Blog
2026 Kansas City Metro FM Simplex Contest Results
In March, The Waypoint Amateur Radio Club, WA0RC, held its annual FM simplex contest, departing from the April tradition of previous years. While the rules were similar to last year’s, the key changes for 2026 were the additions of the 1.25m and 70cm bands to the...
VP5/KD8RTT 1/31 Update
Yesterday was a busy day of sea kayaking, exploring the Grace Bay shops, and checking out the Island Fish Fry, so I had no time allocated for radio. I still managed about an hour on 20m FT8 🙂 I only worked around twenty stations using a tuned wire strung up outside...
VP5/KD8RTT 1/30 Update
We spent yesterday at the beach and exploring the island. I was able to try RS-44 at 1808z, but was not able to make any contacts; while I was able to find myself on the downlink, my CQs were never full audible. There may be some interference at play. I also tried the...
VP5/KD8RTT 1/29 Update
I’ve made it to Turks and Caicos! After a relatively smooth travel day, we settled into our condo last evening. I was able to string up a quick wire on the porch and work a few stations on 30m FT8. More HF operations will happen this week in that style, likely in the...
Activation Report: Cuyahoga Valley National Park (POTA US-0020)
My brother Andy, KK4LWR, and I decided to do a quick activation of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park the day after Christmas as we were both in Cleveland visiting our parents for the holiday. My goal was to test out my FT-817, QBV 20/40m vertical antenna, and my...
Upcoming Turks and Caicos Islands DXpedition (VP5/KD8RTT)
From January 28th through February 2nd, 2025, I will be visiting the Turks and Caicos islands for vacation and will be bringing radio equipment with me for holiday-style satellite and HF operations. My main radio focus will be on satellites, FM, APRS, and SSB, but I...
Ham Shack Lightning Alerter with Raspberry Pi Pico
Our work amateur radio club, WA0RC, is very lucky in that we have been given a dedicated room for a club shack and have roof access. However, it is in what used to be a mechanical room, and as such, it is in the middle of the building with no windows. This means there...
2024 Kansas QSO Party and POTA US-2345 Report
For this year's Kansas QSO Party, I participated again as a 1x1 station, K0B, traveling around central Kansas. Unlike previous years, I decided to make only two stops and enter under the new "Expedition" category. This meant visiting one location on Saturday and a...
Replacing Antenna Switch Relay in Yaesu FT-817
I recently bought an old FT-817 with the intent of using it to get back on the linear satellites. Upon receiving it, I found that no matter which connector I set the antenna output to (front or rear), it always transmitted from the rear SO-239 antenna connector. As my...
QMX Portable Clipboard Setup
I've seen several ham radio clipboard mounting solutions aimed at portable operations like POTA and SOTA, so I thought I'd take a shot at making my own for my QRP Labs QMX, American Morse Equipment Mini-B Paddle, and NiMH battery pack (affiliate link). I took an old...
2024 Field Day Report
For Field Day this year, I participated in the Waypoint Amateur Radio Club, WA0RC, operations from the club shack. WA0RC is the club of Garmin employees in Olathe, Kansas, and has a new, dedicated shack space that was just opened earlier this year. We previously had a...
2024 June VHF Contest/EN20 Grid Expedition/POTA US-2619 Report
For June VHF this year, I decided to put EN20 on the air (after my previous failure) due to its relatively rare status for being a midwest grid as reported by FFMA chasers. My plan for this contest was to use my general setup from previous roves including my 25 foot...
DIY Paddle Interface for VBand CW Practice Website
UPDATE (5/12/2024): Turns out my little DIY project below is not so novel. Check out OZ1JHM's website to see their solution which is basically the same solution as mine, but posted long ago! I recently came across VBand, CW Hotline, and the USB Paddle Interface sold...