Speaker Topic for this Month:
“Activating Parks and Summits on 10W (or less!)”
Mark Knight, KD7DTS
Originally licensed in the late 1990s, I initially got hooked on ham radio as a means of reliable outdoor communications during boy scout expeditions. 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.
After moving to California, I started volunteering as a forest ranger with the San Gorgonio Wilderness Association (SGWA). Part of being a ranger is keeping in radio contact with the Forest Service to respond to emergencies. Rather than buy a new radio, or borrow one, I modified my original Yaesu FT50R. That got me back on the air while in the mountains – and I discovered an amazing SOTA and POTA community which emerged since I was last operating.
Fast forward a year or so, and I’ve got a lightweight ‘go’ kit set up for adventures. I carry two radios, a Xiegu X6100 HF+6m rig, and a Yaesu FT5DR HT to cover the 2m/70cm bands with APRS spotting. I’ve got a few antennas, all kit-builds or homebrew, which are all either random wires or tuned EFHW. Courtesy of N1OR, I also have several high-quality homebrew bandpass/BCI filters to protect the front-end of the X6100.
All my operations are QRP from a backpack or a bicycle, and powered exclusively by batteries and coffee. See you on the air soon!
73,
Mark KD7DTS
When: Tuesday, April 12th at 6:30 PM
Where: Virtual Meeting on Zoom
Due to continued COVID-19 public health guidelines, the W6TRW Club Meetings will not be held in person. Instead, there will be a Virtual Meeting held on Zoom. Click on the link below on your computer, tablet, or smartphone.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82794654895
Meeting ID: 827 9465 4895
Phone dial-in: 1 669 900 6833
