Well we are only a week into May and work has been keeping me quite busy! Not much time to mess around on the radio.

I made a few changes to my setup since my last post. I now have a new L-shaped desk (more room for radios!). I picked up a new desk chair (way better for my back!) to go with the new desk. I've been working on cable management for the pat few days and I'm still not finished!

I was able to get a new G5rv up in the air with some help from Dad. This one I purchased from HRO. It is a Radiowavz brand G5. Seems to preform about the same as the old antenna. This one supposedly tunes on 6 meters. I haven't had a chance to try it out down there yet. But I was able to make several DX QSOs right off the bat. While I was placing and order I also picked up a pretty nice SWR/Power meter. It is a Daiwa CN-901. It makes a nice addition to my setup. I was using the LED bar graph on my LDG tuner for a wattmeter but it doesn't have the accuracy that I wanted. I also picked up a few short RG8x cables that are a little more flexible than what I was using. I wanted them to be more flexible to alleviate strain on the connectors on the equipment.

Now that I have an HF antenna back up in the air I've been working some FT8. I actually applied for a few more awards through the FT8DMC. Hopefully I'll get them soon.

I've started looking at options for a new desktop computer to replace my current PC. It's looking like it's going to cost about $1,000-1,800 to either build or buy a PC that meets my specifications. It's been hard to price components due to a LOT of electronic parts being out of stock. I'm looking forward to updating my setup.

I was able to attend the May KY4ARC meeting IN PERSON!! It was nice to actually be in a meeting with people instead of staring at a monitor. Hopefully I will be able to attend future meeting. It's hard to tell when I'll be able to go with my work schedule the way it is currently.

Lastly an administrative update for email subscribers. I was notified in the last month that FeedBurner, the service I use to automate email subscriptions will be shutting down in July 2021. I'm currently looking at a couple different options for a new service. I hope to have a solution in place next month.

Well no pictures in this one (again).

Hope to catch ya' down the log!

73

Cam

 Well it's been a while since my last update. Things have been quite busy. First I now have a full-time job! My schedule hasn't been set yet so it's been quite hectic not know what times or days I'm working.

Now onto the radio stuff.

During the recent ice storms we had a few trees fall. One of them happened to take down my G5RV. One of the legs is completely broken into two pieces and frayed really badly. Haven't looked at the otherside but it's on the ground as well. I'm going to need to replace it. Right now I'm not sure if I want to get another G5RV or something else. I'll probably take the remnants of the current antenna and make some other dipole out of it. The VHF beam seems to have survived the ice buildup with no damage. Overall we were without power for about 6 days.

As you can guess without an HF antenna and a new job I haven't had much time to get on the air. Due to my chaotic schedule I've been missing local nets. I was able to make the March Zoom meeting of KY4ARC (I'm actually a member now). If I end up working nights I won't be able to attend any in-person meeting now that they are starting back. Hopefully I'll still be able to make field day.

I was hoping to work the KA6LMS Last Man Standing special event but that's not happening. If I get around to it before the event ends I may try and work them on Echolink or DMR.

Well that's all I've got for now! Hopefully I'll have more it the next one!

 73

Cameron

 Well October flew by. I didn't get around to half of what I wanted to.

I worked some FT8 here and there. I qualified for a few awards from the FT8 Digital Mode Club. I got the Worked Prefix Award for working 100 prefixes on 40 meters. I got the Worked All South America Bronze award for working stations in all 10 South American Countries. The Worked All Members 100 Award was issued for working 100 members of the FT8DMC. I got the Worked United States Station 200 Award for working 200 US Stations. And lastly I got the Costa Rican Station Award for working 3 Costa Rican Station.

FT8DMC Awards

I was also able to attend a yard sale and acquire some equipment. I picked up a few sections of tower (with two toppers) along with a Alliance HD-73 Rotor (need to find a control box). Included with the towers was a 2m vertical and what I believe to be either a 2m or dual-band(2m/70cm) beam. 

Equipment wise I was able to get the following: 

• Heathkit SB-401

• Heathkit DX-40 Transmitter
• Hammarlund SB-600
• Knight Ocean Hopper
• Signal Corp BC-342-N (Farnsworth Television & Radio)
• Bendix Radio Type TA-12C Aircraft Transmitter
• (2) Midland 75-764B
• Uniden Pro 510XL
• BIG BOX OF TUBES

Equipment, Antenna, Tower

I need to go through all of the equipment and see if it works or what parts it needs. A couple are in a little rough shape. Looks like most will need new tubes. One needs new knobs. I think the 401 needs crystals but that's as far as I've gotten 😁. I haven't even looked through the box of tubes yet, that's going to be a chore.

Looking ahead I've found a few things to update my room a little and picked out paint colors so hopefully I can get that started soon. Ham wise I'm thinking about trying to work the ARRL SSB Sweepstakes this month. We'll see what happens. 

Well that's all for now! Kinda short, but there's pictures this time!!

73

Cam

 Well not a lot has been going on radio wise the last month, except for a few FT8 QSOs here and there. I started an EMT class on the 17th that has been keeping me pretty busy! I may start trying to chat a little on my way to Ashland every now and then.

I've been working on updating the firmware and codeplugs on my radios (some were long overdue!). I've added a few repeaters to my Anytone 878, including a couple of DMR repeaters near Ashland that I didn't know were there (I still need to add them to the CS 800D in the car). Now I just need to use them!  

I think the last of my QSL cards for the 13 Colonies Event came in. All of them should now be viewable in the QSL Archive. My Certificate came in as well. It looks great! I'm thinking about framing my certificates with their QSL cards for each year, I think it would be nice to hang up! 

2020 13 Colonies Certificate

In my last post I mentioned waiting for full results from the Kentucky QSO Party. Well they were finally posted. My final score of 3,036 points put me at 19 out 35 in my category (Single Op-Low), 24th out of 44 for just Single Op and 33rd out of 54 overall. Not bad for my first showing! Next year I hope to do even better.

I been thinking about adding another antenna to my setup. A simple dipole for 10m. I know a lot of people in my area talk on 10 pretty regularly so I'd like to have a dedicated antenna to use. I have everything (I think) I need to build one. Plus the pulley on my mast is empty since I moved the G5RV. I just need the time to get around to it! Eventually I'll add a 2nd G5RV but that's not an option right now.

One last thing: Please feel free to share my blog and website to someone who may be interested! 

Well that's all for now. Hopefully I'll have more for the next update! 

73 

Cam