The Southeast Ohio Radio Adventure Team is a small group of ham radio operators with continuing ties to southeastern Ohio who enjoy operating their radios outdoors and when away from home.

Meet the SEORATs: N8VZ | K8RAT | N8XWO | W8MHV | WD8RIF KD8KNC | KA4VNK | N8SUZ | K4SWL

Previous members: KE8EAS | K8PAW (formerly KD8MZA) | KD8WVX

Carl Denbow, N8VZ

arl Denbow, N8VZ, is a phone and digital field operator and participates in Parks on the Air (POTA) as both an Activator and a Hunter. Carl's primary field transceiver is his Elecraft KX2 which he sometimes pairs with a small RF amplifier. Visit Carl's QRZ.com site.

Mike Hansgen, K8RAT

ike Hansgen, K8RAT (formerly AA8EB), has left the hills of southeastern Ohio for the glaciated plains of north-central Ohio but still participates in SEORAT field operations as his schedule permits. Mike is a fan of directional field-portable antennas and has built a 330' vee-beam for field use; he is also a fan of large competition-grade radios and has been known to take a Yaesu FT-920 to SEORAT field events. Mike has many HF rigs, including... an Elecraft K2, an Elecraft KX3, a Ten-Tec Argonaut 515, a Ten-Tec Scout, a Ten-Tec Omni D, a Yaesu FT-102, a Heathkit HW-8, a Heathkit HW-9, and a Heathkit HW-16 + HG-10B VFO. Mike's primary radio is his Elecraft KX3. In 2016, Mike enjoyed participating in the ARRL's National Parks on the Air (NPOTA) year-long operating-event as a Chaser and finished the Centennial Year with 285 NPS units worked and confirmed. Mike is fascinated by historic means of generating CW and has developed an excellent fist with a cootie/sideswiper key. His first cootie was fashioned from a kitchen knife, a c-clamp, and a pair of vise-grips (photo),

John McCutcheon, N8XWO

ohn McCutcheon, N8XWO, has sold his pop-up camper but when he still had the camper, he regularly traveled with it and enjoyed combining these trips with amateur radio. John enjoys outdoor operating events such as the ARRL Field Day and the PCARS Ohio State Parks on the Air. John has several rigs, modern and vintage, including... an ICOM IC-7000, an ICOM IC-7410, and a Kenwood TS-140S. Within the team, John is the guru on weak-signal VHF operations.

Drew McDaniel, W8MHV

rew McDaniel, W8MHV / HS0ZQT (formerly 9M2MC), might be considered the "spiritual leader" of the team. Drew regularly travels to exotic lands and often makes ham radio an important part of his travels. Drew has far too many radios to list, but in his stable of portable rigs can be found the following: a four-band Elecraft K1, an Elecraft K2/100, a single-receiver Elecraft K3/100, an Elecraft KX3 + KXPA100 + PX3, an Elecraft KX2, an Elecraft KH1, a Ten-Tec Argonaut 515, an ICOM IC-7300, an Index Labs Improved QRP Plus, and several homebrew rigs. Drew is a fan of vintage equipment and has a very impressive collection of "heavy metal". Drew's home station, with the exception of the the "heavy metal", is powered by sunlight. Visit Drew's Amateur Radio and Asia Travels web sites.

Eric McFadden, WD8RIF

ric McFadden, WD8RIF, somehow ends up doing much of the logistical work leading up to SEORAT expeditions. Eric enjoys operating outdoors and he has a plethora of field-portable HF rigs: a four-band Elecraft K1, an Elecraft K2/10, an Elecraft KX2, an Elecraft KX3, an Elecraft KH1, an 80-20m QRP Labs QMX, a Ten-Tec R4020, and a Yaesu FT-817ND. Eric participates in the Parks on the Air (POTA) and the World Wide Flora & Fauna in Amateur Radio (WWFF) programs as an Activator. In 2016, Eric participated in the ARRL's National Parks on the Air (NPOTA) year-long operating-event as an Activator. He successfully activated all ten of the NPS units in Ohio and all six of the NPS units in West Virginia, finishing the Centennial Year with 183 activations, placing 2nd in Ohio and 17th overall among Activators. He also successfully worked and confirmed 76 NPS units as a Chaser, over half of which were worked park-to-park while activating. Visit Eric's Amateur Radio web site and QRZ.com site.

Miles McFadden, KD8KNC

iles McFadden, KD8KNC, enjoys participating in SEORAT field operations and particularly enjoys participating in ARRL Field Day as an accomplished SSB operator. Miles often finds himself helping with the logistics of a RATpedition: packing, unpacking, schlepping, and quite often preparing breakfast, lunch, or dinner at the events.

Robert Riordan, KA4VNK

obert Riordan, KA4VNK, had been inactive in the radio hobby for several years until he suddenly found himself with extra time and money after his harmonics moved out of the house. Robert's growing collection of HF radios includes... a BG2FX FX-4CR, a Ten-Tec Argonaut V, a Ten-Tec Argonaut 509, a Tec-Tec Scout 555, a Yaesu FT-818, a Yaesu FT-1200, a Heathkit SB-101, a Heathkit HW-7, a Heathkit HW-8, a Kenwood TS-130, a Kenwood TS-680, a Kenwood TS-830, an ICOM IC-7200, and an ICOM-718. In 2016, Robert participated in the ARRL's National Parks on the Air (NPOTA) year-long operating-event as both an Activator and as a Chaser. As an Activator, Robert finished the Centennial Year with 23 activations, placing 6th in Ohio among Activators. As a Chaser, Robert successfully worked and confirmed 64 NPS units. Robert is primarily a SSB operator but is working to add CW to his repertoire. Visit Robert's QRZ.com site.

Jeff Slattery, N8SUZ

eff Slattery, N8SUZ, is the ARRL District Emergency Coordinator for Ohio Section District 8 and Communications Director Emeritus for the The Great Ohio Bicycle Adventure (GOBA). Jeff owns a pirate ship (photo) and participates in the U.S. Islands Award Program as a qualifier and as an activator. Jeff enjoys outdoor operating events such as the PCARS Ohio State Parks on the Air and participates in the Parks on the Air (POTA) program as an Activator. In 2016, Jeff participated in the ARRL's National Parks on the Air (NPOTA) year-long operating-event as an Activator. For field use, Jeff has an ICOM IC-7100 and an ICOM IC-706MKIIG. Visit Jeff's QRZ.com site.

Tom Witherspoon, K4SWL

om Witherspoon, K4SWL / M0CYI / VY2SW (formerly KC8GLI and KF4TZK), a native of North Carolina, has left the hills of southeastern Ohio to return to the mountains of western North Carolina (by way of Germany and England) but still participates in SEORAT events when he is able. Tom has received the POTA Outstanding Operator Award, has been inducted into the QRP ARCI QRP Hall of Fame (photo), and has been selected for membership in the ARRL A-1 Operators Club. In addition to numerous shortwave receivers, both vintage and ultra-modern, conventional and SDR, Tom has a truly embarrassing number of very effective field transceivers, including... a Mission RGO One, a Lab599 Discovery TX-500, an ICOM IC-705, an Elecraft KH1, an Elecraft KX3, an Elecraft KX2, an Elecraft KX1, an Elecraft K2/10, a Ten-Tec Argonaut V, a Ten-Tec Argonaut VI, a Ten-Tec R4020, a Yaesu FT-891, a Yaesu FT-817ND, a Yaesu FT-818, an LNR Precision LD-11, an LNR Mountain Topper MTR-3b, an LNR Mountain Topper MTR-5b, a 20m and a 30m QRP Labs QCX-Mini, a QRP Labs QDX, a Hendricks PFR-3A, a Venus SW-3B, a Penntek TR-35, and a Penntek TR-45L. Tom is a great advocate of outdoor-operating and participates in the Parks on the Air (POTA), World Wide Flora & Fauna in Amateur Radio (WWFF), and Summits on the Air (SOTA) programs as an Activator. In 2016, Tom succumbed to the siren-song of the ARRL's National Parks on the Air (NPOTA) year-long operating-event late in the year but quickly rose to 2nd place among North Carolina Activators and finished the Centennial Year with 91 activations, placing 2nd in North Carolina and 34th overall. Tom is founder and curator of The Radio Spectrum Archive, a project to preserve and share time-shifted radio spectrum recordings. Tom is a regular contributor to The Spectrum Monitor magazine, to DX Engineering's On All Bands blog, and to Ham Radio Workbench podcasts. Tom was the founder and director of Ears to Our World, a 501(c)(3) grass-roots, nonprofit organization that specialized in the distribution of self-powered world band radios and other appropriate technologies to schools and communities in the developing world. Visit Tom's QRPer.com, SWLing.com, The Shortwave Radio Archive, and The Radio Spectrum Archive websites.

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