KA0USA's Activities I was first licensed as KE6DCE in September 1993 when I passed my Technician Class test in Apple Valley, CA. My main interest at that time was to keep in contact with Bill using a 2-meter handheld, which I still do today using that same Realistic HTX-202. Bill and I founded the Pueblo West Amateur Radio Club on August 15, 2009. The enthusiasm of the new group inspired me to study for my General License. In October 2009 I fell and broke my arm near the shoulder. Not being able to do much, I found that the accident provided a great opportunity for me to study for my upgrade. I decided on a whim that when the ARRL 10 Meter Contest was held in December I would try to make 10 contacts. Conditions had been very poor on that band, and I had never used an HF radio before. I used our portable rig, a Yaesu FT-897D set up on the breakfast bar and a 10-meter dipole at 12'. The 10-meter band was in very poor shape on Saturday, with only an occasional signal making its way through the deep fades. I checked the band throughout the day and made 8 contacts in CO, TX, CA, OR and WA. About three hours before the contest ended on Sunday, conditions improved. MS, FL, GA, AL, AR, LA, and two Brazilian contacts were put in the log for a total of 32 contacts for the weekend. I was hooked on HF now and more determined than ever to get my General License. I passed the test on February 13, 2010. Since I was now living in the Tenth Call Area, I decided I should have a "0" call, and I had found that my old call was not easily deciphered by other stations on SSB. I received my Vanity Call on March 19, 2010. I have been an ARRL member and Volunteer Examiner since 2010. Last 10 DX Stations Worked CALL DATE BAND MODE COUNTRY ZF1A 7/9/2011 20 SSB Cayman Islands RG4F 6/30/2011 20 SSB Armenia OM2VL 3/26/2011 15 SSB Slovak Republic EA1KP 3/26/2011 15 SSB Spain LY21A 3/17/2011 17 SSB Lithuania V25OP 3/10/2011 10 SSB Antigua LP1H 10/30/2010 20 SSB Argentina CW5W 10/30/2010 20 SSB Uruguay ON509Q 9/30/2010 17 SSB Belgium VK7XX 6/19/2010 17 SSB Tasmania While I am still attempting to work all the states, I especially enjoy making contacts with foreign stations and am slowly working toward the ARRL's DXCC award. My bands of choice are 17 & 15 meters when they are open, running 90 watts on SSB. I also enjoy 10 meters where low power and low antennas still work well. I use paper QSL cards, LOTW, and eQSL (to AG Verified stations on request). If you would like to have a printed QSL card for a contact, please send your card with a BUSINESS SIZE SASE, or QSL through the Bureau, as my cards are 4" x 6" and will not fit in a standard size envelope. UPDATES Bill recently bought a radio for me. so now I have my own! It is an ICOM IC-706MKIIG. I haven't used it much, but I'm primarily working PSK31 with an occasional SSB contact. I'm proud of the performance from the tape measure antenna yagi I built in 2010 as part of a club project geared toward hidden transmitter hunting. I did most of the work myself, including cutting the PVC pipe with a chop saw and tinning the driven elements. The tape measure used for the elements was purchased for $1.99 at Harbor Freight. Six muffler clamps were used to attach the elements, rather than using screws to attach them to the PVC fittings. The ends of each element were covered with electrical tape. The PVC fittings are bolted to the boom, so the antenna may be broken down for travel or storage. The antenna shows good a front to back ratio and side signal rejection. Signal readings from the Colorado Connection's 145.130 repeater showed an S9+20 db (the highest the meter will show on our rig) with the antenna pointed at it, an S4 reading off the back of the antenna, and S0 (just noise) off the side of the antenna. The original space between the driven elements was 1". We did tweak the SWR just a bit by decreasing the distance between the driven elements by 3/16", but as built, the antenna was okay for use as a transmit antenna as well. The length of the driven element could be shortened just a bit more, but it is quite usable as is. The SWR at 144 MHz was slightly over 1.3:1 at 144 MHz, less than 1.2:1 at 145.5 Megs, and less than 1.7:1 at 148 MHz. Any further tuning will be done by trimming the ends of each of the driven elements 1/16" at a time. No adjustment was made to the 6" hairpin match made from uninsulated #14 solid copper wire. RG-58 was used to connect the antenna to an Realistic (Radio Shack) HTX-202 handheld. I decided to try out the yagi and see if I could hear the International Space Station. After deciding the crew wasn't going to make any voice contacts on 145.800 Mhz on the pass, I switched to the ISS APRS frequency of 145.825 Mhz. By this time, the space station was approaching its peak elevation. The antenna did much better than expected. I was able to track the ISS right down to the horizon on a handheld radio. Until it was down to about 10 degrees above the horizon, signals were at full scale. I was able to track the station to within a few seconds of the posted Loss of Signal (LOS). Later, Bill added an MFJ-762 attenuator to the antenna. This added up to 81 dB of attenuation, allowing me to get closer to the transmitter before the handheld overloads. In January 2011, Bill and I attended Quartzfest, an annual gathering of amateur radio operators in the desert south of Quartzsite, AZ. While there, I participated in a hidden transmitter hunt. I found three of the four transmitters and was within a few feet of the fourth when it was found.