W0EGT and I (N0RVS) embarked on an exciting adventure, taking our ham radio show on the road to the Joe Creighton Access Area (K-10387). We persevered to find the perfect spot to set up our small HF station and make some incredible contacts. POTA (parks on the air) is a fantastic way to enjoy nature while engaging in our favorite hobby of ham radio! W0EGT exceeded expectations by making over a dozen contacts using only Read More …
Did a little (POTA) Parks On The Air activation yesterday afternoon on the way back from Caplinger Mills. Had Clifford with us so why not get his first activation out of the way with many more in the future to come. Stopped at Brush Creek Conservation Area (K-8278) just west of Humansville, MO. This is a 160 acre with hunting and wildlife all around. There is one Small Parking lot on the northwest corner of Read More …
I woke up about 5:27 am to about 35°F outside with a slight windchill of 32°F at 9428 feet in elevation. Slept great. Wool blankets are toasty. Made coffee and tea and a banana for breakfast. Earl set and made a few voice contacts on the 20m band. I set up a 76-foot-long speaker wire in a tree & tuned it up and started making FT8 digital contacts around 9:15 local time. Australia was hearing Read More …
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!!!
October and November of 2018 my wife and I went on our annual 6-8 week excursion out to North Carolina to the Overland Expo. During that time I operated from various place along our route and never had a problem making contacts with my friends in Missouri and Tennessee. Though I did find myself operating from Walmart parking lots on more than one occasion. 75%-80% of my operating is done either mobile or portable with Read More …
The ICOM IC-730 was my first HF radio. I have carried this radio all around the USA doing portable operating. This radio was given to me to use by W0EBV after passing my General test. It is an excellent 1st radio for anyone to get on HF. It covers 80m – 10m bands excluding 12m and 17m. With 100w of output power, this radio is great for Field Day and Winter Field day as well. Read More …
I got a late start on this years VHF Contest. As a matter of fact I did not start setting up till late Sunday morning. That is almost a whole 20+ hours after the contest had started. My wife and I went to Schell Osage Conservation Area near Schell City, Missouri. It has some camping areas and a fishing lake. This is also the place where we did the January VHF Contest in 2018. That Read More …
VHF Contest Time! This time I kinda stepped up my game. September 2017 VHF contest I ran 7 watts of power into a 3 element yagi antenna. Furthermore, I had some time to somewhat prepare for this one. Bumped up my power to 50 watts SSB I bought(2 days before contest time) a 6m 3 element yagi (never did get it tuned up in time for the contest). Bought a 30-foot push-up pole because height 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 …