Category Archives: History

License Renewed

I guess I am good for another decade.  I was pleasantly surprised to find it VERY easy to renew online in the FCC ULS system.  Even more surprised that I could find my password, which I haven’t used in about … Continue reading

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A Grand Day at ARRL HQ

A friend of mine, Paul, N1PSX, and I drove to ARRL HQ yesterday for a visit.  It was Paul’s first trip, and the first time in a long time for me (my father and I visited in 1982 when we … Continue reading

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Another Surprise From the ARRL

I guess the January 2016 QST is hot off the press.  I received an express envelope with three pristine copies today as a courtesy for a brief piece in Technical Correspondence [pages 72 & 73]. My father was a journalist, … Continue reading

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1,444 Days Later…Am I a REAL DXer?

On February 12, 2011, I worked Rob, Vy2SS, a Canadian station — my second contact and my first “DX” since restarting the hobby in 2011.  It wasn’t really my first DX contact, I had worked a couple as a Novice back … Continue reading

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Something Other Than DX For a Change?

After enjoying a straight-key QSO on SKN and thinking of the keys I had used back as a novice, I thought I’d see what I could find on eBay.  I remembered a brass key that my father had used (another … Continue reading

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Straight Key Night 2015

A friend of mine, John, WA1ABI, is a real fan of Straight Key Night (SKN).  For the past couple of years, I’ve thought I should dig up my 40 year old Brown Brothers Key, a Christmas present from 1974, the last … Continue reading

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2013 Wrap-up and 2014 Goals

Happy New Year!!! 2013 was a good ham radio year, even with somewhat disappointing solar activity.  Last year I set the following goals: Get 175 confirmed countries in LotW √ (Have 193 confirmed in LotW and 2 QSLs for a … Continue reading

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Some Field Day 2013 thoughts…

Our W1LY Field Day was much nicer this year due to better weather.  It was warm and breezy but not to hot and humid until Sunday — when the humidity picked up along with the temperature.  Still, it was MUCH … Continue reading

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60AH LiFePO4 Battery for Field Day

After monitoring my K3 power consumption during the SSB WPX Contest, I determined that I could run the K3 continuously set to full power in contest mode for about 30 hours with a 60 AH battery.  So my plan is … Continue reading

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Honoring a Mentor

(Receiving John ‘s comment yesterday about his first QSO, reminded me that I needed to do something similar for mine) I have misplaced my original license and logs (I will find them and put them online in eQSL and LotW … Continue reading

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