Happy New Year 2025 - On Hiatus

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I hope everyone had an enjoyable and wonderful Christmas. We'll be back sometime in early 2025.

Here are a  couple of Blog Posts we are working on.



I don't need 1.21 Gigawatts, a Flux Capacitor or Plutonium to make a QSO






Confessions from a Wanna-Be Engineer












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What Everyone Else is Reading

There is a CW MOUSE in my POTA Bag

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  The CWmouse Paddle There is a CW Mouse in my POTA Bag and you don't need CHEESE to feed it. In late December of last year a mutual follower on Mastodon Radio asked me if I would try out and review his NEW concept 3D Printed Iambic Paddle he had produced. I obliged and said yes. First let me touch on MY EXPERIENCES with 3D printed Ham Radio products. I'm a pounder. It goes back to my early days in the 60's as a Novice. Pounding doesn't bode well with 3D printed paddles. When I first got involved in operating Morse Code with Parks on the Air, I wasn't confident with my CW skills so instead of purchasing an expensive paddle so I opted for an inexpensive and reliable 3D printed paddle.   I purchased several 3D printed paddles in mid to late 2021 for POTA activations.  Noting against any of the people who produced the paddles I purchased but I have found that continued use of 3D printed material in a warm environment does not hold up long term. Most of the paddle compo...
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So you've learn Morse Code (CW)! Now What? Part 2

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  I received a few comments from my recent post "So You've Learned Morse Code (CW). Now What? Some operators say they are having difficulties finding operators sending at a speed they could copy.  Over a few days I took time to listen across the bands and did find their comments to be fairly accurate in comparison to the amount of total CW signals I heard. There were not many operators sending at speeds less than 15 WPM. Just might be a little daunting for a someone stepping into the Morse Code world. It is definitely not like the days when I was first licensed in 1963 or when I was relicensed in 1983 when Morse Code was required by the FCC.  In those days of yore, Novices were restricted to CW on 3.7 - 3.75 Mhz, 7.1 - 7.15 Mhz, 21.1 - 21.2 Mhz , 28.1 - 28.2 Mhz.  I look back now and tremendously appreciate my days as a Novice during those days.   There was no internet or spotting networks then. There were though regular daily and weekly CW nets and of cour...
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I Don't Need 1.21 Gigawatts, a Flux Capacitor or Plutonium to make a QSO

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  Note: I've had this post in the can for a long, long time and felt now; due to the potential of price increases as a result of tariffs directed to countries where these batteries are produced, it might be a good time to look at these batteries. I look back to 1985 when the "Back to the Future" movie was release when we became aware of the Flux Capacitor and I remember when operating portable those days of lugging around a BIG HEAVY battery to operate  with  my Ten Tec Omni transceiver. In the words of a Bob Dylan song, "The Times Are a'Changin" No more lugging around a 16+ lb. 12 volt battery.   In today's Amateur Radio World, all I need is one of these units to power my Amateur Radio  portable   activities . Miady 12VC 16Ah LiPo4 Battery TalentCell 12V 6Ah Battery TalentCell 12V 3Ah Battery Bioenno 12V 3Ah LiPo4 Battery Thunderbolt Magnum 9V 200 mAh NiMH Rechargeable Battery A few years ago I came upon a YouTube video review by Jason KM4ACK about hi...
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