Sorry…I’ve Been on 2M FM Again

I was looking out the window the other day and noticed that my wire HF antenna is laying on the ground. Hmmm, probably doesn’t radiate very well that way. But if I put a long, lossy coaxial cable in line, the SWR will still be good at the transmitter. And I can tell my buddies … Read more

Wanted: Improved Content on the Ham Bands

On the dstar_digital Yahoo group, someone asked about how to deal with complaints about certain hams ragchewing on a particular system at all hours of the day and night. The specific example was about a d-star “reflector” but the concept applies to many types of ham radio operating. It seems that other users on the … Read more

My First D-STAR Repeater Contact

Here is another milestone in my D-STAR experience….my first repeater contact using the technology. (I had previously been using D-STAR on simplex.) There are no D-STAR machines within range of my house, but there is one west of Denver (the Colorado D-STAR Association, W0CDS). I was headed to the Denver airport for a business trip … Read more

BPL Coming to Colorado

Hide the children! Broadband Over Powerline (BPL) is coming to Colorado. Xcel Energy has announced plans to make Boulder the first SmartGridCityTM in the nation. See my previous posting on BPL. The pitch from Xcel is: The next-generation electricity grid will allow our company to better meet growing demands, address environmental challenges, maximize available resources … Read more

The Old Goat Field Day Team

Steve (N0TU), Peanut and Rooster are at it again. This time the Old Goat Trio are back on Mount Herman for the 2008 ARRL Field Day. Steve made another one of his fun and interesting ham radio videos. Or take a look at it on Steve’s blog. 73, Bob K0NR

Awesome June VHF Contest!

It didn’t start out all that great. First, my boss decides that I need to be in Scotland the week before the contest weekend. I have nothing against Scotland, I just preferred to not be there right before the biggest VHF contest of the year (ARRL June VHF QSO Party). I needed to be home … Read more