In the beginning of working digital modes, when I still was using a smaller, much more compromised antenna than my current 20m hamstick, getting contacts was pretty difficult. I treasured every last one like it was a prize… because it was. Then I updated my antenna to the “fishing pole” mount hamstick, and once I …
Category Archives: Ham Radio
All My X’s are in Texas, or I Left My Heart in Amarillo…
Funny song references to Texas aside, Texas is a really big place. I know that’s obvious, but it becomes even more obvious when you start working for HF radio awards involving US counties and you discover that Texas has TWO HUNDRED and FIFTY FOUR counties! That’s enough to get both of the first two endorsements …
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Independence and the Spirit of Radio
At a recent anniversary party for the ham club I belong to one long time ham remarked to me that he’d seen my antenna pictures for my apartment and that it looked “pretty compromised”. He is probably 100 percent correct– but instead of embarrassing me, it made me smile widely. And the reason is that …
Chasing RFI and Lost Transmit Power
You hear a lot in passing as a new ham about RFI noise, or common mode current interfering with your signals, both outgoing and incoming, but it’s seldom explained how that can affect the power going out of the antenna in a real way. I come to this subject after chasing around an issue I’ve …
Apartment HF Antenna “Research & Development” Adventures
Apartments and HOAs can be really difficult for hams interested in working the HF bands. For one thing, it’s usually necessary to conceal your antennas in such small, restricted spaces. Add that indoor antennas can be inefficient, suffer from high SWR from capacitance and reflection with surrounding walls and ceilings, and you have a really …
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ARRL Field Day 2021 & an Award
So after being a ham for over 2 years, I finally took part in the ARRL’s summer field day for the first time this year. While a friend of mine with a gorgeous antenna install at his house made nearly 200 contacts, and I only made about 17 or so, it was still a great …
3D Printed Antenna Radial Storage Spools
My larger multi-band antenna, a Wolf River Coil, comes with a trio of pre-cut radial wires to attach to the legs. No matter how carefully I roll them up into a tied off bundle, the next time I get them out and setup the antenna, I spend a significant amount of time untangling them. I’ve …
FT8 QSOs from Utah!
Working HF from my current base location has been a bit difficult due to the available locations for antennas being rather limited and all indoors. (I live in a tiny apartment.) However, last week I spent a few days in Utah for a wedding in the family and had the opportunity to make quite a …
Xiegu G90 Digital Modes with SignaLink Setup
The Xiegu G90 is a great little affordable radio which has digital capabilities. While Xiegu (CEE-eh Goo, not Zy-Goo for you non-Mandarin speakers) does supply a break out module, the CE-19 for connecting to a soundcard with digital modes, many hams prefer to use a little more robust plug-n-play setup like the Tigertronics SignaLink. However …
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Random Wire Antenna Lengths
A very simple type of antenna is a plain random length of wire, but making one that can be used on multiple bands has been complicated. Here’s an excellent article with a chart showing the best wire lengths for multiple band operations. Random Wire Antenna Lengths The trick is to make sure that the wire …