Things have been very slow, or at least in relation to making progress. In my personal life I have had a lot of things going on, finishing my Masters, getting a new house built, finding the antenna I wanted and get it in the air...which still hasn't happened.
I have a feeling thought that 2013 is going to be my year of progress when it comes to ham radio. Once the ground thaws...even a little, the antenna is going up, the shack is being reassembled from the move, and I want to start working on CW. That has been something I've wanted since I got my license and watch all the amazing SPOT's come through the UDXA reflector.
I welcome you 2013 with open arms. Now lets get on the air!
73, W7RIV
Friday, January 18, 2013
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Latest Updates....
Well with school still going on, I have had not chance to work CW. I have a little bit, but I've forgotten everything if I'm not consistent and working on it daily. I think I'm going to have to wait until I'm out of school, which is coming up, but still August.
I was able to upgrade my station so I'm very excited about that. I was able to save up and get an Elecraft K3 and some of the accessories along with it. As for an antenna, I'm still working out a long term solution for that. School has also been keeping me from some of my ham radio time lately. I'll update you as I move along. I need to work out some details with PSK and RTTY and then move onto CW when possible.
I was able to upgrade my station so I'm very excited about that. I was able to save up and get an Elecraft K3 and some of the accessories along with it. As for an antenna, I'm still working out a long term solution for that. School has also been keeping me from some of my ham radio time lately. I'll update you as I move along. I need to work out some details with PSK and RTTY and then move onto CW when possible.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Challenge
Ready for the challenge? Morse Code is for you. Check out this site http://www.g4fon.net/ he has some great information and a Koch CW Trainer Version 9. See this article for more information as well. http://www.qsl.net/n1irz/finley.morse.html
Thursday, December 29, 2011
2012 is soon upon us!
Between the end of the semester and the holidays, unfortunately, I haven't spent much time in the shack. I did a bunch of cleaning up last night however and am looking to spend sometime on the air soon.
I'm still trying to decide what radio to get. I'm leaning towards the Elecraft K3, however, they just came out with a new KX3 that is very portable. It is 10 watts and 100 with an amp. Very tempting, though for $1000 I would rather not be restricted to 100 watts. We'll have to see what happens.
I hope everyone has a wonderful New Year. I have plans for the next few days and so I doubt that I'll have a moment to write again!
I'm still trying to decide what radio to get. I'm leaning towards the Elecraft K3, however, they just came out with a new KX3 that is very portable. It is 10 watts and 100 with an amp. Very tempting, though for $1000 I would rather not be restricted to 100 watts. We'll have to see what happens.
I hope everyone has a wonderful New Year. I have plans for the next few days and so I doubt that I'll have a moment to write again!
Thursday, November 3, 2011
CW Keyer
I'm really liking this ham stuff! So much to do. Just last weekend there was a CQ WW SSB contest. For those non-hams that may be following it is a 48 hour period where you try to talk to as many people as far as possible in each of the 40 zones of the world.
All I can say is crazy crazy crazy. It is like the starting flag in NASCAR, just everyone of the gate going a million miles an hour. I participated, but I was not very good with 10 watts. I could hear people, but they could not hear me, or I just couldn't get through the pileup of others on the frequency.
Last night I started messing around more with the CW modes on the radio. I've slowly started practicing my letters and I'm a couple letters in and my excitement is way up!
So I started wanting to buy a keyer or make one of my own. My Friend Ira (AE7JO) found this link:
http://radioartisan.wordpress.com/arduino-cw-keyer/ and I'm going to move forward in making one. If it works out, I would like to offer them for anyone that would like one.
I'll keep you updated on the progress. I'm fairly busy coming up, with some school projects and tests coming.
All I can say is crazy crazy crazy. It is like the starting flag in NASCAR, just everyone of the gate going a million miles an hour. I participated, but I was not very good with 10 watts. I could hear people, but they could not hear me, or I just couldn't get through the pileup of others on the frequency.
Last night I started messing around more with the CW modes on the radio. I've slowly started practicing my letters and I'm a couple letters in and my excitement is way up!
So I started wanting to buy a keyer or make one of my own. My Friend Ira (AE7JO) found this link:
http://radioartisan.wordpress.com/arduino-cw-keyer/ and I'm going to move forward in making one. If it works out, I would like to offer them for anyone that would like one.
I'll keep you updated on the progress. I'm fairly busy coming up, with some school projects and tests coming.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Amateur Extra
It is official! I was able to pass my Amateur Extra with 100% I'll admit there are some tough questions in there that I do not truly understand. My hats off to all those non-engineers that have taken that test. I know that I'm thankful for my educational background that allows me to understand a fair amount of what is going on and the rest to my computer experience.
Now onto Contesting and DXing with my UDXA buddies.
Now onto Contesting and DXing with my UDXA buddies.
Monday, October 10, 2011
R.I.P. KF7RLK.
Okay it is official. W7RIV is active. I have been waiting so impatiently. I had to wait 18 days for my vanity call sign. It was killing me. It took me only 5 days to decide to take the test in the first place, study, pass and get my first call sign.
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