Operating

Where I'm on the air! Portable, Mobile, /PM (Pedestrian Mobile), Bicycle Mobile

Ok, Wow! This site/page needed an update! So here it is!! Ok, here is my newest addiction! I have now found the Awesome world of HFPack operations!! I have known about it and been a member of the HFPack reflector/Yahoo group since back in late 2000. But I am finally on the air portable, and/or /PM (Pedestrian Mobile) This is where we as Amateur Radio operators strap on a backpack with radio gear, batteries, or powersource and even and antenna and talk to people all the time while walking around!!! Or we pack all the gear up to a mountain or nice location. Unless you are Steve N0TU, then Rooster and Peanut (his two goats!!!) pack the gear for you!! Check out his goats on his blog here with VIDEOS! http://n0tu.blogspot.com/ You can go check out http://www.hfpack.com for all the info on this mode of enjoying this fun hobby. Check back here often as I'll update the page with info and even pictures and photos of all my adventures while out Pedestrian Mobile and Portable from remote mountain tops to the back yard here at home.

While on vacation the week of May 18th-23rd 2008 I operated portable from the motel room. Using a homebrewed Buddipole antenna which plans can be found on the following link http://www.qsl.net/w3ff/. Or if you prefer you can go to his commercial web site and order a VERY nice quality kit! (Mine is on the way it should be here this week!!) That web site can be found here http://www.buddipole.com. Thanks to Budd and all of the gang at Buddipole. Also thanks to the whole group of HFPackers!

I have a few pics from the trip with my setup I used on the air.

This was the operating position from the table in the room.

And this was the view out over the Atlantic from the balcony with a nice shot of the Homebrewed Buddipole. Oh yeah we were on the 9th floor!!!

Now for a funny story!! I got the antenna tuned up for 17m (HFPack calling frequency 18.157.5 OF COURSE!!) and then called CQ (calling any station listening) This went on for about ohhh 10-15 mins. Then to no avail I decided to scan the band. Then BAAM there he was a station that was 20 over S9!!! Heheh well long story short it was another portable operator in the SAME motel I WAS IN!!!! Hehehe yeah one floor up and four rooms over!! Hehehe After we talked and I realized he was staying where we were I got up and went outside and looked and BAAM there was his antenna!!!

This was his antenna viewed from our balcony!! Hehe

Ok then I went back outside and caught him taking down the antenna. So I snapped a pic!!

Amateur Radio is a great hobby that has many MANY different avenues that can be travelled down. The one particular one that has gotten ahold of me and I thoroughly enjoy is VHF/UHF contesting and VHF/UHF weak signal work. I particularly like the "Roving" asspect of it. For those that may not know Roving or operating as a Rover is where an Amateur operator or operators go from one Grid Square to another trying to "activate" or talk to people from as many Grids as possible. In case you don't know or have forgotten from the test (I think that it is or was a question on the test... hehe it's been a while!) The Maiden head Grid system is a way of dividing the US and the WORLD into a 1° x 2° grid that allows others to know exactly or well near exactly where you are. For more info check out the ARRL's web page on Grid squares.... they are much more detailed and technical. The link is here: http://www.arrl.org/locate/gridinfo.html