Hey all!

Well, as you can see, this blogging thing never went well for me. Just too hard to sit down and chronicle my Amateur Radio activities. So, I am probably going to wrap this up. As it is, it will be a moot point soon anyway...as I will be (hopefully) getting a new callsign soon- K9LGE. We will see- the approval will hopefully be coming any day now. In any case, maybe I'll turn a new leaf and try it again soon. Thanks for reading. :-)

Yeah, yeah...I know...

Eric...WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?

I am not used to this blogging thing...and I am trying to get better. In the meantime, I have doing a LOT. Ask me...really...and I'll tell you. but let's move forward! what am I working on right now...?

1. I am FINALLY re-stripping and painting the 20' tripod tower that will be installed on the 2nd floor deck.

2. I am moving PC's around...new PC for the Hamshack, changed out a network switch, completed a cutover to AT&T U-VERSE, and beefing up the server and data handling.

3. Still playing with APRS, I have anew tracker, and moving towards getting an RMS Packet station on the air.

There's more...but's that's all I can think of right now. Try and keep up!

Well, Not Too Bad...

Worked NH, CT, CA and WA today from a sloper and hamstick on 20m. Not too bad! There was a fair amount of noise occasiaonally, but PSK was good. Pictures coming...

QRV from EM78 Lawrence KS!

I am currently QRV from Lawrence KS, EM78iw on 20m around 14.285 +/-. Using a sloper, alos may put up a vertical for 20 and 40 later.

On The Road Again...with HF!

I will be leaving later this afternoon for an extended tour through WI, MO (2 weeks) and possibly IA (if I don't come home for the weekend 27th-28th). I will have my TS-450 with me, but will only have Hamsticks for 20m and 40m, so probably no late night ops. :-( I will post here as I determine operating times/bands/freqs. It will be mainly Digital modes (mostly PSK/RTTY) with some phone.

Thanks John...

While by chance traveling through my hometown of Park Ridge, IL on the way from one school to another, I had the great fortune to stop by the home of my VERY FIRST elmer- John Wendt, W9HNA.

When I was a young kid growing up just down the block from my Friend Eddie's house, his Dad, would patiently answer my questions, inspire me to try building small electronic projects, show me all his COOL (at least to a 10-year old kid) Knight and Hallicrafters tube rigs and even gave me a chance to talk on his 2m radio! John was the man that first 'lit the flame' in me that would 28 years later result in me getting MY license and doing what I do now with Amateur Radio. I 'found' him again a few years ago and have kept in touch periodically through the NORA-Glenview repeater and a luncheon he invited me to. this though was the first time that I had the chance to sit down one-on-one with him and his wife Lorraine and really catchup on what's been going on. But there were things that for some reason never occured to me to tell him- so I am saying them now, before I forget again and it might be too late.

They say that one of the measures of a man is the legacy he leaves. Usually these things are said after one passes on, but I wanted you to see it while you are still here... You introduced me a wonderful new world that years later has resulted in new friends and new experiences. I only hope I can pass your legacy on and bring more people into this great hobby and service of ours.

Thanks John.

School Club Roundup at Munhall Elementary School!

more...

A Little Catchup...

Hi all...it's been kind of busy, so I haven't had a lot of time to spend here- so what's been happening?

I finally submitted my FRRL Bill Erickson HF Challenge scores- I fealf that I did pretty good this year, all things considered. This was the first year that I entered in a "Limited" class (digital) so I was hopeful. Anyway, we found out how we did at...

The 2009 FRRL Banquet! Again this year it was held at Walter Payton's Roundhouse in Aurora, IL. It was fun to 'get away' and enjoy down time with some friends, a GREAT dinner and a fun activity- a beer 'tasting' where we were taught about the differences between 'good' beer and 'bad' beer. We also had a comedian and a magician. AND- I found out I scored 3rd in Limited class and 2nd in Ragchew classin the HF Challenge! All in all, a great night, I'd say. :-)

I have had some great conversations with other hams on the road, including one near Indianapolis with another ham from of all places...Woodridge! His name was (Ranc?) and he is W9YOY. we had a fairly long QSO on both simplex and through one of Indy's repeaters.

I also attended the WCRA Mid-Winter Hamfest Jan 25, in the new Main exhibition building at the Kane County Fairgrounds. It was a well-attended show, and we successfully held a multi-county ARES booth with 6 counties participating!

Other than that, I am waiting for a break in the weather so I can take the rig with me again on the road and try some portable HF. That's about all for now...

KC9FQV does the RTTY Roundup!

Well, my 1st 'major', 'real' contest under my belt...all by myself! Yep, I did the RTTY Roundup this past weekend, and I had a great time. RTTY is actually a fun mode...the contacts are short, it moves fast and keeps you going! Here are the results:

30- states and provinces
4- DX entities
2,176- claimed score

not bad for about 7 hrs of 'up' time. I think I will do this one again...oh, and I like fldigi- I think it is now my new digital program. :-)

Happy New Year!

From the KC9FQV Hamshack to your Hamshack...Happy New Year! May all your DX be good DX.

Eric KC9FQV
Marilyn KC9KJV
Sarah (soon)

DX on 20m!

I gotta start getting up earlier EVERY morning when I'm home- I actually worked some DX on 20m today! The 2 catches this morning were Norway and the Czech Republic. Nice to work the ancestral country! We will make one more try at this in the current year tomorrow and see if we can bag a few more for the HF Challenge.

What has KC9FQV been doing?

Well, as I said before...this blog thing is hard work! I think what I will be doing from here on out is posting forward from now- and as I have time, I'll do "Flashback" posts to catch up on the later part of 2008 while I was on the road. Sound good?

Antenna Repair coming...

Looks like I'll have to go on the roof and replace the center insulator on the 80-15 dipole...I am getting more and more 'dropouts' on the signals and I think that the old Ten-Tec center insulator is starting to come apart for good. Stay tuned...

ILQP a Success!

Well, the Illinois QSO Party for 2008 is history, and the KC9FQV had yet another even more successful year! Here are the raw score stats:

Net Operating Time: about 5 hours
Contacts: 117
Multipliers: 68
Claimed score: 7,956

This year, I operated with Matt, KC9HRH, who provided the comfortable ARC Comm trailer that we used from the park behind Plainfield Village Hall. We operated the TS-2000 using mainly phone. My goal was to try pushing digital modes this year, but due to antenna issues, that just did not happen. As the Cubs say, maybe next year... :-)

While Matt was playing with some antenna designs that he wanted to try, I setup the Perth Outbacker on the roof of his pickup and began. Unfortunately, because of the nature of the Outbacker, I was not getting a whole lot of instate action. I went out after a little while to help Matt, and after a few frustrating trys, we realized the issue, hard to make a standard dipole, etc with a 4:1 balun! The wrong balun accidentally got ordered. So, we got out the 'backup dipole' (cut for 80m) that I had in the trailer, and strung that up, and then started to rock! We both had a great time, and I think I might even be able to convince Matt to do it again next year...but we'll stay closer to home this time!

QRV from the ILQP!

Tomorrow (10/19/08) Matt KC9HRH and I will be QRV from Will County for the Illinois QSO party! at this time, we plan on operating portable from the Plainfield area. Exact location TBD.

We will be comfortably ensconced in the Fox River ARC Comm Trailer, running a TS-2000 for SSB and a TS-450 for PSK. We will also monitor 146.49 FM for simplex stations. This will be my first ILQP running HF, and Matt's first contest, period...so we are both looking forward to the fun!

If you happen to be in the area, give us a shout on simplex and stop on by. We will also monitor the FRRL 2m repeater as well as the KCOEM 2m machine.

QRV from EM37cc!

I will be QRV on PSK31 tonight after 1700 hrs. Look for me around 7.070 or 14.070

I might also try some voice, probably around 7.210 +- QRM.

I am expecting to be on the air through about 2000-2100 hrs. For those chasing grids, I will be at EM37cc.

QRV from St. Louis!

We are currently QRV from Hazelwood, MO on 40m at 7.261 +- QRM. We will also be on 20, 30 and 80 at other times during this week. I will publish a full schedule shortly.

Trying Portable HF...

Well, in a fit of inspiration...I have come up with the tools necessary to do Portable (if not mobile) HF. As I will be in Missouri all this next week, I am taking my TS-450 with me and will be testing in SSB and digital modes. My setup will be:

TS-450S/AT
Astron SS-20 PS
Perth "Outbacker" antenna on a 4-1/2" magmount base.

For Digi modes, I will be using Digipan, MMTTY or MultiPSK with my direct interface for the TS-450.

I will place the antenna on the roof of my van and if possible, run coax into my room through the window (I may also try a Buddipole if I can borrow one). If I cannot get coax into my hotel room, I will operate from the van. Now, if the Outbacker can be used mobile...well then, that open a whole NEW window of opportunity!

Stay tuned for more info on skeds, to see if this will work...

2m Band Opening!

This last night, I had occasion to come down to Merrilville IN, where I was staying for the night before some shows in Crown Point the next day (today now, I guess). Anyway, It was about 9pm, and as I was making the turn off I-80/94 onto I-65, I decided to flip over to 146.52 to see if anyone was around.

I found two guys talking, one who ID'd as Eric, KC9???, and another gentleman (didn't get the name, hopefully he will be sending his contact info via email). Anyway, they were wrapping up and planning to go to 2m AM, when I threw out my call. Both of them came back to me, and were good strong signals. Now I figured they were from the area, but was I in for a surprise...as one said his QTH was Marengo, IL, and the other was from Woodstock, IL. Yup, you are not mis-reading that. After I got the van back on the road, I asked again just to be sure. It was confirmed.

That is nearly 80 miles...and I was on a mobile! Needless to say, that was the hit of my night. If this can happen at the BOTTOM of the sunspot cycle, imagine what it will be like when the sunspots come back... :-)

My new mobile radio!

As some of you might know (and many more might not), I have been having 'issues' with my Icom IC-2710 mobile radio. In short, it overheats...while just sitting there. I haven't had the time or the $ to send it in to Icom and get it fixed- but a good friend Greg, N9CHA had a Yaseu FT-8800 that he let me borrow for awhile. It worked well for me...so well, I ended up buying it from him. Eventually I will get the Icom fixed, and that will probably become Marilyn's mobile rig, or I'll use it the shack...not sure yet.

Anyway, boy does this radio have FEATURES! So many, I will probably never use them all. But it is dual VFO, and is APRS and packet-capable with the data port on the back. So, it will work well for what I need. And Greg had a remote head kit too, so I have some flexibility in mounting it.

I have used this radio well since I have started my travels. Including a rather neat occurance that happened on the way to Merrillville, IN this last night...