KM1NDY
A Secret Little Adventure Ham Radio Blog
A snowy hike in mild temperatures toward the end of winter while playing radio? Does it get any more New England than this? Watch WX1MAR and I on our Summits-On-The-Air journey on this classic loop hike of Mt. Watatic W1/CR-009 in Ashburnham MA on February 28, 2021.
Dear [Fill-in-the-Blank]-On-The-Air Chasers and Hunters: I want to let you know how much you mean to me, so I thought I would write you a letter. The world sure has gone to Hades in a handcart lately, huh? I’ve been told that almost everyone is hiding inside watching the modern variant of the television and …
Thank you POTA hunters for finding us at the Happy Hams Valentine’s Day Special Event Station on February 14, 2021. The QSL valentines are all set to go! I am looking forward to the next time we meet up on the air!
The following is a list of materials required to make a 49:1 unun impedance transformer for an end-fed half wave antenna. You will also need a half-wavelength length of wire (14 or 12 gauge typically) in order to construct an antenna radiator for whichever ham band you choose. Please note that I will not be …
Oddly, WX1MAR and I celebrated Valentine’s Day this year. Odd because, well, in 27 years we have almost never celebrated Valentine’s Day… But! We had a great excuse! I had secured callsign K1S (get it?) for the “Happy Hams Valentine’s Day” special event station. And since February 14th was a Sunday this year, it meant …
WX1MAR and I will be getting on the air tomorrow for Valentine’s Day. We hope all of you ham radio operators track us down. Because, it means you will get a valentine as a qsl! 73s and 88s!
Antenna modeling for the amateur radio hobbyist has always struck me as uniquely esoteric. I mean sure, hams build plenty of antennas, but we have all seen the predicted idealized radiation blobs, donuts, and figure-eights associated with the usual dipoles and end-feds. We know that for typical HF wire antennas, the closer to the ground, …
The first summit of the 2021 is actually an old friend — Peaked Mountain in Monson, Massachusetts. Well-traveled, the short 1 mile summit trail consisted of a few inches of hard-packed snow, making microspikes the choice footwear accessory. Especially given that temperatures creeped above freezing most of the day, assuring a slick refreeze for our …
Sitting here listening to the city sounds on my handheld scanner, I’m just grateful there are *some* circulating radio waves I’m able to capture…because my attempt tonight to become a CW partner was an exercise in futility. A radio club buddy of mine reached out about scheduling a regular slow speed morse code rag chew. …
Working Winter Field Day 2021 from an early 1900s train caboose seemed the perfect way to abandon the trials of modern life at least for a weekend. Fortunately, the Chester Railway Station and Museum in Western Massachusetts offered just the ticket for WX1MAR and I. And Dave, the station’s highly knowledgeable proprietor and overall sweetheart, …