Author Archives: robert

Goals for 2020

Posted on January 1, 2020 by robert

After some consideration, these are my goals for 2020 Teach a Technician Class Reach 275 Confirmed Countries in DXCC Reach 90 Confirmed Countries on 160-Meters Reach 1450 Band-Points in the DXCC Challenge Reach 40 confirmed states on satellite Obviously some … Continue reading →

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Happy New Year! 2019 in Review

Posted on January 1, 2020 by robert

Happy New Year! What a busy year for me in Amateur Radio.  I managed to complete all but one of my goals: Teach a Technician Class (Taught two) Reach 270 Confirmed Countries in DXCC (Made 271) Reach 60 Confirmed Countries … Continue reading →

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Happy December!

Posted on December 1, 2019 by robert

So little time to complete my 2019 goals.  Only one remains unfinished, but several other things were accomplished.  We shall see. In any event the past couple of months have been nice for me with respect to Ham Radio.  I’ve … Continue reading →

Posted in 160-Meters, FT4 | 1 Comment

K1EL Paddle Stick Keyer Kit

Posted on November 20, 2019 by robert

In early 2018, a friend of mine came to one of our radio club breakfasts with a fun gizmo he had built from a kit; a K1EL Paddle Stick Keyer (PS2B).  At the time we had been discussing possible “Hands-on” … Continue reading →

Posted in CW, K1EL, Soldering | 2 Comments

Thank you VP6R Pitcairn Island

Posted on November 10, 2019 by robert

I had a nice surprise today when 6 new band confirmations showed up for VP6R today.  Need 104 more to get my next DXCC Challenge Award endorsement. Missed a clean sweep by failing to get them on 30-meters.  I did … Continue reading →

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The smell of Fall and a new Soldering Iron

Posted on November 1, 2019 by robert

It’s hard to beat fall in New England.  Beautiful colors, amazing apples (cider, hard and soft, plus donuts!).  It means all the busy summertime activities are fading away, and being replaced with more leisurely ones.  In my case, that means … Continue reading →

Posted in Projects, Soldering | Leave a comment

How rare is 5BDXCC – Part 2

Posted on October 8, 2019 by robert

I received a nice note from Sharon Taratula, the Awards Manager at the ARRL today.  She mentioned that the 5BDXCC award is so old that it predates computers, so all records are on paper.  She also indicated that the most … Continue reading →

Posted in 160-Meters, DX, FT4, FT8 | Leave a comment

ARISS Contact Between Northridge Elementary School (Colorado University) Successful

Posted on September 24, 2019 by robert

Over the past several months, I’ve been working as an ARISS Technical Mentor with Colorado University, the Boulder Amateur Radio Club, and the University of Colorado Amateur Radio Club to have 16 students from the 4th grade classes of Northridge … Continue reading →

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Seven to go on FT4 WAS

Posted on August 22, 2019 by robert

At this point, what remains is DE, ME, NE, NM, NY, SC, WV.  I have worked at least two stations from those states.  None have confirmed in LotW, or if they have, used “DATA” as the mode rather than “FT4”.  … Continue reading →

Posted in DX, FT-4, FT4, WAS | Leave a comment

FT4 WAS Underway

Posted on August 18, 2019 by robert

With the recent updates to WSJT-X and JTAlert, making FT-4 mainstream, I noticed a lot of activity on 14.080.  So I figured I would join in the fun and try to get WAS completed on FT-4.  I’m getting closer, having … Continue reading →

Posted in Digital Mode, FT-4, FT4, WAS | Leave a comment