Ham On A Bike

Earlier this spring I did a Blog about taking advantage of the warmer temperatures in the U.S. to do antenna maintenance and construction.  One of my plans was to deploy a Kite Antenna. However, weather conditions have presented wind speeds above the Kite's ratings with lots of severe weather days or days with low wind speeds. As a result, I have had to altered those plans. But fear not; that only leads me to build another antenna.  I have a saying about antenna. They are like underwear. You can NEVER have TOO MANY. As I look back over my Ham Radio years I wish I had  built more of my antenna  as a Novice. There is nothing wrong with purchasing commercial made antenna but building your own gives one a better understanding of how that antenna works and quite frankly how antenna work in general.  I have purchased a handful of commercial manufactured ham radio antenna over the years but prefer to build my own when possible. With today's U.S. Ham Radio License struc...

  YouKits HB-1B CW Transceiver I don't do equipment reviews but I had to write about this little powerhouse.  It works for ME. In the fall of 2022, I was looking for a small QRP  Multi-Band  CW Transceiver.  I wasn't sure what I wanted but I came upon a find on the site below. QTH.com - Ham Radio Classified Ads   I contacted the broker who was selling the rig for the owner who advised me the seller had been trying to sell his HB-1B for almost a year with no takers. He said several people had expressed interest but no takers.  When he told me the asking price I almost fell out of my chair. My next question was, "What's wrong with the unit?" Broker said nothing.  Not going to mention the cost but I was excited to purchased it for what he was asking.  Before the rig arrived, holding true to my nature of building my own antennas, I constructed a 40, 30, 20,17 and 15 meter Linked Dipole, a 29'6" random Wire with two 17' counterpoise and purchased ...

  Craig - WB3GCK Jim - N4JAW Sometimes it can be exhilarating achieving a first. Recently I had once such opportunity with my first Ham On A Bike - To - HAm On A Bike Morse Code QSO with Craig - WB3GCK.  I featured Craig in one of my recent blogs "I Am Not Alone! There Are Many Of Us." Craig went out on his first Ham On A Bike ride of 2025 to at a local peak near his QTH in Pennsylvania and just happened to find me while I was doing a Parks on the Air (POTA) activation from Beargrass Creek State Nature Preserve in Louisville, KY. USA  (US-7956).  Not only was Craig my first Ham on a Bike contact he was also my first contact for that day. Here is a photo of Craig's bike setup for that day. You can read more about his operation and setup on that day from his Blog. WB3GCK - First Ride of the Year 3/29/2025 POTA Activation at   Beargrass Creek State Nature Preserve US - 7956 / Louisville, KY. USA EM78df Not only has the Space Weather been intolerable but around my Q...

In early spring 2024 I had planned to spend some time reacquainting myself to constructing and testing QRO and QRP Random Wire Antennas for use with my Yaesu FT-891, Yaesu FT-817 and YouKits HB-1B. Throughout my ham radio experience, I've  piddled around with random wire antennas over the years but never really had much success with them.  Mostly because I'd never committed the time to properly construct a random wire antenna. I certainly don't NEED anymore antennas. I have plenty. But I have a saying about antenna. They are like underwear. You can NEVER have too many.  My main purpose for these Random Wire Antennas is to provide a smaller footprint. Since the Pandemic shutdown the amount of people using the Parks On The Air (POTA) sites I use has not dropped off but increased.  So in order to be safe and not intrude or disrupt other park users of enjoying the outdoors; a smaller footprint has become a necessity.  First up was the QRO Speaker Wire Random Wire wi...