Amateur radio is a hobby for lifetime. It is about self development.
It was always a social club brainstorming problems and pioneering solutions. Focused to emergency services, resilience, operations, logistics, tech. training, exploration, and planting independence.

The social part changed. Amateur radio operators became software Bio-robots. There is no need for brain and languages. Bio-robots Windows 25. Programmed by TV, media, to reach Windows 25 level. No social intelligence, no questions, answers, pain, mistakes, emotions. Psychology of crowd. - Hit the Power OFF button -.
FT8 originates in whistle language from Canary islands. Bronze age. It has excellent throughput.
However FT8 sounds annoying,
without attractive digital stuff and only morse code the amateur radio would die out. Top morse enthusiasts become nervous hearing 50 wpm from keyboards and computerized readers. The There are so many interesting things to do. Contemplate. Plant imagination. Plant the soul of creativity, curiosity, exploration, innovation, cooperation, and opinion exchange in social environment. A dialogue. In light of this stuff, i.e. kits like BitX contribute more than China products.

Amateur radio enthusiasts were always on the forefront of skills. Operating from the middle of nowhere, mountain tops, deserts, southern Antarctic region, high seas, desolate islands, and space. The theory and practice how the whole thing works is quite interesting. The physics behind HF propagation is not fully predictible.

Recent society changed direction from commandments to anarchy. It ended in a crash.
Read Edward Gibbon's (1737 - 1794) book "Decline and fall of Roman empire" and   "Tainter: Collapse of Complex Societies".
The symptoms are identical with present times. Decline. More entertainment, less work, higher taxes, anarchy, games, divide and govern, covid, social distancing instead of medical distancing, populism, fake leaders, fake ideology, fake media, money for political compromise, debts, inflation, minting gold coins with brass, totalitarian control, everything is imported, family destruction, school destruction, globalists, liberals, LGBTHQ orgies.. called sodomy in Sodom and Gomorrah towns "Book of Genesis", provoking the wrath of God. Fiasco. End of greatness.

"I have no time" is a loss of interest due to "higher priorities", or there is nothing to say.. Plant the soul of exploration and mutual cooperation. The Renaissance.

Morse code has still the best throughput. All computer based morse decoding systems fail, because of missing human interaction. Feedback of multiple dots is never machine understood.
The hidden question behind sounds like -"what the family gained by listening 40 years dash/dots from the shack". This is your decision.

My first QSO was CW (Morse code) on 160 meters with HB9... by Lugano.
Frankly both parties enjoyed the charming moment. Can't forget.
The equipment was old WWII AR88LF receiver and vintage tube transmitter. The antenna was very probably half wave.
Later I put together 160m power amplifier running 4x 6L50 tubes to improve the communication range. The anodes were cherry red. Hallicrafters SX-42 receiver served for a while. It was a good winter heater. The band switches were problematic, replacements tubes, and tube sockets as well.
My first built TX was for 160m with tubes. Lasted long. It was sold.
Interesting design was SSB/CW/FM 2m transceiver with PLL synthesizer and digital read-out. Used 28V because of linearity. This trx made many nice QSOs over 1500 miles, sporadic propagation, listening to EME, 16 element yagi. In terms of IP3 and sensitivity, it has beaten multiple onsite Kenwoods, Icoms and other stuff. Works till today. Not for sale.
Different priorities arrived, professional and personal.
Recently custom RX upconverter for experiemental USB-DSP-stick was done.
Then Trx Orion was tested. The IP3 is better compared to other devices. Not for sale. The experience gained is not transferable.

  Tube power amplifiers are good. Medium power solid state amplifiers are good. Devices with specialized chips are wrong choice. After first lightning storm it is finished. Products with seven micro-controllers are culprit. One controller is enough. Products with custom chips are serious culprit. Products using worn-out flash memories with limited durability are problem (Japs, China). After few years they go to garbage. There are no spared parts.
Products with high first IF (40-70MHz) are insane. You are victim of marketing. There is nothing to replace, improve, modify.
Activities of many present hams are reduced to purchasing China products.

It took some time to design first PLL synthesizers, VFOs, RF power amplifiers, programmable digital logic, ASICs, software, high efficiency PWM supplies, analogue circuits, matching, antennas, firmware, software, WiFi, ISM band transceivers, satellites, space technology, to understand reliability and aerospace standards. Think the way, this is a medical or aerospace product.

  What makes the difference? Right idea with right theory. It is a pleasure to see products designed to last. Still performing well. The simpler, the better, the more elegant. Today I make products with MCU. Make it Great Again!

I am not avid contester. Contest robots are not of my interest. Weak signal, hardware, and software is of my interest. Sometimes we test new stuff with club members. Sometimes we tune antenna systems. It is a social activity. Sometimes we test different approach to solve old problems.

 W6KA Pasadena



 W6KA Shack

Voyager1 (1977-2024 mission) team reallocated failing memory segment on Voyager 1. Still working. Great success!
This was not achieved in any different country...
What you can see, the team plants successors. Very important.

Digital Dementia is planned tool to divide people, invade privacy, manipulate, and govern. Internet presents old records. Mobile phones are responsible for low I.Q. in children and adults.
Maintain your independence and plant your liberties. What is most important, is the people around.
HF contacts with sow attitude are ignored (PA - Netherlands, ON, LA).

Read the book R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots, 1920) - play with one of the first examples of "artificial intelligence" human-like beings in art and literature. Written by Karel Capek.

Another treasure book about psychopaths and total idiots in government, psychology of crowd, psychology of manipulation, media, unmanageable appetence to govern, sick ideology, green religion, Nazi, fanaticism, communism, globalisation, liberals, vaccination, and oversmarting unbeatable forces of nature is the book "The White Disease" (written by Karel Capek in 1937 just before WWII).

For Amateur radio newbies: Questionable technical results are invitation to try something different. Ask for help from your local division. Discuss it, start the dialogue. Without that you won't learn anything. We have a network.
 Morse keyer kit DIY.

Solar X-Rays today      
Geomagnetic field pK  

pK > 4..9  STORM , pK = 4  UNSETTLED , pK = 0..4   QUIET  

High planetary index pK means HF propagation blackout, satellite problems
3-hour monitoring step. Space monitoring is provided by n3kl.org & noaa


 
Counter reset on 04/2023 for Canadian CE3 anniversary (new king)

eQSL.cc Check your waiting eQSL cards

http://eqsl.cc "To Register for electronic eQSL card"
Avoid the self-elected QSL bureau bureaucracy.

"Wherever smart people work, doors are unlocked"
- Steve Wozniak   (my friend).

If doors are locked, you are sitting in horse ass.