Adam dropped the big 40m beam off this morning. I had been playing in the Minnesota QSO Party and chasing some NPOTA activators, so I’d missed his call. Holy crap, this boom is huge. Getting seriously excited! Still waiting on a couple more RF and control parts. Final order for structural parts will go out tonight.
tl;dr: We activated two NPOTA units and the ARRL assessed them as invalid. I agree, but have determined to attempt a valid activation! When the ARRL announced the National Parks On The Air, my buddy Jean (KG7NJQ) and I started plotting and scheming a local activation. I immediately noticed the two urban locations in Seattle, within …
Just sync’ed DXKeeper with LoTW and was pleasantly surprised to see that K5P had already uploaded! Call Band Mode Station Call Result K5P 15M SSB K7ADD new confirmation for Palmyra & Jarvis Islands: 15M K5P 12M SSB K7ADD new confirmation for Palmyra & Jarvis Islands: 12M K5P 20M SSB K7ADD new confirmation for Palmyra & …
Prior to the shack-relocation and remodel, I was using a 2-element SteppIR at ~30 feet and a ZS6BKW at ~55 feet. With the move inside, I’ve compromised and I’m only using the ZS6BKW (relocated – now broadside E/W @ ~70 feet with the help of W7ECK). This is about as simple as it gets. One rig, …
I have a friendly competition with a couple of other hams around # of worked DXCC entities, contest scores, and occasionally, who’ll break through a pileup first. I enjoy the slight gamification of amateur radio. It’s slightly more than “fake radio points” but not by much. I spend time on the IRC channel affiliated with …