Tonight I submitted my Field Day 2020 dupe sheet and multiplier qualifications. My score is 212. It’s meager. I could’ve done better, but I learned things (see the link above for a recount of the difficulties I met during the event). Contacts (31 points) 5 digital, 2x multiplier = 10 21 phone, 1x multiplier = […]
Tag Archives: ham radio
Glazed and Unfazed
Does anybody else who’s into Amateur Radio find that when they talk about it other people’s eyes glaze over? Or is that just me? I like knowing about this thing, but apparently it’s too crusty for others to consider valid. I guess as long as it’s the hobby of Grandpa Kindly and Uncle Weirdo, contaminated […]
Misoperator
My primary radio, a Yaesu FT-857, half-died during Field Day, so I sidelined it for debug later and continued with my other HF rig. Last night, I tore apart the radio and the Signalink attached to it, and dragged my oscilloscope out of storage, in order to probe into why the audio wasn’t modulating any […]
Field Day 2020 In Quarantine
This year’s ARRL Field Day was noticeably tinged with difficulty, problems, and loneliness. The goal of Field Day is to set up our radios with makeshift antennas and operate on emergency power while making as many contacts as possible for 24 hours. Adaptation in the face of adverse conditions is the heart of these field […]
1:0 Balun
Severe storms and winds this weekend prompted me to take down one of my two antennas for safety. I have a 20m inverted-V dipole with 1/4 wave 300Ω twinlead as the feedline from the center insulator to a 1:1 current balun mounted on my wall (the twinlead is transparent at 20m frequencies). The other antenna […]