KK4KF's Ham Radio Home Page

Welcome! Here you can find out about me and the GREAT HOBBY called Ham Radio.

FISTS CW CLUB
My Reptile Home Page
My Ham Links Page
My HEATHKIT Page

Here you will find information on the Popular Heathkit QRP HW-7, HW-8 and HW-9. Included are mods, Heathkit Service Notes, and anything else I can find and get permission to post on these fine radios.

Continue reading here to find out more about me and my interest in Ham radio, my equipment and QRP.

My name is Bill Myers and I currently live in Shalimar, Fl.  Shalimar is located in the panhandle of Florida, about half way between Pensacola and Panama City.  The grid location is EM60.  I am retired from the Air Force where I worked as an Air Traffic Controller and am currently employed by the Okaloosa County Sheriff Office as a deputy sheriff.  I am married (my second marriage) and have two sons from my first marriage, one of them is a ham also.  

My interest in Ham radio goes back to my growing up days in the late 60's.  As a "young person" I grew up in the lower Florida Keys and would listen to the AM radio late at night when the local stations went off the air. WOWO (Ft. Wayne, In) and WLS (Chicago, IL) were two of my favorite stations as well as CKLW (Windsor, Ontario). I would build small crystal radios to put in my shirt pocket at school to keep me occupied when I got bored. I then went to building the Gray Kit SW receiver and other kits. I knew a number of HAMS back then and they helped me learn the Morse Code.

Back then (1968/69) you had to go to the FCC testing station to get your license, and they didn't work on weekends in Miami, so I never got tested and licensed. My interest continued, but the drive was temporary diminished. In the 70's I got into the CB Craze and operated on 11 meters a lot. In fact, with 12 watts pep output on SSB, I worked all 50 states, half of Europe, a good portion of Asia, and much of South and Central America using a 5/8 wave ground plane. I finally got fed up with the garbage on 11 meters and realized I really wanted to get my ticket. I learned the code again, studied for the novice test, and found a General class licensed friend to administer the test. I passed and was first licensed as KB4TBR in 1986.

The night I received that license, I was on 40 meters with two local friends (also novices, one was licensed with me and had just received his license that day also), when I was called by a station in Baton Rouge. After getting over the shock of actually hearing my callsign, I answered him. I was so excited I missed most of his transmission except his callsign, location, and the RST report( a "signal" report where numbers are used to identify your Readability, Strength, and Tone when using Morse Code). Well, I made it through that QSO (conversation) and after I calmed down, I realized I LOVED THIS and wanted Much, Much More of it.

30 days later, and over 150 QSO's on cw, I went to the local club's testing session and upgraded to General. It took a few weeks/months to finally convince me that there were voice priviliges associated with the General license, and I did finally get up on SSB. I still spend most of my time on CW, not as much aggravation in my opinion. I did upgrade to Advanced and received my current call sign.  Some day I'll get around to upgrading to Extra.

There was a period of 4 to 5 years where I went totally inactive. I was in the middle of a divorce, moving, etc. Once I got re-settled I got back on the air. Though I did not have the "real estate" I previously had for antennas, I was able to get a 40 meter dipole up about 25 feet. Now I run mostly QRP-CW and mostly on 40 meters. Occasionally I get on 80 and I use a long wire run along the privacy fences to get on 160 meters. I plan to take the 80 an down and replace it with an extended zepp to help with 80 meters.

Current HF Radio Equipment used by me includes;

Accessory equipment includes;

Much of the above listed equipment (except the Icom) is packed into a metal case or packed into a backpack and carried to the field to operate QRP Portable. It can be operated off one 12 volt 7 Amp Hour battery for quite a while. Imagine being able to put a complete station into your briefcase with your papers and carrying it with you on your next business trip.

What is QRP?  Well, QRP is operating your station using LOW POWER.  CW-QRP normally means using 5 watts or less.  SSB-QRP normally means using 12 watts PEP or less.  Most of my radios are set for 4 watts or less.  The 40-9'er runs about 400 mw (.4 watts) and one of the NC38S's is running 350mw (.35 watts).  The HW-8 is set at 1 watt and the HW-7 runs about 1.25 watts.  The Icom is the only HF radio I own that is capable of more than 10 watts, and it is set at 4 watts right now.  I, personally, derive more pleasure from the contacts I make using the lower power.  It can be harder to make contacts, but they are more rewarding for me.  I do not chase DX countries, counties, and do not participate in most of the major contests.  I do try to operate in as many of the QRP contests and events I can.

The other nice thing about operating QRP is that you can build quite a bit of your operating equipment.  The 40-9'er, NC38S, and Rainbow Tuner only cost $25.00 each as a kit. Additional costs were required for connectors, pots, and enclosures but the overall cost was much less than buying a commercially produced product.  By checking the "commercial" kit companies homepages, I was able to buy many of the other kits while they were on sale.  And I still enjoy building, even if I do have to use a lighted magnifying glass and wear glasses in my not-so-young age (I turned 47 in 1998).

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