Gear

• 2026-07-14 — Received as a gift : a Tektronix 2215A 60 MHz dual-trace oscilloscope, from fellow ham KW4OV. Powered on and showing a live trace right out of the box — the first real piece of equipment for a future test bench.
• 2026-07-06 — Mobile Hamradio Stuff .
• 2026-03-25 — Modified Par Electronics Six Meter Moxon .
• 2026-03-13 — Considered upgrading a Yaesu G5500 rotator for better accuracy — specifically weighing options for more precise EME moon tracking.
• 2026-03-10 — The basics of setting up your FT-891 for split operations .
• 2026-02-27 — Fixed it with a hammer — antenna switch relay #1 was stuck, tapped it, now it works.
• 2025-12-31 — Syncing FT-891, Quantum SDR, and Cloudlog through CloudlogCAT .
• 2025-12-30 — Added a PEP Kit from Matthews Watts Electronics to a Bird 43 Thruline Wattmeter.
• 2025-12-29 — Testing a QuantumSDR/FT-891/SDRSwitch/LNA/SG-500 combo with Klaus, DL3YEE, in Germany.
• 2025-12-27 — N2EME RXin/RXout SDR Switch, LNA, 3dB splitter, antenna, power supply, and transceiver connections .
• 2025-12-23 — First QSOs with an SGC Powercube 500W amplifier , discussed with W6LVP.
• 2025-08-28 — Workflow tip : a selection toggle in Ham2K PoLo Logger reformats ADI export filenames automatically for POTA submission, ending the manual renaming of every export.
• 2025-07-08 — Chasing K2G for the 13 Colonies event led to deeper use of HamClock, VOACAP, PSKReporter, propagation tools, spotting networks, and antenna performance — K2G was in the skip zone on 17m FT8, so the switch to 40m SSB is what closed it out. A fun learning experience.
• 2025-06-25 — A small shack upgrade : added a dedicated monitor for Winlink Wednesday sessions. A year into the weekly habit, still finding small ways to make it easier.
• 2024-06-10 — Tested a new 100Ah mobile power supply during a POTA activation: ran 50 watts SSB for about 30 minutes, reaching coast to coast on 20m plus a bonus DX QSO with Spain. The battery used only 3.5Ah.
• First HF contacts — Yaesu FT-891 with a Wolf River Coil, portable: worked 6 states and the Caribbean islands on the first test.
• 2024-01-29 — Winter Field Day gear notes : quiet, long-lasting generators, connectors organized in a tackle box, a Buddipole among seven-plus antennas in play. A great learning activity.
• 2024 — Mobile station upgraded to Yaesu FTM-300D and FT-891. First eBay project radio (ICOM IC-255A) brought online. VHF band opening reached stations in Alabama, Mississippi (246 mi), and Texas (621 mi) on 146.520 FM simplex.