Blog
2025 Field Day Report
As with last year, my Field Day plans for 2025 were with my workplace club, The Waypoint Amateur Radio Club (WA0RC), where we set up a portable Field Day operation for the first time in over a decade (before I worked here)! As Vice President of the club, I took it on...
November 28 Roving Plans (EN70/71 and EN60)
I'll be hitting a few more grids on Saturday, November 28th. I'll try to keep this page up to date but plans are subject to change. Follow along on Twitter (@kd8rtt) for updates along the way including planned frequencies for linear sats. EN70/EN71 Grid Line: 1708z...
November 21-22 Roving Plans (EM48/49, EM58/59, EM69, EN70/71)
After a hiatus from the sats for a few months, I'm planning to hit some new grids during the weekends around Thanksgiving. These are tentative plans and subject to change. Follow me on Twitter (@kd8rtt) for real-time updates during the rove and frequencies for the...
Keeping Arrow Antenna Elements Tight with Loctite
I'm a big fan of the Arrow Antenna for satellite operations for its good performance and portability, but one issue that pops up is the constant need to tighten the elements. I leave my Arrow assembled in the back seat of my Honda Accord, so it loosens up on its own....
Activation Report: Prairie Dog SP (POTA K-2349) and DN90/EN00 Grid Line
Day three of my 4th of July rove - and the 4th of July itself - led me to Prairie Dog State Park, an interesting park that's named after the creatures that inhabit the area. After arriving, I headed to the Prairie Dog Town, a field in the park...
Activation Report: Webster SP (POTA K-2354) and DM99
After spending the night in Concordia, Kansas (see my 7/2 activations for more information on the preceding stops), I headed toward Webster State Park on the morning of July 3rd to grab some of the FM passes. After arriving and driving around a bit, I found the park...
Activation Report: Glen Elder SP (POTA K-2339)
As the second stop on my 4th of July weekend rove after Lovewell State Park, Glen Elder State Park provided another nice place to give out the EM09 grid to many of my fellow satellite operators who needed it. I arrived in the middle of the day and quickly searched for...
Activation Report: Lovewell SP (POTA K-2343)
This year for the 4th of July holiday weekend, I decided to do a four day rove to hit four new POTA parks (K-2343, K-2339, K-2354, K-2349) and four new grids (EM09, DM99, DN90, EN00) around northern Kansas. I'll be posting a separate writeup for each park, so check...
Activation Report: Elk City SP (POTA K-2337) for Field Day
After going back and forth on plans for Field Day this year, I decided to do it as a satellite-only operation from Elk City State Park to double dip on my goal to activate all Kansas State Parks on satellites. I reserved one of the campsites right on the shore of the...
2020 ARRL June VHF Contest Report
I've wanted to give a VHF contest a go for awhile, it never seemed like I could have a workable station for real weak signal VHF being an apartment dweller. With all my travel plans canceled this summer due to COVID-19 and plenty of time to experiment, I figured I...
Activation Report: Crawford SP (POTA K-2333) and EM27/37 Grid Line
Continuing my mission to activate all Kansas State Parks, I decided to take the Friday before Memorial Day (5/22/2020) off from work to travel down to Crawford State Park in southeast Kansas. This park is nicely situated around a lake and offers camping, boating, and...
VUCC Circle Checker Script
8/22/2025 UPDATE: I have had some discussions with ARRL about this rule for VUCC. In short, the intent of the rule is a 200km diameter circle enclosing all locations used toward VUCC rather than no two locations being farther than 200km apart. It is possible to meet...
Activation Report: Prairie Spirit Trail SP (POTA K-2350)
Although technically a Kansas State Park entity, the Prairie Spirit Trail State Park is actually a 51 mile trail that connects Ottawa and Iola, Kansas and replaces the old railroad that used to link the cities. Along the way, this trail brushes up against several city...