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.
If you look at the above photo, it may depict a lonely road. That is far from the truth. BEHOLD! I Am Not Alone. There Are Many Of Us. Its just another day in how I've done my portable ham radio activities for years. For various reasons I became Car-Free more than 10 years ago. Bicycle transportation is widely more prevalent in countries outside of the U.S. However, that doesn't negate some of the U.S. Amateur Radio operators who participate in Parks on the Air, Summit of the Air, World Wide Flora Fauna activities and others who provide VHf/UHF Public Service communications from using cycling to enjoy portable ham radio activities. For those Amateur Radio operators outside of the U.S. who use cycling in their portable operating, it seems to be second nature. I get replies to social media posts and comments about my Ham on a Bike activities. All the comments have been positive. A lot of inquisitive questions about rigs, antennas, keys, bat...
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...
Over the last few weeks all over the planet Mother Nature has been rearing her ugly head with rounds and rounds of different types of devastating effects of Terrestrial Weather. For some of us in the Amateur Radio community Space Weather has not been a bed of Roses either. How does this play into my Amateur Radio operating? It leads me to an ADAGE most of you may have read about in that the MOST IMPORTANT part of your Ham Radio Station is NOT your RIG. IT IS YOUR ANTENNA. I've spent the better part of this summer checking all of my antenna for wear and tear, repairing those that needed and putting each one through their paces on my Nano NVA. Due to unpredictable Terrestrial and Space Weather conditions, my HF operating and Parks on the Air operating have been somewhat diminished during the last few weeks. That has lead me to understand that in the waning period of Solar Cycle 25, I can likely expect the unexpected as we journey on the downside of this cycle. As ...
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