Why a web site? I don’t want to inflate my own importance in the world, I just want to share information and I needed an excuse to learn WordPress, AWS, etc. I originally setup this website on a Raspberry Pi 4 however this (WordPress on AWS) is better, faster, and cheaper!
What’s with all the antennas?
You’ve seen the car and your wondering: Is that a weather spotter? Or a government radio surveillance car? Or a Google Street View car? No, no, and no! Here is the explanation: https://n5zy.org/what-is-amateur-radio/
32,000 miles on the EV now (my other hobby)
How do I like owning an EV? Here is my story 2020 Kia Niro EV at 32,400 Miles
2025 ARRL Jan VHF Contest
I just submitted results for the Sept contest and I am already thinking of where I may want to go for the January 2025 VHF contest! I believe I will add a 2m loop and replace the 6m loop and I will bring along the Par Electronics 6m Stressed Moxon. That was a good antenna. The question however, do I drive North to Nebraska? Do I drive East toward Arkansas? Driving NE remains on higher ground. In Arkansas I can drive over a few mountainous areas. It would be a beautiful drive but likely not as many multipliers as I couldn’t activate as many grids. If I drive North and West-ish I can activate more grids but it’s mostly farmland and crops with fewer people and miles between them.
2024 Sept ARRL VHF Contest!
See the car at the Enid Hamfest Saturday morning and say hello to me – I will have a table inside! I hope to get your contact in the logbook at Enid! Buy your ticket for the Enid Hamfest at the Enid Amateur Radio web site https://enidarc.org/
For more information regarding my 14-Sept Rover Trip: https://n5zy.org/2024-sept-arrl-vhf-contest-as-a-rover/
July/Aug/Sep 2024
I’m off-air for a while. I also will not be sorting any W5 Bureau QSL cards for a few months..
Field Day.. June 22~23
I was planning to visit Turkey Mountain in Tulsa and operate as “3B OK” on 50, 144, 222, 440 and 1296 MHz. Not the traditional Field Day HF I know.. but a good ‘dress rehearsal’ for the next contest. I also thought this would be a good demonstration in a public park of emergency communications as a portable station. Unfortunately my redesigns took all weekend. 2024 brute-force redesign
2023/2024 New design
After the 2023 Sept VHF contest I began working on a new roof rack. My progress encountered months of delays but this June I operated in the 2024 June VHF contest as a Rover.
I’m looking forward the 2024’s VHF trips however in January I was involved an a collision. 5 PM traffic on the way home from work the highway traffic came to a full stop as normal but the driver behind me was taken by surprise and collided into the Kia and I. The car is in the repair shop for a few months. I’m doing well, just banged up some. No radios were injured, except maybe a coax that was pinched in the trunk door.
2023 ARRL Sept Rover
My trip blog 2023 Sept ARRL VHF Contest as a Rover
Propagation and E-skip we did not have…
For this occasion, I worked with ChatGPT to make a VHF Rover prayer..
2023 July CQ WW VHF
My July Amateur Radio activity: 2023 July CQ WW VHF Contest as a Rover
My June Amateur Radio activity: 2023 June ARRL VHF Contest as a Rover
What I do for work
I specialize on the ‘back end’ of Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager (MECM) aka Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) (Microsoft reorganization renamed of the product in 2020.) I began actually managing systems with this in 2001 when it was called Microsoft SMS. I don’t spend my weekends dreaming about MECM though.. so you won’t find much about it here.
What I do for fun
I have always been interested in technology, machinery, rocketry, and speed. I’ve enjoyed the Arduino and Raspberry Pi systems and using them with my main hobby Amateur Radio. I’m not a chin wager – I prefer to make contacts with people outside the continental US, from Canada and Mexico to New Zealand and the Antarctica! It’s fun to say hello to another Amateur Radio operator like myself in another country using only a radio, an antenna, the Earth’s Ionosphere, and skills. It’s even more fun when it’s only 100 watts on voice mode (PHONE) or 30 watts in data mode. I think the ultimate in fun would be doing this with 100% solar power (off the grid). Other things that make it fun are piecing things together and doing something I’ve never done before like VHF Rovering.
If your wondering how many people are licensed in the US, you can see the numbers correlated by our association: http://www.arrl.org/fcc-license-counts If you interested in what it takes to become licensed, you can ask me (a former licensing instructor and examiner).
You can also start here: http://www.arrl.org/licensing-education-training
You can also take free practice exams here: https://hamstudy.org/
In 2019 at our “Edmond Amateur Radio Field Day” we were on the afternoon and evening TV news broadcast! https://www.news9.com/clip/14848759/oklahoma-hams-participate-in-national-field-day Field day is the last full weekend of June each year. During my term as President we held the largest Field Day sites in the state for a few years (COVID broke our run).
Current Space Weather from NOAA: https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/communities/radio-communications
Public pledges of support
If you use LoTW, please donate directly to LoTW support it here: https://home.arrl.org/action/Donate
Think of the postage expenses this program has saved you, and donate a portion of that savings to LoTW development, maintenance and utility costs. Keep LoTW online and free to the world by donating.
If you have several thousands QSL’s, consider a minimum of 1 cent per QSL initially and then maybe 50 cents per new QSL per year (just an example). LoTW is a huge expense to ARRL and those of us that use it should donate to keep it maintained.