location.

When tuning for NDBs, put your receiver in the CW mode and listen for the NDB's CW identifier, repeated every few seconds. Listen for U.S. NDB identifiers approximately 1 kHz higher or lower than the published transmitted frequency since these beacons are modulated with a 1020 Hz tone approximately.

For example, 'AA' in Fargo transmits on 365 kHz and its upper sideband CW identifier is tuned at 366.025 kHz while its lower sideband CW ident can be tuned at 363.946 kHz. Its USB tone is actually 1025 Hz while its LSB tone is 1054 Hz.

Often, one sideband will be much stronger than the other so if you don't hear the first one, try listening on the other sideband.

Canadian NDBs normally have an USB tone only, usually very close to 400 Hz. They also have a long dash (keydown) following the CW identifier.

All NDBs heard in North America will be listed in the RNA database (updated daily) while those heard in Europe may be found in the REU database. Beacons heard outside of these regions will be found in the RWW database.

From CLE organizer Brian Keyte, G3SIA, comes the usual 'heads-up':

These listening events serve several purposes. They:

• determine, worldwide, which beacons are actually in service and on-the-air so the online database can be kept up-to-date

• determine, worldwide, which beacons are out-of-service or have gone silent since the last CLE covering this range

• will indicate the state of propagation conditions at the various participant locations

• will give you an indication of how well your LF/MF receiving system is working

• give participants a fun yet challenging activity to keep their listening skills honed

Final details can be found at the NDB List website, and worldwide results, for every participant, will be posted there a few days after the event. If you are a member of the ndblist Group, results will also be e-mailed and posted there.

The very active Yahoo ndblist Group is a great place to learn more about the 'Art of NDB DXing' or to meet other listeners in your region. There is a lot of good information available there and new members are always very welcome. As well, you can follow the results of other CLE participants from night to night as propagation is always an active topic of discussion.

If you are contemplating getting started on 630m, listening for NDBs  is an excellent way to test out your receive capabilities as there are several NDBs located near this part of the spectrum.

You need not be an ndblist member to participate in the CLEs and all reports, no matter how small, are of much value to the organizers. 

'First-time' logs are always VERY welcome!

Reports may be sent to the ndblist or e-mailed to either myself or CLE co-ordinator, Brian Keyte (G3SIA), whose address appears above.

Please ... give the CLE a try ... then let us know what NDB's can be heard from your location! Your report can then be added to the worldwide database to help keep it up-to-date.

Have fun and good hunting!


Steve McDonald, VE7SL, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from British Columbia, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].