Ham On A Bike

  As many of you know, most of my portable operating is done via a bicycle.  When I discovered the QRP Labs QCX Mini series it was like the heavens opened up for my QRP portable operating. For years I've used my Yaesu FT-817 for portable operating especially while doing my bike touring activities.  The FT-817 provided multi-mode options but during my bike tours the unit and accessories took up a lot of space in my panniers.  So the QCX Mini rigs are the perfect portable rigs for my CW and bike touring activities. I opted to order a 40 meter QCX Mini kit. The backlog for an assembled units was too long for my liking so why not put my ham radio skills to work and build this unit. I completed my unit in a couple of weeks without any major flaws. Made so minor adjustments for power output and I was off to the races.   Those first few weeks of operating only wetted my appetite to purchase another unit. Just before ordering another kit, I came upon an operator wh...

  Renowned Golfer Jack Nicklaus made this quote about fishing.  "There are always places to go fishing. For any fisherman there's always a new place, a new horizon".   I equate that quote to my portable Amateur Radio activities. There are always places to go operate Ham Radio.  There are always NEW Parks on the Air, Summits on the Air, Islands on the Air and other places to operate portable and another day or opportunity to make a QSO. During my daily Early Bird Parks on the Air activation on August 13, 2025, I decided to operate QRPp ( less than 1 Watt ) with my QRP Labs QCX 40 Meter Mini with a 9 Volt / 200 mAH battery.  Due to the excessive heat in the Ohio River Valley in Kentucky, U.S.;  I try to get out around dawn to "Beat the Heat" and recently take advantage of the morning greyline over my QTH. I don't operate QRPp often but I looked back at my previous QRPp operating and found I seem to do this when HF band conditions are questionable.  ...

  This series started out with a less than a couple of handful of "Hams on a Bike". Word got around the world and I've been pleasantly introduced to more and more Amateur Radio operators who in one form or another use bicycling for their Parks on the Air, Summits on the Air, World Wide Flora & Fauna and portable operations.   Here are links to the first two parts of this series. I Am Not Alone! There Are Many Of Us. Part 1 I Am Not Alone! There Are Many Of Us. Part 2   Our hobby is SO GREAT that it has so many sub hobbies. I've come to know ham radio operators who hike with their rigs, kayak with their gear, fish with their gear, fly with their gear, ride in balloons with their gear and even jump out of a perfectly good airplanes with their gear and make QSOs while doing these other hobbies. By now I'm sure you have come to understand that, I Am Not Alone!  There Are Many Of Us. H ere is one of my favorite SOTA operators.  The Ham Ninja - N1CLC ...

  This is the second of my series, "I Am Not Alone! There Are Many Of Us" about Ham on a Bike.  Here is the link to the first installment. Ham on a Bike - I Am Not Alone! - There Are Many Of Us, Part 1 In this post about "Hams on a Bike", I'll introduce you to those who not only push the bounds of portable Ham Radio operations but cycling as well. If you follow my Parks on the Air activations and think what I do is out of the ordinary or extreme, it does not hold a candle to these operators.  Some of them I call extreme "Hams on a Bike" operators. I consider this person to be an extreme Ham on a Bike operator.  Dugbo - KD7DUG, better known as  "Left Coast Ham Radio"; regularly takes his QRP Labs QMX rig, which he built; for his Summits on the Air activations. Dugbo shows what it takes to do a Mountain Bike SOTA activation this time while chasing Adam - K6ARK. QRZ - KD7DUG   There is only one word for this Amateur Radio Operator who takes his ...

With a few years of Parks on the Air (POTA) activations under my belt, I now look back to 2014 and realize I was totally oblivious what the future would hold for this first time bike tourist and the Ham Radio equipment I was carrying as it relates to the current Parks on the Air phenomenon. In 2011 after recovering from a 2008 pancreatic surgery and treatment, I started training for triathlons. I incorporated bike commuting to and from work as part of the my tri training with twice weekly before work swimming then biking 12 miles to work and treadmill running several times a week.  The triathlons were easy and fun; but the training was grueling.  In December 2013 I decided the tri training was not fun anymore and hang up my Tri Suits.  What Next? I wasn't ready to give up cycling as I found solace in bike commuting to and from work and weekend rides with a local bike club was equally fulfilling. I felt a need to fill the void of participating in triathlons. In early 2014 ...