Blog
DIY Paddle Interface for VBand CW Practice Website
I recently came across VBand, CW Hotline, and the USB Paddle Interface sold by Ham Radio Solutions based on a recommendation from a fellow ham in my work radio club. This looks to be an awesome option for practicing CW with other people when band conditions or...
DIY Paddle Interface for VBand CW Practice Website
I recently came across VBand, CW Hotline, and the USB Paddle Interface sold by Ham Radio Solutions based on a recommendation from a fellow ham in my work radio club. This looks to be an awesome option for practicing CW with other people when band conditions or...
2024 WA0RC 2m Simplex Contest
The Waypoint Amateur Radio Club, WA0RC, made up of Garmin employees at headquarters in Olathe, Kansas, held a 2m Simplex Contest on April 13th. As Vice President of the club for 2024, I decided to take the lead on this event after seeing some examples online and...
Failed SOTA Activation – W7A/CS-066
Earlier this month, I spent a week in Flagstaff, AZ finishing my Hybrid Wilderness First Responder course and wanted to try a SOTA summit before I headed back to Kansas City. After searching around for summits nearby (of which there are many), I decided to try...
2023 Kansas QSO Party Report
This year for the Kansas QSO Party, I participated as a Kansas rover station with plans to hit several counties throughout the weekend under the 1x1 N0S. This had me generally setting out to the east from Kansas City early...
2023 Kansas QSO Party Plans
On August 26th and 27th, I will once again be participating in the Kansas QSO Party as a rover hitting up several counties around Kansas! This year, I will be using the call sign N0S and operating from the following counties on 20m and 40m: Saturday: Riley...
2023 June VHF Contest Report
After my recent few attempts at VHF roves in 2022 (2022 CQ WW VHF Contest Report and 2022 September VHF Contest Report), I decided to try again with a different mindset for activity. I've long considered a method to mount antennas to my car so that there was no setup...
2022 September VHF Contest Report
Well, my first September VHF Contest could simply be described as rough. Unlike my other reports, I’ll cut to the chase up front and say I only made six contacts during the weekend with a claimed scored of 42. While this probably...
Fixing LiFePO4 Batteries That Won’t Charge
As is the seemingly the craze in ham radio, I recently picked up several LiFePO4 batteries of varying capacities to use with my Yaesu FT-991a. I was able to get these as part of the Amazon Vine program, so there is no particular reason I chose the models in question:...
2022 Kansas QSO Party Report
Another Kansas QSO Party is in the books! I had a great weekend traveling through southern Kansas activating six counties along the way as 1×1 W0P. I used the same setup as described in my 2022 Field Day Report except I operated from the backseat of my car instead. I...
2022 CQ WW VHF Contest Report
For my first CQ WW VHF contest, I decided to try my hand at some VHF roving. I set out to hit four grids around the Kansas City area using my Par Electronics 6m Moxon, Diamond 5 element 2m yagi, Max-Gain Systems mast, new Yaesu FT-991a, and new 10 Ah and 16 Ah LiFePO4...
DIY Yaesu FH-2 Keypad
After buying my Yaesu FT-991a and using it for Field Day, I realized that some functions are a bit annoying to control. In particular, getting the voice keyer going requires the display to show the specific recording buttons for operation. This blocks the waterfall as...
Ham Radio Airborne Mobile Setup
Since I got my pilot license back in 2016, I’ve been wanting to bring the radio in the cockpit for some airborne mobile ops. Although I did set up some APRS tracking of me flying once, I’ve been putting off figuring out all the logistics of some basic 2m operation in...