We found some free camping just outside of Bear Lake in Northern Utah. There were some ATV’s and Side by Sides driving through the forest roads. That did not stop us from enjoying our time here. If you are in the area, do yourself a favor and explore this area. September is a beautiful time to visit!
Found a spot just East of Laramie, Wyoming to set up camp for the night. I also got to play Ham Radio and made contact with my friends back in Missouri on 80m. I just threw about 62 feet of wire in the tree and connected it to my Texas Bug Catcher and and tuned it up on frequency with my Nano VNA. Turned on my ICOM 706 and started making contacts!
Thanksgiving portable in the backyard of the daughters house in Aurora, Colorado. I had the ICOM IC-706 with the MFJ 904H manual tuner with a wire going to the gutters. I had never tried loading up gutters before, so I figured why not. Using my MFJ antenna analyzer I tuned them up on 40m and made a few contacts. Then I loaded the gutters up on 20m and checked in to the Maritime Mobile Net. Read More …
We camped a few days around Granite, Colorado. During our stay there we explored the Stone Cabin that was near by. Furthermore the Arkansas River was within walking distance. I did some HF radio and made a few contacts including one to my brother W0EGT back in Missouri on 40m. I used my ICOM 706 and my MFJ 17 foot vertical attached to my homebrew induction coil. Our campsite the 2nd night. Beautiful area!!!
You don’t see a Texas BugCatcher antenna too often anymore. I acquired this antenna through a musician friend of mine who’s father had become a silent key. I had this antenna sitting around just waiting to be used. Furthermore, I still do a lot of mobile HF and enjoy it immensely when traveling to Colorado and back. Most Texas BugCatcher antennas were available from GLA Systems as a coil only. In addition, the customer either Read More …
This Heathkit HM-102 has been around since the early 1970’s. It has been a staple in many of amateur radio operators shacks. Furthermore, I purchased this HM-102 at a Mount Vernon Hamfest back in 2017. Power and Weight This particular model was made as a kit from the Heathkit company between 1970 to 1981. In addition, it covered the HF 1.8-30 mHz. Also features two power ranges at 200w or 2000w with SWR measurements. The Read More …
Winter field day from central Kansas in a mobile. Read More …
Subsequently it has been a while since I’ve been on mobile HF radio. I was really missing it recently and decided to install it in our new vehicle. However I still have some more grounding to work on but the radio is happy, the antenna is happy and there is no crazy things happening in the vehicle. Meanwhile I am still using my homebrew loading coil that I made several years ago. On top of Read More …
I have been wanting to try FT8 on my ICOM IC-706 for quite some time. Recently my brother finally got his ticket and is a General Class. He also purchased a Yeasu FT-450 as his first HF rig. In the past I have done a few digital modes such as PSK31, SSTV, and some RTTY! But for the life of me I could not get FT8 to work with my ICOM IC-706. My brother did Read More …
I recently purchased two RF Concept amplifiers that did not come with power cords. I had a heck of a time finding some Jones plugs/sockets for a decent price. I had spotted a couple on Ebay for a $20 bill. I thought that was a little bit steep price for a small plug/socket. I ended up finding a pair of Jones plugs/sockets at the Joplin Hamfest for $4.00! That is right $4.00!!! This is just Read More …