W0V 2021 Kansas QSO Party Plans

For my first Kansas QSO Party, I’ll be operating as a rover station under the special event call sign W0V on 20m and 40m SSB and FT8. I’ll be traveling to the Wichita area hitting up five counties throughout the weekend. I am also planning for each of my...

2021 Field Day Report

For the first time in several years, I decided to participate in a club Field Day operation. I headed to down Orlando, Florida to operate with WD4WDW, the Disney Emergency Amateur Radio Service (DEARS), of which my brother (KK4LWR) is the current club president. They...

2021 June VHF Contest Report

After my experience in the 2020 June VHF contest, I decided to participate again this year with a better setup and more dedicated effort as a Single Operator Portable (SOP) station. After searching for good campsites around eastern Kansas, I booked a campsite at Fall...

March 2021 Satellite Operations Gear

At the time of posting, I’m actually in the midst of changing my satellite gear so it is no longer my current setup. That said, I wanted to document it before I forgot about it and pass along my thoughts in case anyone else finds the information useful in the...

Powering a Ham Radio with USB Power Delivery

A while back, I built a cable to power 12V devices (in my case a Kenwood TH-D74 HT) using the QuickCharge standard available in some USB power adapters. This allowed me to use a USB charger to charge my HT rather than bringing a dedicated wall wart which helped save...

Replacing Top Panel and Belt Clip on Kenwood TH-D74

I’ve enjoyed using the Kenwood TH-D74 for the last four years or so, and despite its regular use and fragile design, it has survived that period without any major damage. However, a couple years ago, a small crack started to develop on the back of the case next...