WA5RR Adventures in Ham Radio

     The limited rover category in the VHF contests represents a lot of fun and provides a great learning opportunity. It has inspired me to move even higher in frequency and to experiment with less expensive ways to get on the air. I ran across some excellent technical write-ups (to be shared later) that show how to get on 10-Gigahertz (GHz) very cheaply and still have decent results.      The basis for my first 10-GHz transceiver, or at least the transmitter part, lies in the use of HB-100 motion sensor modules. They are used by manufacturers to produce motion-sensing doors, lights, and other technologies and these modules can be obtained on Ebay for experimenters. I paid a grand total of $12 for those shown below. The picture shows each side of a module. The four square pads on the back of the modules are used for transmit and receive. This module is full-duplex! HB-100 10-GHz Motion Sensor Modules      I will use only the transmit...

     After the voltage sag issues experienced during the 2020 ARRL June VHF Contest, I immediately began to work on a solution. Some research and discussions with other rovers yielded a fix that will work for me.      The first part of the solution is to add an auxiliary power source in the form of a "yellow-top" Optima battery. This type of battery is a hybrid solution that combines cranking amp capability along with deep-cycle features. Ultimately, this battery could be used as an emergency jump-start source for the truck should the main battery discharge or malfunction. Here's the Optima battery that will reside in a battery box in the back of the truck cab:      This will run in conjunction with the truck's main battery when the alternator is charging and be switched to only auxiliary power when the engine is off. This is accomplished via a West Mountain Radio ISOpwr+ Auxiliary Battery Isolator which provides automatic DC power swit...

    I spent just over two decades in the active duty Army and, during my earliest experiences, often wondered why my leadership conducted their tasks in a 'stiff' and highly structured manner. It seemed to me that the seemingly endless checks, double checks, shake downs and equipment maintenance was unnecessary. Of course, over time and especially during combat deployments, I came to appreciate the measure of safety and surety such a system offers. With this type of background, I should have applied it to my first 'serious' rover operation. It didn't quite happen that way this time!      On the way to the first grid stop on the day of the contest, we had traveled about 1.5 hours of the 3-hour trip. I noticed the tripod mount was moving a bit and decided to pull over and check the load. My ham buddy, Jordan KI5IYQ, and I discovered that the tie-down straps for the assembly had broken and the guys that secured the 2-meter beam had caused the antenna to b...

I was poking around on Facebook last night and ran across a post in one of the local ham radio groups concerning a garage sale taking place on the weekend. In the post, there were pictures of some ham equipment and I was mildly interested. In the next set of pictures, my eyes set upon an Icom IC-706MkIIG! It just so happened that the sale was being held by an old friend of mine so I gave him a call and we agreed on a price. This radio is in excellent condition and belonged to another ham that had it mounted in a mobile configuration but had never actually used it. It was my responsibility to remove the radio so I brought some tools. I did initially test it onsite and it all checked out when using some simplex and repeater frequencies. I think it will be the home QTH radio for weak signal work on 2-meters and 70-cm. Since it also includes HF, I might use it as the 10-meter IF for the 220-MHz transverter as well. Turning on the rig and running through the functions brought on a sense...