Welcome to my blog page!

Thanks for stopping by! You'll find radio-related blog entries here, the GREAT majority of which will be related to SOTA (Summits on the Air). I run QRP, almost always at 4 watts unless I'm using a different radio.

Videos can be found on my YouTube channel.

Other information can be found on my webpage. Learning CW, more about SOTA, and a few other things.

Saturday, May 30, 2020

Harmony High Point W7U/IR-019 and Using Te-Ne-Ke CW Key

Setup at the summit
This is my fourth trip up to this summit. It's beautiful, has nice views, and the access is long but easy--I'm surprised no one else has activated it yet. It's snowed in if you try to go too early in spring. I also did some visual recon for a couple of other summits that can be seen from the top. The weather was great, beautiful day.

Tuesday, May 26, 2020

1st Activation of Red Hills South W7U/IR-046

At the summit!
I had once scouted this never-before-activated summit out, but it looked way to rocky from the northwest approach I was at. This summit can be seen from I-15, though most notice the radio antennas (which is not the high point of this small range). Later I noticed on Google Earth that there was a trail that led from the radio antennas the next "hill" over, so if I could reach that, I could just follow the trail over. 


Saturday, May 23, 2020

1st Activation of Water Canyon Peak W7U/WS-031

Looking at the southern face
This summit was the last in a group in an area that had never been activated before. I did most of the others a few years back on the quest to reach Mountain Goat. This one is the farthest of the group, the hardest access, and thus ended up being the last for me to activate. It's a 4-pointer, and pretty out of the way for me.

Monday, May 18, 2020

"Flower Top" W7U/WS-089 (6494) in Spring!

2-pointer in Washington County
I enjoy this summit in the spring because of how beautiful it is, I nicknamed it "Flower Top" from the first time I went (it doesn't have it's own name, just a designator). It's in Dixie National Forest and is easy access. This is a nice one just to enjoy nature and getting on the radio.

Tuesday, May 5, 2020

"Deadwood Hill" W7U/IR-035 (7450)

Just off the summit looking north
This 4-point summit is a pleasant ATV ride up the mountain and a short hike. It's covered fairly thickly with trees so you have to go off to one side to find any views. The activation zone was heavily covered with dead, fallen trees when I first activated it, thus its nickname. The deadwood does leave the space and means for setting up a mast and getting a wire spread out.