WA5RR Adventures in Ham Radio

The 6-meter 'bug' bit me back in the 2020 January VHF contest when I worked some FT8 contacts in the rover. Since then, I have studied the band, built some antennas, and prepared for the Sporadic-E season. It really ramped up in mid-April and I began to think that I could achieve VUCC on the band in pretty short order. After only two months of operation, it happened! Thanks goes to KA9CFD, Jay, in Illinois for helping me get the final contact needed for 6m digital VUCC. We tried on MSK144 on the 28th of May but it was late in the day and it just didn't work. I got on again at 7:30 AM on the 29th and worked Jay with no prior coordination. He was sitting there looking for other contacts! My next goal on 6m will be VUCC on phone and CW. The long-term goal will be earning the Fred Fish Memorial Award which is given for working all 488 Maidenhear grid squares in the 48 contiguous United States.

Severe thunderstorms with tornado activity marched across our area last night. Staying up monitoring the weather, I happened to look at an old Motorola Android tablet sitting on the shelf. The inspiration struck that my SDRPlay RSP-1 might work with it using the SDR-Touch application. So, I downloaded it and tried it out. Luckily, it worked after downloading the experimental SDRPlay driver from the Google Play Store! So, this means that I can take it along with me in the rover during contests and not have to have another amateur radio on receive-only duty. The only drawback to this situation lies in protecting the front-end of the RSP receiver. If I forgot to turn it off before transmitting on or near the same frequency it is monitoring, it can cause irreparable damage. So, I had another idea to try a cheaper alternative by using an RTL-2832U tuner. These tuners sparked the inexpensive SDR monitoring craze since they are DVB-TV receivers that have had drivers modified to work as a ...

Well, today I did some 'horse trading' and swapped an HF amp, which is useless to me in my current QTH, and obtained a VHF amplifier. I was looking for at least 100-watts and a mobile platform and found an RF Concepts RFC-2-117. This amp takes 10-watts input and puts out up to 170-watts. Here's the amp: I also tested the 7-element 2-meter beam last night to check into the North Texas Sidewinders on Two (SWOT) net. When Bob, W5FKN in Decatur, TX opened the net by reading the preamble, I was able to copy him while he was turned due south of me. This is the first time I've ever been able to hear him until he starts turning towards Tulsa! Also, the beam picked up check-ins from Houston and Shreveport which I could not normally hear. I kept switching back-and-forth using my new 2-position Diawa switch going between the Big Wheel and the beam. So, I've proven that reaching some of the major population centers from my limited neighborhood setup is definitely possi...

I’ll be operating in the Limited Rover category in the upcoming 2020 ARRL June VHF Contest with the following bands, power, and antennas on a pickup truck bed-mounted mast with rotor. 6 meters, 100 watts, Sal Electronics SE-6MB Moxon 2 meters, 150 watts, 7-element 2m homebrew Yagi on 8-foot boom 1.25 meters, 8 watts, Directive Systems DSEFO222-10RS 10-element Rover Yagi, Ukrainian transverter 70 cm, 20 watts,  Directive Systems DSEFO432-15RS 15-element Rover Yagi EFactor 2m/70cm loop. 2m APRS, 50 watts, Larsen NMO-2/70 vertical, FTM-400XDR        The 6/2/440 rig is a Yaesu FT-857D. An old reliable Radio Shack HTX-10 10-meter rig provides the IF for the 220 transverter.       I plan to cover 11 grids over the weekend. The routes bracket the DFW metroplex. Hopefully, I can work DFW, Austin, and Abilene from the west and then follow up with a run that should include DFW, Houston, and Shreveport, LA areas. If I traveled...

Welcome to the blog! I started a new personal amateur radio challenge in late 2019 to explore VHF and up weak signal operating. This blog will share some of the things I have been doing. My primary focus is on preparing for VHF rover operations during the ARRL VHF and CQWW VHF contests. At this time, I have four bands available on 6 meters, 2 meters, 1.25 meters, and 70cm. Antennas for each band are mostly homebrewed and I will share some information on those here as well. Thanks and 73, Korey--WA5RR Burkburnett, TX EM04RB