Field Day 2021
My after action review for Field Day 2021 where I operated QRP using battery and solar
My after action review for Field Day 2021 where I operated QRP using battery and solar
This past weekend was the ARRL DX CW contest. I have been attending the CWOps’ CW Academy and have been steadily progressing in CW skill and speed. One of the tools used in the class is RufzXP which provides practice copying calls at high speed. Another tool, MorseRunner, similarly provides contest-like practice. After using both… Read More »
I recently purchased a new watch. I needed a utility watch that is affordable and wanted the ability to easily display local time and UTC. In my research I came across Casio’s Waveceptor WV200A. (originally released in 2012). These watches have a built in receiver that synchs to WWV for accurate timekeeping. It’s pretty slick.… Read More »
I’ve been working on my CW skills and am enrolled in the CWOps’ Intermediate CW Academy. As part of the class, in addition to the official CWOps assignments, we get extra ‘super secret’ assignments. One of the assignments was to compose a CW-related Haiku and be ready to send in class. We are working on… Read More »
I decided to set up outdoors and operate QRP using the Icom IC-705 and only run on battery. I wanted to simulate a situation where I would need to set up a minimal portable station and get on the air quickly. My plan was to set up a 20m/40m dipole using a portable mast, and… Read More »
My experience replacing my G5RV, first with a homebrew doublet, then with a commercial dipole and using it in the WA Salmon Run. Plus, sick of old men complaining about change…
I’ve been playing around with Raspberry Pis for a while now and am amazed at how much computing power is packed into such a small form factor (compared with the computer I had in college, for example). My latest experiment was putting together an ADS-B receiver. There are some good tutorials online so I wont… Read More »
I decided to try to operate during Field Day this year. My two goals, in keeping with the spirit of firld day, were: Operate to simulate real-world disaster conditions (Under emergency power, outdoors, minimal equipment, field expedient antenna deployment) To demonstrate and generate interest in amateur radio to my nephews. Set-up In keeping with my… Read More »
One aspect of this hobby that I enjoy is antenna design and experimentation. I’ve written before about my plan to build and off-center fed dipole (OCFD) which I may build in the future. However, I am currently looking at a different antenna design to replace my current G5RV when I finish cutting down trees on… Read More »
(At least for a while) This weekend is the ARRL International DX Contest (SSB) and I will take this opportunity to get on the air one last time before having to take down the G5RV to work on a fencing project. The G5RV is strung between two tall trees on the East side of our… Read More »