Membership Meeting – February 26th, 2024, 6:30pm Norman P. Murray Center

You may have noticed the shift in start time to 6:30 pm. This is to allow time for you guys to settle in and get your own rag chewing out of the way. Coffiee and Snacks will be available. Mark will begin his presentation at 7pm.

This month’s meeting will be a Hybrid style. Mark will be joining us remotely on GoToMeeting. Therefore; if you can’t join us in person, you will be able to join on either the GoToMeeting app, Chrome, or Edge.
You can install the GoTo app through this link: https://meet.goto.com/install
The link to the meeting can be accessed here: SOARA MTG – Mark Knight KD7DTS
Link to Mark’s recent Summit Activation on Timber Mtn on Super Bowl Sunday: Snowshoes in California? Thanks atmospheric river! | Summits on the Air Mark KD7DTS

Mark Knight KD7DTS

I earned my Technician license in Oregon during the 1990s, initially using ham radio for outdoor communications during Boy Scout expeditions. Discovering I loved the hobby for its own sake, I upgraded to General and spent many happy hours hunting DX on SSB, with a smattering of CW, and ragchewing on the local repeater. After a few active years on the air, the sun cycle faded, 10m went dead, and I fell out of contact with amateur radio throughout college, graduate school, and some time overseas in Europe. A decade passed without a QSO.

When I moved to California, I started volunteering as a forest ranger with the San Gorgonio Wilderness Association (SGWA). Training included radio operations to communicate with the Forest Service during backcountry emergencies. Rather than buy a new radio, I modified my old Yaesu FT50R. That got me back on the air while in the mountains – and I discovered a vibrant Summits on the Air (SOTA) and Parks on the Air (POTA) community in the hills around Los Angeles.

These days, you’d be hard pressed to find me outside without a radio! In 2023 I activated 53 mountains, and earned my SOTA ‘Summit Sloth’ for reaching 1000 summit-to-summit points. I’m still volunteering as a ranger, and serving as Secretary for the W6TRW Amateur Radio Club.

Videos of my radio expeditions are on YouTube as @OutdoorAdventureRadio

 

Mountaintop Radio Adventures

Ham radios love to be on mountains. At 10,000 ft, a janky homebuilt rig with 5W and a tangle of wire can touch the world. The noise floor is low, the air is cool, and the views just can’t be beat. Summits on the Air (SOTA) is an awards program to support radio operations from high points – and here in Southern California, it’s a program with an active and encouraging community.

This talk will come in three sections:

Section 1: What is SOTA, and how can I participate?

Section 2: Activating 101

Section 3: Typical SOTA kit

After each section, we’ll have a discussion break. Got questions? Bring ‘em!

 


Ham Radio Examinations will take place prior to the General Meeting and also at the Murray Center. Testing session starts at 6pm and is $15/session.

Pre-registration is not required and you don’t need to be a SOARA member to take the test. Please contact our Education Director, Steve Kuver, if you have questions about testing at k6uvr@soara.org