I picked up this SignaLink USB interface while at the Ararat Hambash in Kansas City, MO. I really have been looking at them for a while now. Associated Radio out of Overland Park, Kansas was at this event also and I decided to pick one up and give it a try. I purchased the SignaLink USB and the ICOM 13-pin DIN Accessory Port Connector to connect to my ICOM IC-706. Furthermore, Dan at Associated Radio made sure Read More …
Furthermore, I had bought the LDG Z-100Plus Autotuner about 10 months ago and have thoroughly enjoyed using it. It is a small, low-cost automatic tuner suitable for a base station, mobile or portable use. LDG Z-100Plus Autotuner advanced memory tuning, providing 2,000 memory locations. It handles up to 125 watts SSB or CW, but requires only 0.1 watts to tune, making it ideal for QRP operation. This little tuner requires very little electrical power. About Read More …
A couple of weeks back I went to a local hamfest here in southwest Missouri. Eventually I picked up a 2-meter linear amplifier. I also did participate in the 2m VHF contest back in September of 2017 and I enjoyed the contest very much and wanted to up my power from 10 watts to 80 watts. My ICOM 706 is an older model that does 2m-160m. 100w on HF and only 10w on VHF. I guess Read More …
I didn’t prepare much for Septembers VHF contest. I threw together a 6m dipole and I already had a 3el 2m beam that I hadn’t used much yet! So that was my total preparation. My wife had some family property that was only a few minutes away from our QTH that was at a higher elevation than we were at home. So that is where we found ourselves with the Jeep and the rooftop camper. I only Read More …
From time to time, I like to reflect on where I’ve been with my Ham radios. Here are some pictures from 2016 until now of some of my activations. None of them are NPOTA (National Parks On The Air) and none of them are SOTA (Summits On The Air). They are just plain old QSO’s and to keep in touch with my friends in Missouri & Tennessee when I’m traveling. Lost Dutchman’s State Park – Read More …
I purchased this single lever paddle kit from QRPGUYS website a couple of days ago. It was a simple fun kit to build and took about an hour to do the build. I tried to remember to take pictures as I was doing this build. As you see, it fits nicely in an Altoids tin…..
I heard about Winter Field Day about late November 2016 and I decided that I wanted to get in on the action. I didn’t prepare too much for this event because I usually do portable operations anyway. As you can see by the picture below, we threw stuff in the car and went to some family property nearby and set up in the middle of a field. First things first is to set up camp. Read More …
Portable HF has always been a fun thing to do. A couple of weeks ago we had a 4 day weekend. So the wife and I packed up the car and drove till we got tired. We stopped for the night in a very historic town of Clear Lake, Iowa. In addition, Clear Lake, Iowa is also the town where Buddy Holly, The “Big Bopper” and Richie Valens played their last gig before their fateful Read More …
I don’t know about you but I am ready for Field Day this year. I’ve been working on my set up for portable HF operations for the last couple of months. It is nothing elaborate or even remotely fancy. It does work and that is good enough for me. List of items I will be using at Field Day 2016 • Icom IC-730 HF Transceiver • MFJ Versa Tuner II • Homebrew – 80m dipole, Read More …
That’s right . . . I put up the homebrew 80m HF dipole. Roughly 132 feet of wire strung out from the top of a 12 foot fiberglass painters pole while we stopped in Enders, Nebraska. Threw out the solar panels. I use a metal S carabiner to attach my 1:1 balun to the painters pole. These little reusable zip-ties are handy. Beautiful sunset!