James Stevens ← M0JCQ's Ham Blog

Activating Mount Washington – Highest Mountain in N.E USA

Jul

19

2017

Each year I’m sent away to Boston, MA on a company conference, this year I decided to take the radio and activate some of the nearby (well nearish) SOTA summits. I’d planned with some likeminded colleagues to visit the White Mountains in New Hampshire, about 3 hours north of Boston. We’d arrive on Friday evening ...

Working 6m Sporadic-E Using a Collinear 1

Jun

30

2017

My hopes weren’t too high for working much on the 6m band with my Diamond V2000 collinear antenna when I first purchased it. It was a nice afterthought that I might be able to work some sporadic-E during the summer months and possibly some local stations during contests. So what’s the reason for this post? ...

Antenna Comparison on 6m During a Sporadic-E Opening on the Icom 7300

Jun

16

2017

This Sporadic-E season I’ve been using my Icom 7300 to operate from home. Last year I really got into 6m but could only operate when I was out portable and often conditions were hit or miss when I happened to be on a hill. This year I am QRV from the new QTH and can ...

5 Sussex SOTA Summits on a Summer’s Day 1

Jun

15

2017

This string of 5 summits along the South Downs way in Sussex had been on my hit list for some time. I’d always consciously saved them for a nice summers day. Michael G0POT had activated this string of summits before and had given me a lot of his logistical planning – I’ve built on this ...

GoPro SOTA Video from Y Garn (GW/NW-004) 5

May

29

2017

After my activation of Elidir Fawr (GW/NW-005) on the 11th of April I walked across the ridge to the neighbouring summit of Y Garn (GW/NW-004). This was to be another 2m FM activation, but I wasn’t complaining the VHF takeoff is phenomenal from these two locations. I recorded another activation video using the GoPro which says ...

Why I Chose Log4OM for Logging 12

May

27

2017

Ever since I’ve been licensed I didn’t really have to worry about logging software for use in the shack. I did very little operating in my shack previously and the built in Fldigi logger and N1MM+ were more than good enough. Of course out portable I was using RumLogNG on my iPad and iPhone and ...

Why Choose the Icom 7300 over the 7610? 8

May

24

2017

Ever since the Icom 7300 came out I have wanted it, it looks the part, it’s steps ahead of the competition (at the price point) and all the reviews seem ecstatic. This was also all backed up by the sales statistics; it was easily the top selling rig in 2016 and will probably continue to be ...

Becoming a Half SOTA Goat – The First 500 Activator Points

May

19

2017

Reaching 500 activator points was my target for 2017 and I’ve peaked early! The tipping point was an unexpected trip to Snowdonia in Wales in April, where I activated 11 summits for 75 points. This took me beyond 500 points but officially marked me reaching the half way point to becoming a full mountain goat (1000 ...

2m SOTA Summit to Summit Pileup Video 3

May

5

2017

Filmed during a 2m VHF SOTA activation of Elidir Fawr (GW/NW-005) in the Snowdonia National Park. A flurry of Summit to summit (S2S) calls were received from fellow activators out on other SOTA summits. Captured using a head cam to give you a birdseye view of a SOTA activation. Time Call Band Mode Notes 12:02z ...

VHF SOTA Expedition in the Snowdonia National Park 6

Apr

28

2017

In April I finally finished a big project at work and had some time off to relax – the perfect break would be some walking in the Snowdonia National Park in North Wales. Of course the first thing that usually happens when I start to relax is that I get a cold, annoyingly this happened ...