Constructing a Linked Dipole

One project I'm currently working on is to build a "Linked Dipole".  This antenna is just a simple wire dipole, but it has breaks along the wire that can be either connected or disconnected, allowing the antenna to be tuned for one of several different bands.  I expect this will be a useful antenna for portable operations; in fact we used my friend NU7Y's linked dipole very successfully on my first SOTA activation.

The SOTA website has an excellent calculator app that I used to determine approximate lengths of wire for each side.  My goal was to build a dipole that will cover the 15, 17, 20, 30, and 40 meter bands.  After putting in my parameters, here is what the app recommended for my design (note this is only one side, the dipole requires two for each side).

I used some 14-gauge "THHN" style wire that I obtained from the local Home Depot.  The coating on THHN wire does have some effect, but I was willing to sacrifice a little perfection in exchange for the low cost of this wire and for my first attempt at this particular antenna design.  I cut each length approximately 10cm longer than suggested, with the plan to trim them down to obtain optimal SWR (it's much easier to trim shorter than extend longer!)

For easy connect/disconnect, I decided to try using Anderson Powerpoles.  One side uses all red, and the other side uses all black - that helped me keep things straight during the building process.  I used a label maker to indicate which band each wire section was cut for.  I began by placing a powerpole on only one side of the wire; the other side was left bare until I had trimmed it to the correct length, after which the second powerpole was crimped on.  The powerpoles do work, but if I build another linked dipole, I do not think I'll use them again, because they come apart a little too easily - it's likely I will need to reinforce the connection when the antenna is hanging for use.  I've seen other designs use alligator clips and even bolts to hold things together.

I also used a short piece of parachute cord to keep the dipole together when the powerpoles are disconnected.  Tie-wraps hold the cord and wire together, with a few drops of super glue to create a pretty solid bond so they don't slip.  Like the second powerpole, the cord was not connected until that section had been trimmed down to the correct length.  Here is a close-up of one of the links (note the whole antenna has a total of eight links):

I set the antenna up in my back yard for testing and trimming.  I also thought this would be a good chance to practice setup of the entire antenna system, including an extendable mast.  I had acquired a 10 meter pole from SOTABeams, a store in the UK which caters to SOTA enthusiasts.  10 meters is quite high and to make a portable mast, the poles become extremely thin at the top.  So thin, in fact, that most photos you see of them show considerable bending at the top.

So, I thought bending was normal and proceeded to hang my antenna on the top section and hoist it up.  I had each side of the dipole connected to a balun, and a run of RG58 coax connected to the balun.  As the mast went up, it began to bend.  Unfortunately, the weight of the balun and antenna were too much for the tiny top sections, and I only had it extended about 10 feet up when I heard a loud cracking sound and the mast bent in an ugly downward v-shape.  My brand new mast broke on my first try at setting it up!

It was quite a disappointment but I suppose it's better to have this happen in my backyard than after I have traveled to some remote site.

I still wanted to complete the antenna construction, so I set my frustrations aside and went to plan B.  I have a fairly sturdy tripod mast from MFJ, one that is most definitely NOT light enough to carry on a hike but is good for home use (I usually have a magnetic loop antenna hanging on it inside the house).  So I brought it out and set it up, and proceeded with the somewhat tedious process of fine-tuning the link element lengths.

I began with 15m, and once it was reasonably tuned I connected the 15m/17m link and tuned for 17.  Next up was 20m, which much to my surprise turned out to be too short!  This was not a huge problem, but I did need to re-cut a longer length of the wire and replace this section.  Then I moved on to 30m, and finally 40.  For the 40m section, I have left it intentionally long until I get out in the field with the antenna.  Once I'm in the field, I will either trim it down or determine a fold-back method to effectively shorten it to the best SWR.  I actually would have preferred to do this at home, but my back yard is just a bit too short, and it was getting too hot (105F) to continue the work.

Here are some SWR measurements of the various bands:

Certainly this is not the perfect antenna, but it does look like it will be a useful piece of gear for some of my ham radio portable operations.  I wound each side around kite winders for simple transport and deployment.  Now I just need to find a better mast solution.  It could be hung up in trees as well, but many of the peaks in Arizona that I may hike to won't have any trees available.  I realize that the real test will be how well it can perform, but I know what to expect from dipoles and this does appear to be a great way to get 5-band capability from a single antenna, at a very low cost.  I'll probably build another one to cover the 10 and 12 meter bands.

Wallpaper From SOTA!

My first SOTA awards have arrived!  These two are basic Chaser awards - a fun start to my SOTA wallpaper collection, which I hope will eventually expand to include Activator awards as well.

The Chaser awards are given for contacts made from my home QTH to stations that are activating a summit somewhere.

Most of my QSO's so far as a Chaser have been with stations in WA, OR, CA, NM, and CO.  This is partly due to my current HOA-limited home station, and partly due to generally weak propagation conditions.

Sometimes I log in remotely from my office to my home, and make a QSO using the CWX function of my SDR.  But I prefer to use an actual code paddle when possible instead of computer-generating the CW, it's just more fun.

NPOTA Activation - Tumacacori - 100th Annversary of National Park Service

Today is a special day for the great outdoors.  On this day, 100 years ago, the National Park Service was founded in the USA.  While I'm not a fan of big government, I do love nature and I'm glad there are protected places where nature is protected.

To honor 100 years of national parks, the American Radio Relay League coordinated with NPS and created the "National Parks on the Air" event.  For the entire year of 2016, amateur radio operators are encouraged to visit parks and "activate" them.  Other operators are encouraged to "chase" the activators, i.e. the goal is to promote the parks by having people make contacts from within park boundaries with others around the world.

Our local club, Oro Valley Amateur Radio Club, has done several NPOTA activations this year from nearby national parks.  This morning, we set up bright and early at the Tumacacori National Historical Park (designator HP45).  We were ready to roll before sunrise!

Tumacacori also happens to lie along the 1200-mile Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail (designator TR13), so we were able to provide a double NPOTA activation to chasers.  We set up a single station, so we had plenty of operators to share duties.  We all used the OVARC club call sign, W7AI.

Operations began with SSB on 40 meters, then CW on 40.  A few others ran the station while I observed and assisted with the donuts :-)

After a while, I took over and operated 20m CW.  We were using N1MM to log, which has an automatic keyer, but I also used a nice paddle.  We were spotted on the DX cluster which helped draw chasers, so I was able to run on 14.043 for a while.

Most of the station gear was supplied by Tom, W8TK.  We ran 100 watts from a Kenwood TS590 into an end-fed half-wave, with the top up around 30 feet on a portable mast.  This was a nice portable setup, although band conditions were moderate at best.  We worked stations pretty much across the US and Canada.

I left a bit earlier than the others, because it's a work day and I needed to get to the office.  When I  left, we were hovering around 100 contacts, and hopefully they pulled out a few more QSO's before breaking down.  The park officials had invited us to a birthday cake and ice cream celebration at 10am, but I wasn't able to stay that late.

This was my first NPOTA activation, and I sure enjoyed it.  I think OVARC will have a few more before the end of the year and I'm hoping I'll be able to join in on the fun again!

Baluns

I'm working on several different antenna projects right now, and in some cases I want to include a Balun in the design.  "Balun" is a contraction of "Balanced to Unbalanced" - a balun is basically an impedance matching transformer, usually to cause a radio to be presented with an approximately 50 Ohm antenna load.

Over the years I have purchased baluns but they are actually not difficult to build.  So, I'm planning to learn as much as I can about balun theory and design, and construct some of my own.  Some of the baluns I have purchased in the past include high-power capable models sold by DX Engineering, a triple ratio switching balun with 1:1, 4:1, and 9:1 options, sold by Buddipole, and others by MFJ, etc.

I recently built a small kit from Elecraft, the BL2, which provides a medium power capable switching balun with 1:1 and 4:1 options.  An interesting comparison was to put it in line with a dipole and record resistance and impedance values, and SWR, as compared with other baluns.  I used a RigExpert AA-170 antenna analyzer for this purpose.  Although the values recorded were not identical, they were similar enough to make me comfortable that this balun will be acceptable for use.  My plan is to use it as part of a portable multi-band linked dipole, and I think having the two different options will be convenient.

I'm also preparing to construct some of my own baluns and ununs.  I have some ferrite cores and plenty of wire, and it doesn't take much more than that to make a quality balun.  In fact for portable antenna operations, constructing my own will provide me with the best option, at the lowest cost.  I'll be able to optimize it in terms of both specific impedance characteristics for the antenna designed, and minimal weight.

Tour of W1AW (Remote at the OVARC Meeting)

The monthly meeting of Oro Valley Amateur Radio Club included a live-via-Skype video tour of the ARRL HQ Station, W1AW.  Sure hope I can go there some day and see it in person, and even operate for a while.

I often wonder whether my Uncle John, who was a ham as a young man and lived in Connecticut, ever got a chance to operate from their.  During the Q&A, I asked the Station Manager, Joe Carcia NJ1Q if log archives exist that might help me learn whether Uncle John visited, and he said yes they have them back to the beginning!

Fun Up North - Beacon Hill SOTA Activation

During the hot summers in Tucson, my YL and I love to head up to the cool mountain air in Flagstaff.  We were there for the weekend of August 13-14 and I thought it might be a good opportunity for me to do a short SOTA activation.  I spent some time reviewing options on the SOTA Mapping Project site and was not surprised to learn that there are many, many peaks in the Flagstaff area.  A bit more research led me to contact Pete, WA7JTM.  I did not realize it at the time, but Pete is the W7A Association Manager for the SOTA program, and was most helpful.  I asked Pete if he had a recommendation for a fairly easy summit, and he recommended I give W7A/CS-038, Beacon Hill, a try.

Since this was primarily a trip with my YL, and I knew we would be doing a lot of running, I didn't want a challenging or lengthy hike.  In fact, in the morning before the activation, we ran for over 2 hours on Lake Mary Road, so my legs were already a bit tired for the day.  Beacon Hill turned out to be a perfect choice, requiring only about half an hour's drive to the base of the hill.  The hill was located behind the now-closed Mountain Ranch Resort.

I parked on the dirt road behind the resort, and gathered my gear.  I had a daypack for the radio gear, and the Buddipole was in its own bag.  Maybe a lot to carry on a hike, but I wasn't expecting it to take very long to reach the summit.

There is no trail that I am aware of, so I basically just bushwhacked my way up.  Although it was off-trail, it really wasn't too difficult, but at points the underbrush was thick, at other points the grade became steep with slippery terrain.  As I neared the top, I found some thin animal paths.  It was an enjoyable hike and I was happy to be in the cool air rather than the 100+ temps in Tucson!

Upon reaching the summit, which is at 7,547 feet elevation, I relaxed a bit and set up my Buddipole.  It was breezy so I guyed it, but was able to extend the mast fairly high.  While the Buddipole is not the best in terms of portability, it does do a nice job once it's up there.

Plus, it looks kinda cool (in my biased opinion).

I was excited to test out the station setup that I have been working on for portable packing operations.  I've put an Elecraft KX2 on a bamboo carving board, along with a Begali Traveler paddle.  This is definitely a QRP setup but it's very nice to be able to operate the KX2 off a small internal battery pack as opposed to a heavier battery that a larger rig might require.  The Begali paddle is heavy for hiking with, but it's so much higher in quality that I'm willing to carry it.

I'm always changing things around, that's one of the fun things about ham radio, so I'm sure this setup will be different at some point.  But it really performed well for me on this trip!  Using just 5 watts, I was able to work stations all across the country and even into Canada.  My favorite QSO of the day, however, was with an Arizona station - imagine my surprise to hear WA7JTM in the pileup calling me!  It was really nice to give him a contact for his chaser log after his help in choosing the site.

I didn't have a lot of time on the hill, as my YL had stayed back at the hotel and we wanted to do some other things later in the day.  My final QSO tally was 14 stations in the log (10 CW and 4 SSB), including one Summit-to-Summit QSO with W0C/PR-009, which earned me 10 points towards my Activator total.

Support the ARRL

The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) has served the amateur radio community for over 100 years.  I'm not sure if our hobby would exist today without it.  Thank you ARRL.

Two Peaks in a Day - Bigelow Mountain & Mt. Lemmon, SOTA W7A/AW-003 & W7A/AW-001

I've been bit by the SOTA bug, so on August 1, 2016 I decided to enjoy a day activating two of the closest peaks to my home.  Both Bigelow and Mt. Lemmon, part of the Catalina Mountains range, are easy to access, via a drive up the Mt. Lemmon Highway.  Although SOTA rules do require a minimal amount of hiking, it's not much.  So I chose to bring my Go-Box, which has excellent station capabilities but is far too heavy to lug on any lengthy hikes.

I began with Bigelow Mountain (elevation 8,540 ft).  This one requires a drive on a dirt road for a couple of miles.  At the top are multiple commercial towers to service the local Tucson community.

The views from Bigelow are spectacular, especially to the East where the majestic Pinaleos rise with their showcase Mt. Graham.

The skies were partly cloudy and the temperatures were just perfect.  The desert is quite hot at this time of year so it was so nice to operate outdoors in the cool air.  As I began setting up, a friendly deer walked right by me!  I watched and realized a small fawn was also following along behind its mother, but it was a bit more careful and moved among the trees.

I set up the Buddipole for 20 meters and cranked it up high.  My FT-991 was filled with signals as soon as I fired it up!  My first QSO was with my friend NU7Y, who was waiting down in Tucson.  After that the pileup hit and I worked 21 stations, all CW.  I would have kept going, but dark clouds were approaching and since it's monsoon season, I was concerned that the weather could change quickly.  So I tore down the gear, took it back to the car, and drove further up the hill to Mt. Lemmon.

The summit of Mt. Lemmon is 9,157 ft, but it's not fully accessible due to the observatories.  I was an instructor at the Mt. Lemmon SkyCenter for several years and spent many nights standing on the exact summit point, but on this day I had to remain outside the fence and operate a small distance away (this is allowable under SOTA rules).

As I set up, a light rain began to fall.  I didn't hear thunder yet, so I continued to set up and was pleased that it stopped when I was ready to start making contacts.  I enjoyed working 23 stations from Mt. Lemmon, again all CW.  A few hikers came by at various points to see what I was up to.  Unfortuntely, after a fairly short time, the weather took a turn for the worse.

Wind cropped up and then thunder started crashing, so I knew it was time to hurry up and pull down the antenna!  Just as I finished packing things up, the rain began in earnest.  I waited for a few minutes to see if it was a temporary storm, but it became clear that the day's monsoon was upon us.  The rain was absolutely pouring buckets and the temperature became quite cold.

I had planned to do a nice run up on the mountain after the radio operations.  I've run in storms plenty of times before, the rain doesn't really bother me.  So I drove down to the ski valley parking lot, put on my running gear, and went out to run.  I had only gone about 1/4 mile, in pouring freezing rain, when a huge clap of thunder struck and I saw a lighting bolt far too close for comfort.  I made the decision at that point that my time on the mountain had come to an end and called off the run for safety's sake.

It was a wonderfully fun day anyway, and I'm looking forward to my next trip up to these peaks or a few others in the same range.  My logs earned me 10 points + 3 bonus points for each summit in the SOTA Database, plus I had a few Summit-to-Summit QSO's.

Wallpaper from Open Season QSO Party

Received a nice surprise in the mail today - awards for my participation in the Open Season QSO Party!  I really didn't expect anything because my log was absurdly small - but I guess when conditions are not so good, as they were that weekend, there are not too many big logs submitted.  Anyway it's always fun to add to my collection.

My First SOTA Activation - W7A/AE-011 Heliograph Peak

There's a fairly popular world-wide organization of amateur radio operators called Summits On the Air (SOTA).  On July 16, 2016, I became a SOTA "Activator", and I absolutely loved it!

My friend Quinton, NU7Y, is an experienced SOTA op and he invited me to join him for this activation.  I didn't know exactly what to expect but it sounded fun!  We had a few hours drive from Tucson to reach Heliograph Peak, which is in the Pinaleo Mountains Range (home of Mt. Graham).  We parked at a campground trailhead and had to hike a couple of miles in to reach the peak.

The trail up is beautiful, but it's very high
elevation.  The peak itself is at 10,022 feet elevation, and has some amazing scenic views.






One of the unique things about SOTA operations is that if you need to hike to the summit, you want to keep the equipment at a minimum.  Quinton brought along some really lightweight QRP gear, including an ATS-4 QRP rig and a homebrew linked wire dipole.  This was new for me - I've never been a QRP (low-power) operator before.  He also brought a light paddle and LiPo battery pack.

.

We strung up the dipole in the trees and got to work.  SOTA ops are able to use a special spotting system called "SOTAwatch" to help Chasers find Activators.  Quinton spotted us and we immediately had pileups of operators wanting to work us!  We started out on 40 meters.  Quinton worked a bunch of stations while I ate some lunch and nervously watched.  My CW skills are rusty, and we were having some problems with looseness in the keyer paddle, but when he turned the rig over to me, I called CQ SOTA de KR7RK... and immediately heard a cacophonous roar of morse code signals!  The fun had begun.  Somehow I managed to copy call signs and signal reports onto the notepad, and bang out the QSO exchanges on the paddles.  This was Ham Radio at its finest!

After a while we switched over to 20 meters and made more contacts.  In total, I logged 12 QSO's, and Quinton logged many more.  Our original plan was to drive over to another place and hike up to activate a second peak, but the day was already a huge success and it was getting late, so we decided to save that one for another day.  When we got home, I recorded my log into the SOTA Database, and was rewarded with 10 points!  SOTA grants points for activations depending on the height of the summit, and since Heliograph is over 10,000 feet it earned me the maximum points.

I really enjoyed this activity.  I guess I'm not surprised, because amateur radio has constantly offered me new and interesting activities that never disappoint.  I love hiking, I love nature's scenery, and I love ham radio; this SOTA stuff combines all that into one fun adventure!  I will definitely be getting more involved with SOTA.

Dayton Hamvention 2016

I was very happy to return to Dayton this year after missing the past 2 years.  Dayton can't be described, if you are a ham you just have to go experience it, and if you're not, there's no way to truly explain the magic of Hamvention.

I have gone many times, always for the purpose of working at the booth for Ten-Ten International Net, which I serve as Treasurer of.  The booth is hard work but it's a lot of fun as well.  This year, my son Jason KR7JAS came to Dayton with me for his first time.  Jason attended the Youth Forum and Youth Rally in addition to cruising the hamfest.

On our first night there, we arrived, checked in, and headed to the ARRL Donor's Reception.  We had a lot of fun there, meeting some very good people who put a great deal into supporting the amateur radio community.  Jason had the special honor of meeting with the new ARRL CEO, Tom Gallaher NY2RF, and ARRL President, Rick Roderick K5UR.  They both gave him some nice words of encouragement about his future.

Friday started out with the show, and it was huge as usual!

There were a few of us working the 10-10 booth.  We took a couple of minutes out of the work to present the 2016 President's Award to Dave, K6RDK, who has been the Data Manager for years and is always one of the hardest workers in the organization.

On Friday night, we attended the Flex Radio Banquet.  It was a nice meal and we got to chat with hams and learn more about what's happening at Flex and in the SDR radio community.

Dayton was awesome again and I can't wait to return.  I did come home with a few small toys but didn't bring anything too big with me.  Unfortunately I continued my 100% success rate with not winning a single raffle item all weekend!

My Birthday Shirt

An early present from my sweetheart!

QRP Transceiver

This components will hopefully eventually be assembled into a 40m QRP transceiver!  My son Jason KR7JAS and I are planning to each build one, according to the plans published in the March 2016 issue of QST.  It involves adding an Arduino-based VFO to a Fortyniner CW kit.  Fun stuff!

HamRadio 360 Podcast - All About 10 Meters with KR7RK

I love listening to podcasts and one of my favorites is the HamRadio 360 Podcast.  Hosted by Cale Nelson, K4CDN, the show does a nice job covering various areas of the hobby.

I was happy to be the guest speaker for the April 5, 2016 episode.  Cale and I talked about my favorite amateur band, 10 meters!  I was rather tired because the interview occurred right near the end of my busiest time of year (tax season), but it was a lot of fun.

When it was published, the podcast was named "Fo Time Podcast", but shortly thereafter the name was changed to "HamRadio 360 Podcast".

If the player link above does not work, you can find the show at:

http://hamradio360.com/index.php/2016/04/05/49-2/

The best thing to do would be to subscribe using iTunes, Stitcher, Podcast Addict, or some other version of a podcatcher software.  That way you get to listen to many other great HR360 shows as well!  A new show is released every 2 weeks, on Tuesdays.

The ARRL Handbook

What a great book.  I hope they never stop publishing it.

Mesh Networking at OVARC

Tonight's monthly OVARC meeting had a good talk on Mesh Networking.  Amateur operators have been setting up RF networks, often including internet access, using a combination of homebrew and commercial equipment.  Some of the frequencies available to amateur operators are very near the wifi channels used by consumer routers.

OVARC Monthly Meeting - K3LR Presentation

Tonight's OVARC monthly meeting had a nice presentation by Tim Duffy, K3LR.  He logged in and gave the talk remotely.  It's truly amazing what some hams like Tim do in this hobby!

There was a big turnout as usual.  Ryan joined me as well.

Remote Ham Radio

Lately I have been thinking a LOT about how to get a better station.  My current home does not allow any outdoor antennas, so it's been quite an adjustment from the days when I had a 40-foot tower, SteppIR beam, and several other antennas.  My old system allowed operation on any ham band from 160 meters through 70cm.

Technology is evolving but many hams are now able to access larger ham radio stations remotely via an internet link (or in some cases, a microwave RF link).  There is even a new service available called "Remote Ham Radio" (RHR) that allows you to purchase time on several superstations across the country.

I have mixed feelings about remote operations.  As someone who is not able to have my own base station setup, I can easily see the attraction.  However, I also find myself feeling like remote operations are, to some extent, "cheating" or not as "magical", because you can greatly improve your odds of a successful contact by simply accessing a better or more advantageously located superstation.  In a similar way, digital voice modes that connect to internet-linked systems leave me feeling less satisfied.

I decided to give RHR a try.  They provide you with 60 minutes free, and I already had part of the equipment necessary to establish a remote connection.  A few years back I had acquired a RemoteRig box with the intent of linking my office to my home, but never finished the process.  You can operate RHR with only a computer, but to make it more 'radio-like' you can also use a control head.  I chose to use an Elecraft K3/0 Mini control head, because the stations on the other end of RHR all use the Elecraft K3 radios so it would be a nice connection.  My thought was to test the system, see if I liked it, and then possibly use a K3 setup to establish my own remote station (I don't yet have a location, but I do have a few good leads and ideas about where I can set up a station in the local area).

So how does it work?  Well I have used it to log into stations in California (primarily, as it's closest to my own QTH), and New York.  It has been fun - but nowhere near the same feeling as making a contact from my own home.  I've worked a few DX stations, and DXCC rules allow that as long as you are in the same country.  But, I don't feel right about claiming them, especially if I worked someone from New York when I know that hams here in Arizona wouldn't be able to get through.  So I don't plan to use RHR for long at all.  But it has been an interesting experiment and I like the K3 solution.  There is a very slight but annoying time lag (latency) which makes the 2-way exchange a bit awkward.

OVARC Christmas Party

Joined the wonderful hams of OVARC for a nice potluck-style Christmas Party this afternoon.

Go Box Latest Version

Today I set up in Oro Valley, AZ behind the local high school. It was chilly and breezy!

Two Ras[berry Pi's are connected to DV4mini to provide hotspot connections for DSTAR, DMR, and C4FM. The PowerAnalyzer on the left allows me to monitor battery status. 2 of the USB ports on the right provide 5vDC power to the RPi's and the other 2 are connections for the FT-991 and the WIRES-X link.

It all breaks down to a reasonable size for transport. My objective was not lightweight but I did want to keep it small enough to carry in a small car. Inside the long bag is a Buddipole HF antenna system, plus an Arrow handheld satellite VHF/UHF antenna, plus a few other antenna items.

Cabling is always a challenge, as it tends to get out of control. I needed to provide enough excess for connection cables to allow the inside tray to slide out. 

Bulkheads for USB connections and coaxial cables on the inside back. A single 12VDC power in cable connects to a RigRunner distribution block. All power connections use Anderson PowerPoles for easy connections. Most connectors are labeled using a handheld label maker. The holes in the back come from previous incarnations and provided cable egress, but I find they also help keep things cool inside the box when operating.

I added a 12VDC fan to circulate air and it really helps cool things down. One area I need to improve on is grounding. Only the FT-991 had a ground terminal, but other items should be grounded as well.

The AZ dirt is hard to get a ground rod into. The battery box holds an 80AH sealed battery. On top is a 600W power inverter, but I try to avoid using that at all costs; also on top is a PWRGate block which allows me to trickle charge the battery when AC power is available.

Always a scenic view here in AZ.

The DV4minis are just above the LCD displays. These little gadgets allow me to use an HT to connect directly in to various digital reflectors around the world. The station also includes a WIRES-X digital node controller, allowing the mobile rig in the middle right to connect to System Fusion servers.

My first love is always HF, especially 10 meters. The Begali Traveller paddle allows for morse code fun, and the microphone is used for voice mode. The HF rig is also controllable from my laptop computer and with Ham Radio Deluxe, I operate various digital modes such as PSK31 and RTTY.