Amateur Radio Station
AF4LQ /QRP

Mike Lyness
Louisville, Kentucky
af4lq.jpg



Thanks for the visit and welcome to my homepage. Nothing fancy here, just a few words to fill in the blanks should we have met on the air recently. I've been a ham operator since 1993 and earned my Extra class license and present callsign in '98. I operate 100% CW and my primary interest since late '98 has been QRP operating and building. I also enjoy working QRP contests and sprints, though mainly for the fun and cameraderie, not as a serious competitor.

My "do-all" radio is an
Elecraft K2, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. However, what I really enjoy the most is working with small singleband radios and as simple a station setup as possible, so I'm most likely to be heard these days running either a Small Wonder Labs SW30+ on 30mtrs, a Small Wonders Labs DSW-II on 20m, or Wilderness Radio Norcal 40A on 40m.

I built all of those radios myself except for the DSW-II which I bought from another fellow. Other radios that I've built include an OHR500
, three OHR100A's, and a club-version Norcal 20.

If you need a QSL for our contact I'm always happy to confirm Kentucky or Jefferson County for your awards. Thanks again for the QSO es visit and I hope we meet on the air again soon.



CW for beginners
The CW requirement will most likely no longer be required for any class of Amateur license before too long. However, CW on the air will not go away any time soon, if ever. I offer below a few links to newcomers to ham radio who still have an interest in learning and using the only mode in amateur radio that offers one a sense of pride and accomplishment in learning a skill and using it on the air and also offers one the ability to enjoy many things in amateur radio that aren't possible without knowing the code. Best of luck to you and I hope to work you on CW one day soon.

Morse Code: Jump the Hurdle!!! - An excellent article by Jim Nall, N4FXC. While you're at it, check out the rest of Jim's very interesting and well done Amateur Radio Station N4FXC Website.
G4FON's Morse Code Trainer software
K7QO's Code course
W1AW MP3 Code Practice Files
The Art and Skill of Radio Telegraphy - Read it! Check out Mike's site while you're there.
WB8FSV's Beginners Guide to making CW Contacts



In Memory of my Friend
W4JCH  SK
W4JCH
W4JCH was my very good friend and radio buddy. He was a first class CW operator and a true  gentleman on and off the bands and I'm proud to have known him and been able to share the things we enjoyed so much together. We chased a lot of DX together and shared a lot of good times with that on a daily basis for several years and we also enjoyed many late night ragchews together after the bands had slowed for the evening. Since we were "across the alley" neighbors and our antennas were only about 40ft apart we'd work each other dummy load to dummy load, chatting late into the wee hours. I sure miss you Jerry, and I wish we could do that again, just once more. Thank you for so much and 73 OM.






73 de AF4LQ
Worked All States QRP
40 meters and mixed band

Worked All Continents and
187 Countries QRP

308,000 miles-per-watt - 40mtrs


June, 2006