Getting prepared for the upcoming VA QSO Party (check it out if you want to work a great contest this March). My plan is to operate mobile this year using an IC-7000. I used it in the past with N1MM just for frequency control. This year I plan to use N1MM again, but adding the... Continue Reading →
Sweepstakes – Close Again
Well, had a good time in the ARRL CW Sweeps this year. Still no sweep. It was the curse of the 'askas. With a couple hours to go I needed Alaska and Nebraska. Surprisingly enough, I got Alaska but never heard Nebraska. Oh well. At least I am convinced that poor antennas is no longer... Continue Reading →
November Sweepstakes: Is this the year?
I have been operating in the ARRL CW November Sweepstakes for several years. It is the ultimate contest - long exchange, many stations active, and a fast pace. If you like contesting, there are many enjoyable contests, but this one is special in my book. One thing that continues to elude me in ARRL CWSS... Continue Reading →
LOTW – Stepping Up to the Challenge
I see the ARRL really is serious about making LOTW a user-friendly, main-stream QSO confirmation tool. Recent delays have been disconcerting, and the infrequent status reports have made it difficult to know what is happening when you submit a Log. As I recently asked (and I am sure many others did too), they are now... Continue Reading →
Sweepstakes Results for 2012
Well I kept up the time-honored tradition of missing 1 or 2 Sections in the CW SS contest this year. Had about 575 QSOs (a personal best) and all but 2 Sections - MB and NNY. I never had trouble with a New York section before. I guess the monster storm Sandy may have been... Continue Reading →
LOTW – Ready for Prime Time??
I have been using the ARRL Logbook of the World (LOTW) recently for confirmation of my radio contacts. I like the basic idea very much but I have been having some issues. After a recent contest, I uploaded a Log File. I waited 3 or 4 days and nothing happened. I uploaded again, waited a... Continue Reading →
Update on ZS6BKW Antenna
I did some tuning of my ZS6BKW antenna just before the 2012 ARRL CW Sweepstakes contest. My goal was to get the SWR in the CW Bands down to 3:1 or better. The reason I wanted this was that the internal tuner on my IC-7600 can quickly tune that range, without the need for my... Continue Reading →
ARRL CWSS 2012 – Preparation
Well, hurricane Sandy did no damage to my Chesapeake Bayside QTH. I am thankful for that and I wish a quick recovery to those that were ravaged by this nasty storm. The winds did leave one of my antennas needing attention. The winds pulled my anchor for the center of my ZS6BKW antenna out of ... Continue Reading →
ZS6BKW Antenna
The ZS6BKW Antenna is one of many HF multi-band wire antennas. It is similar to the famous G5RV antenna, which can cover multiple HF Bands but requires an antenna tuner on most bands. The ZS6BKW follows the design of the G5RV, but makes improvements. These improvements allow it to be used on more bands, and... Continue Reading →
Options for using the IC-7600 on RTTY with a PC
There has been a bit of discussion on the IC-7600 newsgroup about using FSK vs. AFSK when connecting a computer to the radio. Here is a summary that I posted in that group. Hopefully it will help some others get a kick-start on the process: I found what I think is a good summary of... Continue Reading →
Kg3v Ham Radio Blog 