K9RQ's Virtual Hamshack

This is the Internet home of Dan Vanderplough, K9RQ.  I was born and raised in Michigan City, Indiana (on the southern tip of Lake Michigan.)  In 2010, we decided that we had endured more than enough of winter weather and living in the lake effect snow belt, and bought a home in Weeki Wachee, Florida, --near Spring Hill-- and just north of Tampa/Clearwater on the Gulf coast of Florida. My grid square is EL88. I have been a ham since 1968.  From 2002 ‘til 2010, I was trustee for the Michigan City, Indiana ham radio club and operated the VHF and UHF repeaters.

Have I really been playing around with this hobby for so long?

I have held the following calls: WN9ZRA (novice in 1968, age 14) WA9ZRA (general class in 1969) KD9GF (advanced in 1983) NA9N (extra class in 1984) and my current "vanity call" K9RQ in October 1997.   In 2005, through 2007, I was licensed as V31RQ and operated while on vacations on Ambergris Caye (San Pedro) Belize.

I started in ham radio in ‘68 as a 14-year-old novice, running a Heath DX 40 crystal controlled transmitter and an old Army BC 342 surplus receiver left over from WWII. This was fed to a 75’ wire strung from the peak of my parent’s house to a tree out in the yard. My ham career was off and running! Current ham radio interests include DX’ing and chatting, mostly on CW these days. Nothing beats listening to well sent cw on a good receiver! You’ll find me cruising the waters on 40 or 30 meters most of the time, or chasing some dx station on 10 meters now that the sunspots have returned. Also, I’ve gotten back into occasional VHF/UHF weak signal activity on 2 meters and 432 MHz.

Also, with the great 10 meter propagation, I have been running the FT 817 QRP rig from the mobile with a converted CB whip for an antenna. Results have been surprisingly good with QSOs all over North America and into Europe, all with no more than 5 watts – all on SSB. I’m really glad to see the sunspot activity starting to rise and the 10 meter band showing life again.

I have been experimenting with some of the digital modes like WSPR, JT65-HF, and PSK 31. It’s amazing what can be done on these modes with extremely low power. I’ve been able to work around the world on just milliwatts using some of these modes.

Also, I like to keep in touch with friends “up north” via Echolink. I recently picked up an iPhone and in browsing the apps store, noticed that Echolink for iPhone was available for free. It really works well and I recommend it to anyone who wants Echolink capability in the palm of their hand. It worked flawlessly right from the start and is a very convenient way for me to keep in touch.

Here’s the Base Station Rundown – Mostly Kenwood Stuff !

Kenwood TS-940S for HF (A classic rig from the late 80s)

Kenwood TS-2000 for HF – UHF (As good, or better, as rigs costing a thousand bucks more)

Yaesu FT-817 QRP for HF – UHF (used mostly for portable/mobile work)

Kenwood TH-F6A (handie-talkie for use on the local repeaters)

For a video of the Indiana shack click here.

Antennas- Sometimes I think that simpler just might be better !!

HF: Cushcraft R7 vertical for 40 – 10 meters.

HF:  80 Meter Half Loop (Grounded Loop)

VHF/UHF:  6 Meter Rotatable Dipole. Comet GP-15.  50, 146, 440 MHz Tri-Band Vertical. Homebrew 6 element 432 beam. 2 meter horiz. Loop.

Mobile Setup

Yaesu FT-90 dual bander 146, and 440 MHz FM. Also, the FT 817 for ten meters.

Larsen NMO 2/70 antenna. Shortened CB whip antenna for ten meters.

Some of my other hobbies include golf, music, and home recording. Here are two links if you want to check out some of my songs.

http://www.jamwave.com/danvanderplough

http://www.jamwave.com/acousticgenerations

 More information on K9RQ available on QRZ.com