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Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
davejohnson@friendica.world ("David Johnson") wrote:
@KJ7OFH If you're in an area with SOTA summits within line-of-sight of places where hams live, you can activate those summits on VHF FM simplex with your Technician license. Just spotting yourself and calling CQ probably isn't going to cut it. You'll probably need to find people on the repeaters and ask them to QSY to a simplex frequency. It might be necessary to use a J-pole or Yagi, both of which you can build. You can also try VHF SSB, but will likely have to line up your buddies. You can use 10m SSB, though counting on that band being open when you happen to be on a summit isn't a great idea. Learning CW so you can use that 40m band is a good idea.
Even operating from home, you can do lots with VHF: APRS, packet BBS, Winlink, satellites, space station, etc. Some repeaters give you access to other repeaters that are linked via the Internet.
This guy is pushing the General license pretty hard and I agree with him. I got Extra so I could operate in Europe under CEPT, since I'm now living in Belgium. But there's an awful lot you can do with a Technician license and it's a shame a lot of people never go beyond talking on their local repeater.