Monthly Archives: February 2011
He’s been a ham for longer than most people are alive
Via QRZ.com: George Bollas, VK3LA of Melbourne, Australia has this year achieved a remarkable milestone. First licensed in April 1931 he has marked 2011 as his 80th year of continuous amateur radio operation. That is surprising in itself but as … Continue reading
Mind your Ps and Qs. Well, your Qs at least.
Building on our look at CQ and 73 a few posts ago, let’s continue with the those weird three letter abbreviations that all start with the letter Q. For a new ham, it might take a while to get used … Continue reading
Calendar of Hawaii ham events
Lots of stuff on tap for Hawaii hams. Hat tip to Ron AH6RH for the information. Date Event Sat January 22, 2011+ ARRL VHF Sweepstakes Fri February 18, 2011+ ARRL DX Contest – CW Fri March 6, 2011+ ARRL DX … Continue reading
Care and feeding of new hams
If someone gets a call sign and no one hears it… Last Saturday, I spent an enjoyable morning with Kevin AH6QO, Ron AH6RH, Tom WH6DJF, and Darrell KH6XL, as Kevin held a new ham workshop at Kakaako Waterfront Park for … Continue reading
CQ, 73, and other related abbreviations
It’s not surprising that most communities have their own brand of slang. But then, ham radio has its own brand of English that one needs to get used to when you get into the hobby. And some of it is … Continue reading
Pardon the dust…
Now that I’m actually populating this blog after so long, I figured it was time for a facelift. Unfortunately, the scars are still showing. Will continue playing with the CSS and graphics over the next week or so. Apologies if … Continue reading
The magic of ham radio
About a week and a half ago, Wired magazine came out with an article on ham radio, entitled “Why Ham Radio Endures in a World of Tweets.” (It’s an excellent article; read it.) Reaction to that article, however, revealed what … Continue reading
Your long distance call is connected
So it was a lazy, humid Saturday evening. I fired up the radio and tuned up and down on 20 meters. I was hearing quite a few stations on the air that evening. One that definitely caused my ears to … Continue reading
Lotsa catching up to do…
I can’t believe that it’s been almost two three years since I last put an entry here. When I first put this site up I intended for it to be a chronicle of my growth as a ham. But then, … Continue reading