Quail, Deer, Rabbitt, Turkey, Squirrel, pheasant and other animals are being hunted in the U.S. I wake up each morning and check the forecast to determine what type of fowl or other prey I might want to pursue. I go through all of my equipment and gear to determine which weapon I might take.
Here's the CATCH. I'm not your typical hunter. As cold weather has descended upon the Ohio Valley (Kentucky.USA); this old body just doesn't handle the freezing temperatures like it did when it was younger.
This winter I'm scaling back doing Parks on the Air activations. I've made some winter Ham Radio goals. My goals are to do some QRP radio kit building, repairing some transceivers and doing some SSB, CW, FT8, FT4, RTTY, PSK31, Olivia, and Satellite hunting operating. Some of my hunting equipment consists of the following:
I have a several sets of firepower to throw at the Amateur Radio / Ham Radio HF bands. Ten Tec 580 Delta, Ten Tec Omni D, Ten Tec Corsair, Yaesu FT-891, Yaesu FT-817 and when I've had enough with the HF bands, I will likely power up my Yaesu FT-726R All Mode V/UHF All Mode SSB/FM/CW Transceiver, point my Arrow Yagi to the heavens and work some satellites.
CAS-4A QSO August 2018 as KB4FLC with Joe - KE9AJ
Living in an apartment does have its limitations as far as what I can use to seek out my prey. But my Alpha Mag Loop has been my staple for work the world on 80, 60,40,30,20,17, 17, 12 and 10 meters. I've been able to search well beyond the bounds of my abode to the far reaches of the earth for prey that is not indigenous of the U.S.
Alpha Mag Loop 80 - 10 Meters
Some of my resources of ammo I will use this winter hunting season to try and snatch that rare beast are as follows.
CW Club RBN Spotter
https://rbn.telegraphy.de/
RBN / Reverse Beacon Network
https://www.reversebeacon.net/
Parks on the Air
POTA Scheduled Activations
POTA Active Spots
https://parksontheair.com/index.html
Summits on the Air
How I chase Summits on the Air stations
Summits on the Air Spots
Summits on the Air Alerts
Another one of my goals is to hunt more DX. Solar Cycle 25 has presented itself with many opportunities to work DX at different times of the day, different bands and modes here in the U.S.. While doing Parks on the Air activations this summer, I got smitten by DX QSOs from the bowels of a metropolitan urban city POTA site using 5 watts and less. This winter I hope to add to those DX contacts by using these apps.
DXHEAT | DXCluster & DX Research Tool
https://www.dxheat.com/
DxCenter/DxCluster
https://dxcluster.dxcenter.com/
There's one DX callsign, I've got a hankering to get in my logbook. JW5E - Svalbard Amat0rradioklubb SARK in Longyearbyen, where (currently December 2024) the sun will not rise again until February 15, 2025 at 11:42 a.m. local time. JW5E is one of hopefully many long sought after callsigns, be it domestic, club, DX or other presently unknown callsigns I hope to add in my Ham Alert, turn on the app and patiently wait to get that HAM ALERT!
Ham Alert
https://hamalert.org/about
I'm quite sure I've misseda tool. If someone has anymore please free to leave a comment or send an email so I can add them to this post.
Its that time of year for most of the Western Hemisphere. AUTUMN! Shorter cooler days and in some areas frosty. Its the season where some of us cut back on our portable activities and operate from the warmth and comfort of our shacks. Its also the season when some of us pull out our soldering irons and put them to work. Be it , repairs or maybe kit building, Autumn can be the start of Kit Building Season. For me, I've got a few projects on my To-Do-List. At the top is the completion of my 2nd Low Band QRP Labs QDX Digital Transceiver. Since we are moving toward the IN BETWEEN of Solar Cycle 25 and Solar Cycle 26 area, it is likely that I'll be operating more Digital Modes and Satellites than Morse Code and SSB. During the Autumn and Winter months my plan is to run the 2nd QDX unit via Raspberry Pi in JS8Call digital mode from my shack; especialy overnight. I may also look at assembling some other kits. I came across a YouTube video from the guys at Ham Radi...
Are you aware that in the U.S., August is National Emergency Management Awareness Month. Emergency Management Awareness National Emergency Management Awareness Month This organization will conduct a coordinated, industry-wide awareness and advocacy campaign to promote the capabilities of emergency management. As Amateur Radio Operators this is something we should be aware and and ready to assist when needed. I t is in our DNA. My question to YOU: Are You Inclined to Assist In During A STATE OF EMERGENCY?" 2026 may seem like the entire world is under some sort of daily natural disaster, threat or emergency. Recent earthquakes in Japan, earthquakes in Venezuela, earthquakes in Columbia Extreme heat conditions around the earth are deeply pushing our power grids to the brink of collapse. Drought conditions around many parts of the world causing widespread wildfires. Recent weather conditions in the U.S. have produced record rainfal...
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...
.png)
.png)
.png)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.png)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
Comments
Post a Comment