K0NR June VHF Contest 2013

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My award certificate for the 2013 ARRL June VHF Contest arrived in the mail this past week. The new VHF contest certificates look great, don’t you think? Nice job, ARRL!  Similar to other years, I operated from the family cabin at 9600 feet elevation in DM78 near Trout Creek Pass with temporary antennas (see my … Read more

This Spewed Out of the Internet #27

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More important things spewing forth from the interwebz: The Ham Hijinks guys have been at it again, with this article: New Drug Aims To Get More Hams On The Air Warning: Do Not Take These Guys Seriously, It Only Encourages Them Chiming in on April 1st, Dan KB6NU reported that the FCC is going to … Read more

The KP2 Slacker DXpedition Guide

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I’ve had several opportunities to take amateur radio along on vacation and do a little radio operating from other countries. I try not to focus too much on ham radio during such a trip, as it has a tendency to create marital discord and can suck the fun out of the vacation. Some people call … Read more

Get Your Mobile Frequency Sticker On

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One of the things I try to do is monitor the National Simplex Calling Frequency for 2 meter FM: 146.52 MHz, especially when mobile. It is fun to see who might show up on 2m simplex: SOTA operators, hikers, mobile stations, campers, etc. See these two posts on operating ideas: A Simple Wilderness Protocol: 146.52 … Read more

Bloody Proprietary Connectors

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I came across this video rant by David L. Jones on the EEVblog concerning proprietary cables on consumer devices. I agree with him completely. Warning: some language not suitable for kids. Unfortunately, if you look at ham radio gear, we are in even worse shape than the consumer market. Heck, even the freaking microphone connectors … Read more