W3RGA's Homepage
About Me
Synopsis
Hi, my name is Pat, my callsign is W3RGA. I’m an avid ham radio enthusiast. I share some information here about me and my ham radio hobby. I’ve been a ham for over 23 years. Most of my friends are hams, and the hobby has greatly enriched my life.
Ham radio is a lifelong hobby that contains hundreds, if not thousands, of sub-hobbies under its umbrella. To learn more about the greatest hobby in the world visit the American Radio Relay League.
Timeline
1990's: As a teenager, I was a CB operator, AM DX'er, and scanner enthusiast. I would go to the local bookstore every month to get the latest issue of Pop Com.
2003: I was licensed as KB3JKV and was active on 2M FM and EchoLink.
2006: After a period of inactivity, a friend at work, Randy, KB3DZL encouraged me to get active in the hobby again. Thank you Randy!
2007: I got interested in weak signal VHF and started teaching myself Morse code so I could work more DX on 6M CW.
2008: I upgraded to General and received my W3RGA vanity call.
2009: I began experimenting with VHF Contesting and had some limited success in the QRP Portable category.
2010: I put a 20' piece of wire out the window and made my first HF contacts.
2011: I became fascinated with RTTY, it remained my favorite mode for about a decade. I still enjoy it very much today.
2014: I became involved with APRS and packet radio and played a key role in bringing APRS digipeaters back to the area.
2016: I began exploring more serious HF contest participation. See the Contesting⇣ section of this page for more info.
2017: I was honored to be asked by John, K3MD to join the prestigious Frankford Radio Club.
Today: HF contesting is still my focus but I dabble in many other aspects of the hobby.
Homepage
During the COVID lockdown in 2020 I decided to learn a little HTML and build a simple homepage.
Career
In the spring of 2000, I joined the Bingaman & Son Lumber team. Over the years, I’ve worked in many roles across the company, and since 2014 I have been serving as the night-shift production supervisor at the main Kreamer headquarters.
We are a global supplier of premium hardwood products. I feel very fortunate to be part of such a great company for over 26 years now.
Contact Me
✉ Email Me
Station
OFF-AIR. My RBN Node⇣ is still functioning, but my station is currently dismantled for upgrades.
- Rig
Elecraft K3S transceiverSOLDElecraft P3 panadapterSOLD- Bose QuietComfort noise-cancelling headphones with Brainwavz replacement earpads
Antlion Audio ModMic Uni noise-cancelling micSOLD- K1EL WKUSB-AF WKUSB with a pure sinewave audio output
- CW Morse LLC Outdoor Pocket Paddle with Magnets on a steel block
- N4BKY & N4FFF Duo Straight Key One
- TX Antenna
- True Ladder Line 125' doublet, inverted V @ 35'
- 100' of 600Ω open wire ladder line
- Balun Designs Model 1151 1:1 ATU current balun
LDG RT-100 remote antenna tunerSOLD- 75' of LMR-400 with DXE Next-Gen PL-259
- Balun Designs Model 1115 isolation balun
- At the output of the rig there are two 12-turn RG400 chokes in series, each wound on 2.4", mix 31 toroid, from the K9YC Choke Cookbook
- RX Antenna
- W6LVP Magnetic Loop mounted on the side of a tree 4' off the ground
- DXE RXFC-75 feedline choke
- 200' of DXE quad shield RG-6
- DXE RXFC-75 feedline choke
- Palomar CMNF-500-50 common mode noise filter
- Turn Island Systems 60 MHz Filter-Preamp
- Mini-Circuits ZSC-2-2+ splitter
- Palomar CMNF-500-50 common mode noise filter
- Accessories
- DXE TFK46-HD fiberglass mast
- KF7P anchor stakes, Atwood Rope 550 Paracord
- Red Pitaya SDRlab 122-16, see the RBN Node⇣ section of this page for more info
- Samlex SEC-1235 14V DC supply
- RIGrunner 4007U DC panel
- APC BR1500LCD UPS
- Every cable in the shack has multiple turns through Mix 31 Ferrite
Tools
DXE Ratcheting Crimper with Prep Tool and Gripper
PACE ADS200 Soldering Station and a good assortment of tips
Halibut Electronics RF & Digi CMCC test rigs
R&L Electronics NanoVNA-H4
Parts Candy Test Leads
- Computer
- Beelink EQR5, AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 5650U, 64GB RAM, Windows 11 Pro
- BenQ EX2780Q 27", IPS, 2560x1440 display
- Unicomp Mini M buckling spring keyboard
- Logitech Signature M650 mouse
Software
Day-to-day Software
N1MM Logger+ logging program
G3YYD's 2Tone RTTY encoder/decoder
VE3NEA's GRITTY RTTY decoder
W7SST's Morse Runner Community Edition copying practice
NA0N's Iambic Master sending practice
ARRL's TQSL LoTW upload program
Meinberg NTP software
K1JT's WSJT-X FT8/4 encoder/decoder
Skimmer Software, see the RBN Node⇣ section of this page for more info
VE3NEA's CW Skimmer Server, my current SkimSrv1.ini and SkimSrv2.ini
VE3NEA's RTTY Skimmer Server, my current RttySkimServ.ini
K3IT's HermesIntf
CWSL_Tee
W2AXR's CWSL_DIGI, my current CWSL_DIGI config.ini
W3OA's Aggregator, my BadCalls.txt contains over 900 commonly busted calls
N1DQ's CW Reporter
PowerSDR_STEMlab_Edition
QTH
I moved into my current Snydertown QTH in September of 2003. It's a quiet little borough in Northumberland County with fewer than 400 residents. I love living here, it's just not a good QTH for ham radio.
I didn't give ham radio any thought when I purchased this townhouse. It is located in a valley 200' below the average terrain and the backyard is only 30' wide. Luckily I have enough room to run my 125' doublet north & south.
I’ve been dealing with a lot of local noise lately, which is very frustrating! If I'm having trouble hearing you, I apologize.
Because of nearby neighbors, a detailed RF exposure calculation is provided. My station operates well within established limits, even on 28 MHz.
Portable
I have a QRP station that I occasionally take out into the field.
- Rig
- QRP Labs QMX transceiver (80,60,40,30,20 version), with a Tufteln Protection Cover
- Earplug style Headphones
- K6ARK QMX microphone kit
- HamGadgets Ultra Pico Keyer kit with a KM4CFT designed button cover printed by Craftcloud
- CW Morse LLC Outdoor Pocket Paddle with Magnets and a KM4CFT Leg plate and strap
- Backup paddles are the VK3IL v2 pressure paddle and the N6ARA TinyPaddle-Jack
- Antennas
- Reliance Antennas Bugout Mini 49:1 efhw Transformer and 80-10m wire assembly
- ABR 25' RG316 coax with ferrites
- N4BKY & N4FFF Just OK Mini 20M antenna and metal tripod
- Accessories
- GigaParts Explorer POTA20 carbon-fiber mast
- Tufteln Ground Spike, amazon aluminum tent stakes, Atwood Rope 95 Paracord & Micro Cord
- Anker Nano 30W power bank, and USB-C PD 12V Trigger
- Everything fits in a Small Backpack
- Logging
- KI2D's PoLo android app
Activity
I enjoy CW, RTTY and occasionally a little SSB. When I want to torture myself you might see me on FT8...
I have all the usual awards WAS, DXCC, and WPX but I don’t really consider myself a DX'er.
QSL
I no longer send paper cards, please🙏 QSL via the ARRL's Logbook of The World.
Member of
Susquehanna Valley Amateur Radio Club.
RBN Node
I started running a RBN node in 2017, I enjoy using the Reverse Beacon Network and wanted to contribute to the project.
My node spots CW 24/7 on all bands from 630M through 6M. As well as RTTY & FT8/4 during contests.
See the last 100 spots 
it has sent to the Reverse Beacon Network .
See the latest spots 
it has sent to PSK Reporter .
- SDR Receiver
- Red Pitaya SDRlab 122-16 running Pavel Demin's SD card image
- Acrylic case and 30mm fan
- Bel Power Solutions HC5-6/OVP-AG 5V linear supply
- RX Antenna
- W6LVP Magnetic Loop mounted on the side of a tree 4' off the ground
- DXE RXFC-75 feedline choke
- 200' of DXE quad shield RG-6
- DXE RXFC-75 feedline choke
- Palomar CMNF-500-50 common mode noise filter
- Turn Island Systems 60 MHz Filter-Preamp
- Mini-Circuits ZSC-2-2+ splitter
- Palomar CMNF-500-50 common mode noise filter
- Computer
- See the Station Computer⇡ section of this page for more info
Some additional RBN information and resources
Join RBN-OPS on Groups.io email reflector
N4ZR has an RBN Blog.
W5WTH has a Python script that creates a rolling chart of the average RBN CW speeds.
W6IWI has a PHP script that calculates some interesting RBN data for a given callsign.
S53ZO developed his own Analysis Tool.
SV3SJ designed the RBN's Spots Analysis Tool.
K5OHY has an RBN Signal Mapper.
HA8TKS has some RBN pages HERE and HERE and a CW skimmer comparison page.
VE3SUN has the IBP-RBN Challenge ranking skimmers by the number of NCDXF beacons heard each day.
SM7IUN's daily RBN Statistics page.
Try my RBN Data-Sorter Page for filtering and sorting RBN Raw Data Files.
Presentations
N6TV has a great presentation CW/RTTY Skimmer and the RBN.
N4ZR's presentation The RBN - Spots & More.
G3YPP's presentation Using the RBN.
Node Calibration
My RBN Skimmer Node Calibration playlist.
SM7IUN's Skimmer Calibration and daily RBN Analytics pages.
WWV Frequencies and CHU Frequencies.
Thinking of setting up a node?
HamSCI | N6TV | SM7IUN | Pavel Demin | UberSDR | WEB-888 & TRX-DUO | PD SDR | SDRplay | Hermes Lite | FlexRadio
Contesting
I enjoy posting to VA2WA's Contest Online ScoreBoard, it adds a real-time racing element to the game.
With only a low wire, I try to keep my expectations realistic. Below↓ is a list of some of my better scores. See ALL my claimed scores.
| Year | Contest | Category | Score | Notes | Wallpaper | 3830 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | ARRL Digital | SO1R, Low, 8 Hour | 2,245 | New Record Atlantic Division | Certificate | Report |
| 2023 | PA QSO Party | SO, Low, Mixed | 191,881 | New Record Northumberland Co. | First Place In-State | Certificate | Plaque | WAC | Report |
| 2022 | PA QSO Party | SO, Low, Mixed | 182,100 | New Record Northumberland Co. | Certificate | WAC | Report |
| 2022 | ARRL Digital | SO1R, Low | 4,889 | First Place Eastern Pennsylvania | Certificate | Report |
| 2021 | CQ WW RTTY | Classic, Low | 478,762 | New Record Three Call Area | First Place United States | Certificate | Report |
| 2021 | CQ WPX CW | TB/Wire, Low, All | 1,175,944 | First Place Three Call Area | Certificate | Report |
| 2021 | ARRL RTTY RU | SOU, Low | 91,278 | First Place Eastern Pennsylvania | Certificate | Report |
| 2019 | CQ WW RTTY | Classic, High | 383,625 | First Place Three Call Area | Certificate | Report |
| 2019 | CQ WPX RTTY | TB/Wire, Low, All | 854,700 | First Place United States | Certificate | Report |
| 2018 | CQ WPX SSB | TB/Wire, Low, All | 135,642 | First Place Three Call Area | Certificate | Report |
| 2018 | CQ WPX RTTY | TB/Wire, Low, All | 859,401 | New Record Three Call Area | First Place United States | Certificate | Report |
| 2018 | ARRL RTTY RU | SO, Low | 63,624 | First Place Eastern Pennsylvania | Certificate | Report |
| 2017 | ARRL SS Phone | SOU, Low | 58,940 | First Place Eastern Pennsylvania | Certificate | Report |
| 2017 | CQ WW RTTY | SO, Low, All | 527,772 | First Place Three Call Area | Certificate | Report |
| 2017 | CQ WPX RTTY | TB/Wire, Low, All | 741,506 | First Place Three Call Area | Certificate | Report |
| 2009 | ARRL Jan VHF | SO, Portable | 6,965 | First Place Eastern Pennsylvania | Certificate | Report |
Some additional contesting information and resources
WA7BNM's Contest Calendar
K4RO's Contesting 101
W1DED's Contest Crew playlist
My Contesting playlist
Contest University
Join a contest club
Frankford Radio Club
Potomac Valley Radio Club
Yankee Clipper Contest Club
Hudson Valley Contesters
Swamp Fox Contest Group
South East Contest Club
Tennessee Contest Group
Florida Contest Group
Society of Midwest Contesters
Kansas City Club
Mad River Radio Club
Minnesota Wireless Association
Dallas/Fort Worth Contest Group
Northern California Contest Club
Southern California Contest Club
Arizona Outlaws Contest Club
Contest Club Ontario
For a Complete list of Contest Clubs
Contest Log Analysis
WA7BNM's online version of K5KA/N6TV's CBS/CBSW program
KD4D's Contest Log Analytics
S53ZO's SH6 log analyzer
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