My operations are encouraging me to finally learn about antenna modeling. The reason for this is that I don’t think that I’m doing as well as I should on 20 meters. I’m thinking that’s because I’m using a 66-ft., i.e. a full-wave, doublet in an inverted-V configuration and that might have some weird antenna pattern. Perhaps if I modeled the antenna, and could get an idea of the pattern, I could orient it in some way that will give me better result. That, or just come up with some ot...| KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog
First POTA of 2024!| KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog
For this episode, I joined Martin Butler M1MRB, Caryn Eve Murray KD2GUT, Edmund Spicer M0MNG and Ed Durrant DD5LP to discuss the following topics:| KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog
Amateur radio videos: The family that POTAs together…, QLF+,| KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog
One of the cool things about Parks on the Air (POTA) is that the simple exchange and lack of rules is encouraging some operators to try their hand at CW. Not only are some of newer operators working POTA, they’re also making regular CW QSOs as well. This is great for all CW ops as it increases activity on the bands.| KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog
Last week, I taught my fourth one-day Tech class at DEFCON. DEFCON, as some of you may know, is one of the premiere hacker/cybersecurity conferences.| KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog
Ten years ago, I developed a leadership seminar for amateur radio club officers. We held a couple of session here in Michigan, which the participants found to be useful, and I suggested to the ARRL that they offer this—or something similar—to club leaders across the country. In typical ARRL fashion back then, I never heard back from them.| KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog
About five years ago, I joined the Rotary Club here in Ann Arbor, MI. As I had, by this time, served as president of our local amateur radio club, I began comparing how our Rotary Club operating to how our amateur radio club operated. What a huge difference! The members of the Rotary Club were committed and really got things done. The members of the ham radio club, on the other hand, showed practically no commitment at all, had to be coerced into doing much of anything, and when they did, the...| KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog
A swallow’s nest attached to the picnic shelter where we operated from this morning. Mama swallow was not happy with me taking this picture. In fact, she dive-bombed me earlier. She had at least three chicks in the nest.I often do POTA activations with two friends: Paul, KW1L and Rick, K8BMA. We almost always operate CW. On a recent activiation, Paul asked if there was a way to do a joint activation like many phone operators do. If you hunt phone POTA activators, they often say something ...| www.kb6nu.com
I tried to find a better piece of clip art to illustrate leadership, but came up short. So, instead here’s something dopey. :)This afternoon, I was talking with a fellow who approached me about providing leadership training for ham radio club officers. Back in 2012, when I was the Michigan Section Affiliated Club Coordinator, I developed just such a course, based on my work as a facilitator for the Rotary Leadership Institute. The topics I covered included:| KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog
A proposal to make it less expensive for older members to become Life Members (#40,41). The motion reads, “The ARRL establish a reduced-rate, revenue-neutral Life Membership program for individuals age 70 or older, with cumulative annual membership of 25 years or more, at an initial rate of $750.” To me, this seems too little and too late. I’m not sure that many 70-year-olds are going to find this an attractive offer, since they’re going to have to live until they’re 85 for this to ...| KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog
Last fall, under the aegis of Ham Radio Village, I was awarded a grant to take my one-day Tech class on the road. Ham Radio Village believes that more people in technical fields should have amateur radio licenses and that amateur radio is underrepresented in the hacker, STEM/STEAM, and maker communities. Currently, there is little outreach to these communities about the benefits of amateur radio in their fields.| www.kb6nu.com