Hi and welcome to SOTA! If you haven’t already seen it, check out our SoCal SOTA groups.io page. It’s also a great place to ask SoCal specific SOTA questions. You can find it at: SoCalSota@groups.io | Home.
You can also find info there on our monthly zoom meetings and occasional campouts.
As for HT’s at powerful comm sites, I’ve found a cheap radio with a SOTA beams filter is better than an excellent radio without one. At some sites (near Mt Wilson for example) a radio with a very good front end like the FT-60 with a filter is better than a so-so radio with a filter. Don’t worry too much, though; if you stick with SOTA for a while, you are sure to wind up with a few different radios for different use cases!
For myself, I have a few different HTs. I usually use the Yaesu VX-6R for backpacking or more remote adventures where light weight is an advantage and I’m not worried about receiver dynamic range. It’s broadcast FM radio reception can be a bonus if you are out in the backcountry for a week and there might be important information about weather, roads, or other news.
I usually gravitate to the FT-60R for local SoCal peaks (and often bring a SOTABEAMS filter) for its good receiver performance and when weight is less important. (Note that it can receive weather band but not broadcast FM stations). One downside is that it uses a NiMH battery rather than Li-Ion.
The fancy radios with awesome features and color displays look really appealing, but are also expensive. Although I can afford it, it just doesn’t seem sensible to me to spend lots on something that I’m likely to drop in the dirt or mud and possibly step on accidentally.
I’m sure you’ll have fun whatever you go with.
Good luck, have fun, and 73!
Cheers,
Mike K6STR
I hated my FT-65, and then sold it. Unless your mouth was over the mic, it would not pick you up, and made for several frustrating activations.
I’ve since bought an Alinco DJ-VX-50 and I’d say it’s superior in every way. Better waterproof rating , dual knobs for volume and frequency and I can speak normally, at a normal distance and it works just fine.
Forgot to add - you mentioned telescopic antennas. I use an MFJ Long Ranger, which I’ve found to be excellent, but sadly now hard to find. You could check out Smiley Antennas. They offer both 5/8 wave and 1/2 wave telescopic antennas. They have a good reputation, but I don’t have much personal experience.
Good job getting the filter else this will be you!
Then, later, add an 891 for a megashack! Become the envy of sad hams and gatekeepers on 80m nets. You might even be lucky enough to get gout as an arguing tool!
Before long, it’ll be a sunny morning, coffee brewing in the kitchen, FT65 charging by the front door, bag packed for the first fair weather SOTA of the year.
Your Swan Teasmaid clock will flip over to 07:00 and…
I suspect it was broken, I have never had this problem. Or did you maybe have the FM deviation set to narrow ? That always results in low reports.
One enhancement : I keep a small piece of foam over the mic hole (retained with a rubber band) to eliminate wind noise.
The MFJ Long Ranger was the gold standard of telescoping 2m halfwave antennas. It appears that Intellitron (Gigaparts) has picked up the design in the US, as their new 2m antennas appear physically identical to the discontinued Long Ranger, albeit without BNC as an option (currently only SMA-M and SMA-F) branded as the “HA-1711S.”
Got everything in! Was using the radio to play music for my daughter practicing, less than a minute after that she slammed the gate and it survived its first concrete drop!
