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.
What Bands/Modes Will You Use IN BETWEEN Solar Cycle 25 & 26? As we continue to experience unpredictable HF propagation of Solar Cycle 25, it is not too early to start thinking about the bands and modes that you might find to be the best to operate as we move to that IN BETWEEN period of Solar Cycle 25 & 26. The last few weeks have been rather challenging on the HF bands with lower Solar Flux Indices and lower Sun Spot numbers and consistent high Solar Winds. As an avid QRP operator it can make for some dismal days. So here is part of my plan for the impending lull of favorable HF band conditions. It was during in between Solar Cycle 23 and Solar Cycle 24 when I became acquainted with an operator who had become frustrated with trying to make SSB/CW contacts with his FT-817 which he rarely used and was eager to get rid of it. I felt bad about the price he asked for as I knew he could get more but he was VERY eager to be relieved of the FT-817. After receiv...
I had to get the word out about this new tool for our ham radio box. This mode falls somewhat inline with my previous blogpost about what bands/modes you may use in between Solar Cycles. JTTY falls into that category. What is JTTY? JTTY is NEW part of the WSJT-X suite of Digital Modes. It is keyboard-to-keyboard Digital Mode transmissions without synchronized time slots as we have been accustomed to with FT4 and FT8 transmissions. That means you can start fast RTTY-style real-time operator-to-operator chats or contest style exchanges at ANY time. This mode uses uses 4-tone GSFK with a bandwidth of about 125 Hz to 127 Hz, which can deliver about 30 WPM random text and up to 60 WPM for contest exchanges. For 20 meters the QSJT-X teams suggest starting at about 14.090 MHz. Other suggested frequencies can be found at the following link by DX Zone JTTY Frequencies Robert W5ITR " Digital Rancher " has compiled a couple of YouTube videos about th...
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...
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