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God Made Ham Radio Operators

Here’s a little item I scratched out after hearing the “God Made A Farmer” Super Bowl commercial. With apologies to Paul Harvey. God said I need somebody to get up before dawn and work the gray line propagation for faraway DX. Someone to turn on the HF radio, eat dinner by the glow of the… More »

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NAQP and LOTW

Spent just over 3 hours yesterday working the North American QSO Party contest (SSB) and worked just over 400 stations.  That’s a pretty high QSO rate.  I am thinking next year I need to really make an all out effort on this one and work the entire 12 hours contest. This year, as I am still recovering from… More »

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Amelia Earhart, Weekend Operating and Hamfest Ahead

Our part of the country has been sweltering under 100+ degree temperatures and little rain for what seems like forever.  This past weekend, the temps dropped and some rain came down, too!  Because of that, I spent some time outside taking care of yard work and enjoy the milder temps.   I did find time to… More »

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Morse Code Spotted On Mars!

My attention getting headline may have snared a few ham radio operators,  shortwave enthusiasts and others who are curious!  As you likely know, after a 36 week trip  the Mars Curiousity rover has successfully landed on Mars.    Here’s an interesting fact:  the tread pattern on the wheels on the Curiousity Rover imprint MORSE CODE into the Martian… More »

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Update on the Search for Amelia Earhart

A few months ago, I blogged about a group of investigators who planned a July trip to the Pacific Island of Nikumaroro in the Republic of Kiribati to search for clues about the disappearance of Amelia Earhart.   (Kiribati would have a callsign prefix of T30, T31 or T32, by the way! Nikumaroro is uninhabited.)  This… More »

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6 Meter Opening

Looks like we’re having summertime 6 meter band openings.  Although I’m not around (working!) during the day, in the evening 6 meters seems to be open for at least a short period of time.  The past couple of nights I’ve worked Pennsylvania, New York, Minnesota and Wisconsin on 50 mHz. If you’ve not worked any… More »

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Local 80 Meter Roundtable

After dinner last night, headed upstairs to the Shack for a short roundtable discussion on 80 meter SSB with Kevin K5KVN and Andy K5PO.   Kevin recently repaired his amplifier and wanted to test it out.  An air variable capacitor had arc’ed about a month ago.  After repairing the arc-weld, the amp is now back on the… More »

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Amelia Earhart Distress Calls On Radio

Over the past few months, I’ve gotten interested in the search for Amelia Earhart. When the most recent trip for an underwater sonar search for her plane was announced, I became intrigued.  Researchers found an old photograph of the “bay” at Gardner Island (about 100 miles from where she was supposed to land…but on the same line).  It was taken… More »

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Welcome!

Here’s my first post!  As with most things, setting up this page has been a good learning process.  (Which is another way of saying that I knew nothing about this when I started and don’t know much more than that now.) I want a website to add to my enjoyment of ham radio, create a space… More »

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