SOTA Summits on the Air.

 On November 14th of this year I made a whopping 5 QSOs, including the Goatman! . It was not a very large number, but considering it took a good bit of hiking a portion of the Appalachian trail and following of both GPS and trail map directions , it was pretty respectable. We were out for a Summits on the Air activation. SOTA is a Amateur Radio program that promotes both outdoor and indoor transmitting and monitoring. With interesting awards like the "Mountain Goat" and "Shack Sloths" I think it may become a fixture on the HAM scene.

ARRL Website redesign.

I was just listening to Jerry Taylor's Practical Amateur Radio Podcast Volume 2 Episode 32 with an interview with Katie Allen, K1KRB. Jerry's interview covers the upcoming redesign of the ARRL website. Jerry also mentions the QST article on the same subject in the Dec. 2009 edition page 55. I have to admit, I am looking forward to the upgrade as it should make finding out information about our hobby much easier. It is good to see such helpful resources get updated. I think it will help to grow our hobby. It is through the web that I have found information on our hobby and I am sure I am not alone. My hope is that this update will help bring more people into our ranks as the years progress. The new website should be launched in late January 2010.
Happy Holidays to everyone and I will see you in 2010.

Gordon West, WB6NOA, stops traffic in NYC.

Last night the Hall of Science Amateur Radio club had their 2009 Holiday party. We were fortunate to have Gordon West WB6NOA in attendance. "Gordo" was in the New York and visiting clubs in the area. He was a huge help during our party, pushing raffle ticket purchases and giving an encouraging speech about future of our club.

On the trip home, we chatted about possible kit night plans and ideas for promoting "Ham-ology" as he calls it. He was an absolute gentleman, with time for everyone who asked him a question. It was great chatting with the man and discussing the state of our hobby.

Tom N2YTF and wife drove us through Manhattan with Mr. West enjoying the sights of Christmas in New York in the back seat. We pulled up to his hotel and Gordon hopped out to checkout the HoSARC repeater with the transceiver in his hotel room. Gordo waved to us from the hotel lobby and we were just getting ready to pull out into Manhattan traffic when suddenly we heard from behind us. "Don't worry I will get the traffic for you". Before we knew it, Mr. West was waiving down traffic for us on 8th ave! It was great seeing him again and we are looking forward to his next visit in February.