Ham On A Bike

  Many years ago the Federal Communications Commission in the U.S. eliminated their logging requirements for Amateur Radio. Most of us continue to keep logging records for Awards.   For me record keeping has always been an integral part of my ham radio activities.  When I began my Commercial Radio Broadcast career in my late teens, I was blessed to have a Program Director, Broadcast Engineer, Traffic, Business and General Manager that stressed the importance of Record Keeping. To that end it has continually been a part of my life and is basically second nature. Recently I had an occasion where that Record Keeping came into play.  For the last couple of years in late July to late August, I've worked my Sunrise grayline HF propagation from Kentucky USA into JA, VK and ZL lands. Thanks to my record keeping I have a history of knowing there is an excellent probability of making contacts in the Japan and the South Pacific during this window. Additionally I ...

  It All Started With ... It all started with that first one.  Take a moments to read about some my Parks on the Air activations toward my quest for 10,000 (10 Kilos) contacts from US-7956 / Beargrass Creek State Nature Preserve (EM78df) in Louisville, KY. USA.   August 2021, I took the plunge into Parks on the Air activations.  For over a month I had dabbled in hunting activators from my shack and other portable locations. At the time, my Morse Code skills were suspect as I had done miniscule Morse Code operating since 1991.  It was on a Sunday morning August 8, 2021 that I chose to activate US-7956 / Beargrass Creek State Nature Preserve by using Single Side Band (SSB).  I'm lucky this site is less than four miles from my home and I guess you could say this is how my "Ham on a Bike" activites began,too. That "FIRST" and "SECOND" contacts were 20 meter Park-to-Park with Len / VE9MY and Linda / VE9GLF; from "Springhill Coal Mining National Histori...

 

   Amateur Radio has come a LONG WAY since I was first licensed in the early 60's.   I never imagined that the tiny device I used to sneak and listen to the 1961 World Series Baseball  games while sitting in my grade school class would in part, lead to the development of Amateur Radio equipment minimization that has allowed me to transport my entire Ham Radio station and other equipment on a bicycle which has led me to billed myself "N4JAW - Ham On A Bike"      This is "How I Rolled" in 2025 for some of my Parks on the Air activities.   January 2025 January weather in the Ohio River Valley in the U.S. can be unpredictable and because I have a few bikes; I have different options to use to tackle potential treacherous road  conditions when doing my winter Parks on the Air activations.  Daily snow for most of the month limited my POTA activations to a handful.  I was able to capture a few deer out foraging for food durin...