My Year In Review, 2014

Massachusetts Setup

I figured it was as good of a time as any to address my year in review. As with any year, there have been ups and downs professionally, personally and hamally (Okay, just keeping with the theme). Since this blog is mainly about ham radio, I'll focus on that. My personal life has a direct effect on what I would consider the most rewarding hobby I have ever participated in, that being ham radio. Working in Boston for well over a year was a great experience. Leaving Alaska for Boston was (for me) going from one extreme to another. Something like working the HF bands (or trying) with ½ watt and an indoor basement antenna and then being able to work the HF bands at one of the many contest super stations across the country with stacked beams nearly reaching the flight paths of most 737's. Even though my job was essentially the same, that was the only similarity between the two locations. My radio (or shack time) was cut dramatically and I found little time to play radio when we headed east.

857D & My Navy Flamerproof

In looking at my logbook, I made approximately 298 QSO's in 2014 from my old QTH in Massachusetts, most QRP. The highlights were working the ARRL January VHF Contest, something I had not done in many years. Now mind you, I was working with an indoor antenna but it was fun to once again operate on 6, 2 and 432. Another highlight was playing in the ARRL DX Contest as a QRP entry. I've blogged about both of these so I won't go into details here but even with a limited station, it was fun. I got on as often as I could and I think I did pretty well considering my setup. I found the propagation on the east coast much better for QRP operation so that also made the experience much more enjoyable. As many contest stations will tell you, it's about location, location and location. 

New QTH

When my wife and I relocated to Oregon, it has allowed me a bit more free time to play radio, for now. Oregon is a beautiful place but I find my current QTH is not as QRP friendly as my last. Being surrounded by mountains and operating QRP with my same indoor setup has been much more challenging here. To date, I've made a whopping 28 QSO's from my new 7'land QTH. A mix of digital (JT65A) and Morse Code (CW) contacts. But, I'm thankful for those 28 contacts and my goal is to make many more as we enter into 2015. Plans can change but maybe I can put up an external antenna and get a bit more serious about operating as I once did from Alaska. I miss contesting.

Afternoon Commute

Having experienced life in the city, I'm excited about my new western adventures. I don't miss the traffic, the commute or the expense of Boston, but it's a very neat city. I experienced several firsts for me there having grown up in a small town community in the Midwest. I no longer need to use my WAZE app on my cell phone to find the least congested way home. People actually stop at red lights here and there does not appear to be a 5 second rule (increased from 3 seconds in the Boston area I believe in 2012). This year certainly has ended much differently than it began on all aspects for me. When opportunity knocks, sometimes what lies on the other side of the door is just what you're looking for. That door took me (us) 3,000 miles west. And of course I leave Massachusetts when I finally learn how to spell it. 

Probably the biggest highlight of 2014 for me was being able to finally attend the Dayton Hamvention. I won't dwell on the details as they are found elsewhere in this blog but hitting Dayton with my long time bestest of friends Sean, KL1SF was at the top. We have talked about it for many years and it finally happened. I don't see myself going back anytime soon but it was great to put faces with callsigns of other hams I talked to on the radio over the years.

Our Family Beagle 1999-2014

In life, we often times take things for granted and I'm guilty of that. My wife and I decided on getting a family pet many years ago. I just happened to be traveling down a back road (which I normally did not use) and I saw a sign that read "Beagles For Sale." I've had a love for this breed since I was very young. I stopped and spoke with the owner. A few days later, I stopped back with my wife and this one little tri-colored female won our hearts. We laid claim to her and it was not long before I was picking her up and taking her home. Like any young puppy, it took her awhile to get used to her surroundings but soon she ruled the house. When we began camping, she loved to go along and experience new surroundings. When we moved to Alaska, she toughed it out (her outside potty times were shortened dramatically during the winter months) but she loved to sniff and play in her new environment. When we moved to Boston, it was obvious her age was catching up to her. 2014 was the year that she would leave us and I think of her often with a tear in my eye. That was by far, the lowlight for me in 2014 and just writing about it leaves a lump in my throat. 

With the New Year nearly upon us, there is plenty of "New" for me in 2015! New friends, new coworkers, new QTH, new surroundings, new places to enjoy the great outdoors, new...well, the list goes on. These new things may take away from my operating time but I believe I can achieve balance and harmony when it comes to ham radio and the rest of my humanly obligations. At least for me, living out here on the western side of country makes it more possible. Life already seems so much slower and I'm enjoying every second of it. 

So, what else is new for me in 2015? After much thought, there was at least one more "New" for me to do. That is pictured below. The New Year really does symbolize "New" for me and in many ways. I'm looking forward to flipping that calendar over and jumping feet first into 2015. I see myself being a 7'lander for a long while. Just like AK2MA (Alaska 2 Massachusetts) had a meaning, this next vanity callsign has a more personal meaning. Dedicated to two things I miss greatly, Alaska and our family beagle. Enjoy today because you don't know what tomorrow will bring. Where does this winding road of life take me next and where do I go from here? Chapter 4 of course and it would be great to have you along for the ride.    

Retired

   HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2013 Year In Review

2013 KL8DX Total QSO's as reported by Clublog

It's hard to believe that we have entered yet another year. Leaving 2013 behind is bittersweet. I very much miss operating from Alaska however, it's nice to be closer to friends and family here in the lower 48. My wife and I spent Christmas with many of those important to us but most importantly, we spent our first Christmas with our grandchildren. We are looking forward to spending many more holidays and long weekends in Ohio, where most of our family live. The only ham radio excitement I had while back in Northern Ohio was hooking up with my CW Elmer Ed, K8QWY on a local repeater! It had been ages since I have talked with Ed on VHF. Even though I did not get to see him and many of my other ham friends personally, it is my plan to touch base with them on future trips to the Buckeye. I ran APRS for most of the trip and was pleased with much of the coverage. In many cases, I had better APRS coverage than I had cell phone coverage. 

2013 was the year of change for this ham. From leaving Alaska to changing my callsign, this was change in the extreme. If departing remote Alaska and arriving to busy Boston was not enough, having to learn a new callsign and change all of my information kept me pretty busy. We are still unpacking boxes and sorting through the years of accumulation with a goal of downsizing by at least 50%. It's also an adjustment going from a 4 element tri-bander at 43 feet with an Icom IC-756PRO to a Yaesu FT-857D with 100 watts or less to an indoor Buddipole. I went from finding a clear frequency calling CQ and dealing with contest pile-ups and running stations for hours to 100% Search & Pounce.  

On a personal note, we went from living nearly tax free to tax overload here in Massachusetts. I've not sat down and compared apples to apples as it really doesn't matter as we are here. It's not all bad as we live next to New Hampshire and like many folks who reside here, we can shop north of the border saving some of that tax burden. So many cities and stores within 25 miles of our home and we have been enjoying the selection. And when it comes to radio, it's very different here. The biggest change is propagation. I'm no longer under the aurora curtain so there is normally something on the radio 24/7. I sure enjoyed the ARRL 10 Meter Contest and to date, I've worked a whopping 47 entities with my low power indoor antenna set-up. I had to create my submission log for the ARRL 10 Meter Contest manually, so after returning home from our holiday travels, I managed to finish up my log and submit it. Gives one a new appreciation of contest software that does all that paperwork for ya. I have plans of upgrading my shack computer so once I'm done with that task, I can hopefully get back to using Win-test. I have a few more computers to recycle and it will be time to get working on the shack computer upgrade. 

Anyhow, the photo at the top of the page is from Clublog of my 2013 activity as KL8DX. Only worked a bit over 2,400 QSO's with most being contest related from Alaska. I was not chasing DX, as I had while living in Ohio but my total while living in Alaska is also reflected by the Clublog DXCC overview. 

KL8DX DXCC Alaska 

Clublog is a great program and as long as it's available, I will support it and continue to upload my logs. It has actually caught several issues that my logging program either misidentified as a wrong DXCC Entity or simply helped me realize I busted a callsign. Just this afternoon, I created my AK2MA log and uploaded all of the contacts I've made since residing here in MA. But I'm happy with my 212 worked while operating from Alaska. Most were worked during contests but I did chase a few DXpeditions. 

I started working on my next QSL card prior to the holiday's but now that we are settled back into the new year grind, I will be continue working on my next design. I've already received a few QSL card requests so for those that might be reading my blog and sent a card, I hope to have some new cards printed soon. I also have two huge bureau drops for KL8DX to deal with as well. I'm hoping that since we are entering the coldest months of the year, I will have a bit more time for the ham radio administrative side of things. I've had visions of GlobalQSL and it is certainly worth consideration. From those I've heard that use it claim it puts more fun in ham radio as you're spending less time on QSL duties.

AK2MA Clublog Overview

So with only a bit over a few hundred QSO's in the ol logbook here at AK2MA, I have plans of some casual winter operating. As I write this, I'm watching the DX spots scrolling across a vintage version of Ham Radio Deluxe via KL7G, spotting many of the RTTY stations including a few of my old Alaskan neighbors in this weekends contest. I still very much enjoy RTTY in this age when there are so many digital modes available. Like Morse Code, it has that vintage feel to it (it that's possible while using a modern day computer with software and a soundcard). 

I have no plans or milestones set for 2014. I hope to do more portable operating and we will be on the hunt for out of the way places to camp and break away from the general public. If you had been following my KL8DX blog you will know that my Ameritron Amplifier has been out of service for the last few years. Carl, WL7BDO came down to my house while we lived in Alaska and helped me troubleshoot and diagnose my case of Ampluenza. I hope to send that off for repair and then as mentioned earlier, get my shack computer upgraded and rebuilt. I also need to start thinking of a new affordable (keyword) HF rig. I will hang onto my Icom IC-756PRO until there are no parts available but my goal is to set it up for digital contesting. I would like a main CW rig, that being a Elecraft K3, Icom or Yaesu HF rig. I'm not even sure when I will have a tower up again (won't be one at this QTH) but when I do, I want to have the station ready. In the mean time, I have my Icom 703Plus, Icom 706MIIG and my Yaesu FT-857D to play radio with. Unless I'm participating in a mult-operator setting at another QTH, my operating here will likely be casual and more Search & Pounce than anything. Once I find my data cable for my Icom's, I'm looking forward to getting back on digital. 

Now that we have entered into a new year, I'm hopeful that my adventures both on and off the radio continue. I'm sure 2014 will continue with some changes but I'm hopeful it will be less dramatic than 2013. I think my theme for this year will be less. I plan on much more QRP operating as conditions here are more conducive to low power operating. Not that Alaska wasn't a QRP contesting hotspot but many times even 100 watts would hardly make it across the state border. Both KL7AC and KL2R have posted some pretty nice numbers while operating QRP from the 49th. My station however lacked the exterior metal work that would help that 5 watt signal make it much beyond the neighbors house. Even though I no longer have my tower up since moving, ham radio is very much alive in our house. With the feedline running from the rig on our kitchen table, through our kitchen and living room, up the stairs and connecting to the antenna in the hallway during the weekends, there is no doubt ham radio is happening around here, just on a much smaller scale.