Where did April go? Seriously.
One of my 2024 ham radio goals is to get back more into SOTA by doing at least one SOTA activation a month. SOTA is what got me really interested in HF to begin with, and while I really enjoy POTA and other portable radio activities; SOTA is where I really find the most enjoyment.
So how hard can it be to fit in a SOTA activation a month? Well, turns out it has been harder than it should. Here it is, the last Sunday in April and I made my activation goal this morning.
In my defense, I do not live in what could be described as a target rich environment for SOTA summits. Which adds to the challenge, and well frustration, of the radio sport of SOTA for me.
Ham2K PoLo is turning into a real winner.
I have been using the new logging app on the block Ham2k Portable Logger, or PoLo for short, exclusively for SOTA and POTA for about the last month.
My first use was during March's last minute SOTA activation. There was big contest running that weekend, so I didn't really get a chance to run it through it's paces by using it during a pileup. I hunted and pounced my way to that activation.
So this is my first SOTA using the PoLo while calling CQ. Yes, the title of the YouTube video may be a bit on the click bait side. The pileup wasn't huge, but it was steady enough a few times to test my abilities keeping up using a phone for logging.
I much prefer to use a laptop or small tablet for logging, since my phone's keyboards can be unforgiving to my fat thumbs due to it's small size. However, when playing SOTA or one some hike in POTA's, I don't always have the luxury of having a keyboard with me.
While no mobile app can make up for my thumbs, the layout of PoLo is done very well and is intuitive to quickly navigate while trying to pull callsigns out of the jumbled mess that is a pileup.