Author Archives: robert

LotW at 160 with J8/W6HGF

Posted on January 24, 2013 by robert

My thanks to W6HGF, Al Danis, for his recent DXpedition (dare I say vacation?) to Saint Vincent Island.  I hear he made over 3,000 hams happy during his two week run.  I can’t wait to see what his QSL looks … Continue reading →

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2012 Wrap-Up and 2013 Goals

Posted on January 7, 2013 by robert

2012 was a great year of Ham Radio for me. I completed 2,724 QSOs, and participated in multiple contests.  I won the 160 Meter Contest in the QRP Category for RI, and had clean sweeps in both the Phone and … Continue reading →

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WB4SON NTP Clock

Posted on December 30, 2012 by robert

The basic clock function was too simple.  Not including the LCD library, supplied by Adafruit (the company that makes the LCD Pi Plate), a total of four lines of Python code are required to write the local time zone date/time … Continue reading →

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Does Raspberry Pi and Ham Go Together?

Posted on December 29, 2012 by robert

At a recent breakfast with fellow hams, Ted, W1GRI, showed me his latest gadget — A Raspberry Pi (RPi).  This is a small computer with ARM CPU, 512K of RAM, a SD card for flash memory, two USB ports, a … Continue reading →

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FEMA IS-802 ESF #2 Communications Completed

Posted on December 17, 2012 by robert

This was a VERY easy course, taking about 15 minutes to complete.  I was expecting procedure, but it was really Federal Alphabet Soup describing the responsibilities of all the various government agencies that would be involved in a national emergency … Continue reading →

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DXCC Phone #41,162

Posted on December 17, 2012 by robert

Phone DXCC #41,162 has joined his brothers, Mixed #46,128 and CW #13,267 as of December 7, 2012.  In addition the 150 country endorsement for Mixed came in, as well as DXCC on 15 and 20 meters. One of my goals … Continue reading →

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Happy “Accurate” 12/12/12 12:12:12

Posted on December 12, 2012 by robert

Today is one of those special once-in-a-lifetime events; it is December 12, 2012. Or as people would commonly refer to it: 12/12/12.  I’d like to commemorate this auspicious event and describe a small iPhone/iPad App that I find very useful. … Continue reading →

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A busy day for LotW and DXCC.

Posted on December 7, 2012 by robert

My LotW account had crept up to 149 confirmations over the past couple of weeks.  I also had a 3C0E QSL that was yet to be entered.  This had me toying with the possibility of making a trip to Newington … Continue reading →

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An Unexpected Supprise

Posted on November 24, 2012 by robert

Last night, tired from trying to scratch out a new country in the CQ WW CW contest, I headed upstairs for bed somewhat dejected.  On my way up I noticed a large envelope from the ARRL.  I guess I thought … Continue reading →

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Lesotho Africa is country #200

Posted on November 23, 2012 by robert

It took about 35 minutes of trying to get through, but I was able to contact 7P8D during the CW CQ DX contest at 01:55 UTC.  According to my logbook (HRD), Lesotho, Africa is country #200 in the log.  It … Continue reading →

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