Author Archives: robert

Another Bear Cave and 350 O2O with K4NYM

Posted on April 14, 2024 by robert

A couple of new POTA awards came in this week – first was the Operator To Operator Award with Bill K4NYM.  Unsurprisingly another Bear Cave Award came is as well, this time for Green Swamp US-5330 in Florida (thank you … Continue reading →

Posted in Awards, POTA | Leave a comment

Wonderful Surprise from Incoming QSL Bureau

Posted on April 13, 2024 by robert

Ever since I got back on the air, I’ve had envelopes at the ARRL Incoming QSL Bureau.  Over the years I’ve received a few envelopes, perhaps 25 DX cards, and a couple dozen from the W1AW/x operations during the 100th … Continue reading →

Posted in QSL | Leave a comment

Eclipse Park Activation with KH1

Posted on April 8, 2024 by robert

My wife and I headed to our favorite park, Beavertail (US-2868) on Conanicut Island, RI,  to watch the Eclipse this afternoon.  We were too far to the east to enjoy totality, but we figured it would be fun to see … Continue reading →

Posted in Activation, Gear, KH1, Portable, POTA | Leave a comment

It’s not all about K4NYM, but almost!

Posted on April 3, 2024 by robert

I was surprised to receive a QSL in the mail from Bill Brown, K4NYM, who has made over 190,000 QSOs from 388 parks.  I can’t imagine the number of QSL cards he must send out!  I can’t even imagine the … Continue reading →

Posted in Awards, POTA | Leave a comment

QRP Labs QMX On The Air

Posted on March 27, 2024 by robert

Today, I finally got my QRP Labs QMX transceiver on the air, making my first contact with AB9CA, Dave, at park US-2259 in Indiana. The QMX is a five-band QRP transceiver.  It supports CW, or single-tone digital modes (like FT8).  … Continue reading →

Posted in QRP, QRP Labs | 1 Comment

What’s Bigger Than a Fox Den?

Posted on March 26, 2024 by robert

Well a Bear Cave, of course!  I just received the Repeat Offender Bear Cave Award for working US-4559 sixty times!  This is one of K4NYM’s favorite parks, judging from how frequently he’s there. Lest you think I only work Bill, … Continue reading →

Posted in Awards, POTA | Leave a comment

Too much fun hunting Bill K4NYM

Posted on March 24, 2024 by robert

As of yesterday, I’ve bumped into Bill Brown K4NYM in over 300 Parks on the Air!  Bill is an avid activator and I usually manage to work him in two different parks (sometimes more) almost every day.

Posted in Awards, POTA | Leave a comment

O2Ox250 Plus Another Repeat Offender

Posted on March 12, 2024 by robert

I’m sort of amazed how many times I’ve worked Bill Brown K4NYM as he does activations in Florida.  Usually it is several times a day as he moves from park to park.  Honestly, it’s pretty easy once you start paying … Continue reading →

Posted in Awards, POTA | Leave a comment

200 POTA Parks left for year-end goal

Posted on March 5, 2024 by robert

I noted that today I reached the 1300 mark for parks hunted.  One of my 2024 goals was to have 1500 parks in the log, so that is going well.  Perhaps I will be at 2000 by year’s end. A … Continue reading →

Posted in Awards, POTA | Leave a comment

Don’t Forget To TEST Your Settings!

Posted on February 26, 2024 by robert

I run a WinLink VHF Gateway using VARA FM (WB4SON-10 on 145.050).  It is incredibly stable, except when Windows forces an update (even though I have Auto Updates disabled, apparently some updates are so critical they overrides that setting).  Sometimes … Continue reading →

Posted in ECOMM, VARA_FM, VARA_HF, Winlink | Leave a comment