WELCOME

Welcome to my amateur radio BLOG. Here at N1CLC.com (aka HamNinja.com), I hope to cover my exploration of ham radio, summits on the air (SOTA) and general RF geek stuff.  My other BLOGS focus on technology (cloudrant.com), photography (cameraninja.com/blog), and life (thethroboflife.com). QSL via QRZ, LOTW, cards.

* Reference Links Page    * SOTA Specific Links  
* My Equipment Loadout    * DMR Tips    * My Youtube Channel

I monitor 146.520 and DMR SOTA (973), track me on the trail HERE.  Donate HERE, Mastodon

Check out the latest videos by the Ham Ninja

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My SOTA Expedition Loadout

My SOTA Loadout options: (UPDATED)

During SOTA QSOs, a lot of people ask me what I am using so I thought I would describe my setup here.  Take a look and comment on your SOTA setup.
Updated: 7/23/2020 

Updated: 6/10/2021

Updated: 11/19/2024

(BTW, SOTA = "Summits On The Air")  Click on images for larger.

This page is turning into a bit of my "options" for a SOTA loadout. After doing this hobby for a while, gaining experience from my own adventures and learning from others, I've amassed a bit more equipment that changes based on mission. Below you'll see that I use different radios for given mission. I've been trying to lighten my load and go QRP with the KX2 and an ultra-light antenna but there are times when I load up the heavier FT-891 and associated battery when I really want to punch some power out and see how far I can really go.

One of the things that will really help me go QRP (lower power) is CW. Sending morse code over CW allows me to potentially get a lot more contacts farther away because the narrow band provides better signal to noise ratio. As I continue to learn about gear, make new antennas, learn CW, and experiment, I expect things will change. Mission #1 is have fun, and I seem to be nailing that. Pictured above is a complete 10 watt station, radio, antenna, and keyer. All you need to add is a way to get the antenna up in the air (tree or pushup pole) (it has a built in mic).(Note: Originally published Dec 31, 2017, updated Nov. 3, 2019)
 <click on images for larger>

Navigation for Summits on The Air

 Presentation on Navigation for Summits On The Air

2023 - A Record SOTA Year!

As you can see from the stats picture, I broke most of my "personal best" records in 2023.  If you don't count the uniques from my first full year, I bested that stat too.  Came in short on MTB miles because I hiked a couple of summits that had good MTB access.

In addition, here are some other personal best records in 2023 for me:

• Most radiation absorbed, 200 centigray. 
• Least blood spilled doing SOTA (so I must be figuring this out.  )
• Most summits in a single UTC day, 5
• Most bands used during an activation, 10
• Most associations activated, 6
• Most summit-to-summits, 560 for 2,731 pts
• Most completes, 68
• Most chasing, 839 for 3,243 pts
• Broke through 3,000 activator points, making me 3x mountain goat.

None of this would have been possible without help from the SOTA community and the overlanding vehicle belonging to W6TED. 

Presenting to PARC on August 2nd

 I'm looking forward to presenting to the Palomar Amateur Radio Club on August 2nd.

If you'd like to look at the presentation directly, go HERE.

Presenting to Escondido Amateur Radio Society

I'm presenting to the Escondido Amateur Radio Society on January 12, 2023.  

If interested, you can open the presentation HERE.

2022 - It's A Wrap

Well, 2022 is over and it’s time to do a quick recap of the year of “Summits On the Air” (SOTA), and compare year over year and look at the goals I set in 2022 and what I’ll do in 2023.  In short, 2022 was a record breaking year, a personal best in a couple of areas and a LOT OF FUN.

Much of this SOTA hobby is mostly about activity, taking an amateur radio, that maybe you built, to the top of a mountain, and get at-least four direct contacts (without aid of a repeater) and you get some “points”.  The higher the summit, the more points it’s worth.  The “points” are part of the made up / gamified part of this hobby, but I do enjoy tracking some other things that are more substantial.  

I track how many summits I’ve humped my 25 - 30 lb pack up to.  Sure, some are drive-ups, but most aren’t.  Some are very hard, some are a simple walk up hill.  I also keep track of the number of miles that I hiked (zero if it’s a drive-up), mountain biked, and free solo’d (zero).  I also track the amount of elevation gained for each hike.  For fun I’ve also been tracking how many “uniques” (first time I have ever done that summit), and “first activations” (first time anyone in SOTA hobby has done that summit). Note, if I do a summit more than once in a year, it doesn’t count for points.  I do a local summit near my house all the time to test my radio, new antennas, hiking gear etc.  I also do summits more than once if someone is visiting and they want a hiking buddy, or, just for fun. (Click on pictures for larger)