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My name is Mike, and my amateur radio callsign is K6STR.

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Emigrant Peak, Nevada - SOTA activation trip report

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  (Originally posted on the SOTA Reflector) March 1, 2025.  I love reading about SOTA activations in other countries.  Weather, flora, geography, etc are endlessly fascinating to me.  I thought a few of you might be interested in reading about an activation in remote western Nevada, where the terrain may be quite different from what many of you are used to.  Lorene (W6LOR) and I set our sights on Emigrant Peak W7N/EM-114, an unactivated desert peak in Nevada.  The peak is about 40 miles west of the nearest town - unincorporated Tonopah, NV.   The 'EM' in the peak designation is from Esmeralda and Mineral counties. Emigrant peak is in Esmeralda County, which with a population of less than 800 is the least populated in Nevada and one of the least populated counties in the lower 48 states of the US.  The combination of remote location and unknown road conditions lent an air of uncertainty to our trip. Although we searched for online...
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Winter SOTA on Lookout Mountain

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(Originally published in QRP Quarterly 2022) I’ve enjoyed field portable operation with QRP rigs for a while. My first HF radio was a NorCal 40a, which I still love.  My current setup is an Elecraft KX2, a homebrew EFHW antenna, and an inexpensive 7m fishing pole to support the antenna, usually as an inverted vee.  I use a variety of keys, including ones from N0SA, N6ARA, and K6ARK, and also the Palm Mini Paddle. Lately, I’ve really been enjoying Summits on the Air (SOTA). Some of the best things about the program are the new places it has encouraged me to go to and the fantastic new people I’ve met.  For SOTA, it is important to minimize weight and maximize efficiency. My current kit weights about 3.5 pounds (including everything) – there is still some room for optimization. I’ve been really happy with the antenna I’m using – it’s relatively efficient on 40m, 20m, and 15m and has held up in the field with close to 100 outings. The configuration includes a modest comm...
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A 10m end-fed halfwave antenna

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  January 1, 2025 (published in QRP quarterly 2025)   My wife Lorene, W6LOR, and I have been enjoying operating from mountain peaks as part of the summits-on-the-air (SOTA) program.  This past year SOTA has featured a 10m challenge, and as part of the challenge, W6LOR decided to build a 10m Rockmite transceiver and I decided to build a lightweight antenna that would be suitable for portable operating.  This short note describes the antenna design and performance.   For lightweight, low power portable operation, an obvious choice was an end-fed halfwave (EFHW) antenna cut for 10m and built with lightweight wire.  I had a stash of #26 AWG Teflon coated wire purchased at discount from eBay that would serve well. The remaining questions were the details of the matching transformer, the feed line, and counterpoise.  There are plenty of on-line articles and videos with design details for multi-band EFHWs, usually built for 40 through 10m, but I coul...
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