Josh KI6NAZ: Crash Course in SOTA, YouTube and Testing Antennas | Sofas Ep. 9

16/12/2025 2h 12min Temporada 1 Episodio 9

Listen "Josh KI6NAZ: Crash Course in SOTA, YouTube and Testing Antennas | Sofas Ep. 9"

Episode Synopsis

Friend of the 'pod Josh KI6NAZ, from the little-known  @HamRadioCrashCourse  drops by the sofa to get nerdy... and share how he entered the SOTA-verse! This episode covers Josh's disastrous first SOTA activation and Mark's theories on the importance of balancing technical, physical, and mental skills for success. Ara shows hardware for his nearly complete "Antennode" project, which uses Raspberry Pis and LoRa to automate antenna A/B testing and provide a scientific method for evaluating antenna performance without expensive equipment. Josh dives deep into the challenges of content creation, emphasizing the need for consistency over perfection. Finally, the whole team gets passionate about building sustainable ham club club leadership, and how to empower new members to take the initiative in gettin' stuff done!As always, the Sofa was captained by Mark KD7DTS and Ara N6ARA, with Di KO6BTM running the studio system and Ormoo noshing on kibbles.Patreon: Want to help us fly SOTA icons out for in-person interviews, and support our audio upgrades? We believe strongly that in-person chats are more fun!https://www.patreon.com/c/SofasOnTheAir__SHOW NOTES__Josh KI6NAZ on YouTube:  @HamRadioCrashCourse  Ara N6ARA on YouTube:  @N6ARAElectronics  The N6ARA Store: https://n6ara.com/ Drink tasting: Elysian "Contact Haze"__CHAPTERS__0:00 Welcome & beers3:07 Josh's hot takes on AI8:30 Josh's first (failed) SOTA, and need for "Intro to SOTA" days30:27 Mark's principles of "SOTA Success" 36:07 The "Antennode" - antenna science!1:02:13 Developing ham club leaders1:17:19 Patreon questions! (YouTube... how does that work??)1:45:34 Turning the tables - Josh's questions for Ara & Mark__THANKS & ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS__Umesh KK6TXI - outro musicDi KO6BTM - intro/outro graphics