Make:Magazine is a personal favorite, and I had missed this great Youtube when it first posted:
“Fall is the perfect time for hiking, it’s not too hot and not too cold. Last weekend I took a day trip to hike up High Mountain in New Jersey and activate SOTA summit W2/NJ008. It’s really easy to set up an HF portable radio and not a whole lot to carry up the mountain. This video shows how to get set up including how to hang the antenna in a cluster of trees and making contact with Italy.”
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http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/10/how_to_set_up_an_hf_portable_radio.html
(SOTA is Summits on the Air (SOTA) is an award scheme for radio amateurs and shortwave listeners that encourages portable operation in mountainous areas. SOTA has been carefully designed to make participation possible for everyone – this is not just for mountaineers! There are awards for activators (those who ascend to the summits) and chasers (who either operate from home, a local hilltop or are even Activators on other summits).
SOTA is now fully operational in many countries across the world. Each country has its own Association which defines the recognised SOTA summits within that Association. Each summit earns the activators and chasers a score which is related to the height of the summit. Certificates are available for various scores, leading to the prestigious “Mountain Goat” and “Shack Sloth” trophies. An Honour Roll for Activators and Chasers is maintained at the SOTA online database.) – http://www.sota.org.uk/
Thank you to Make:Magazine and Diana Eng KC2UHB for the fine work!
73
Steve
K9ZW