Ham Radio Station KC9LC Now Activated!

I decided that it was time to activate a long dormant hobby, Amateur (Ham) Radio. With nothing but spare time on my hands, due to the Covid-19 lockdown, I sorted through our storage bins down in the RV’s basement compartments. Finding all the parts it was then just a matter of assembling and attaching the antenna, run the coax, and then set up all the gear. Finally, after a three year absence, I was able to activate ham radio station KC9LC!

Introduction

One of the few advantages of the Coronavirus stay at home order is the spare time to work on some of my neglected hobbies. I have enjoyed many different hobbies over the years including ham radio, wood working, wood carving, motorcycling, shooting sports, hiking, painting, R/C airplanes, photography, homebrewing beer, and probably several more that do not come to mind.

The issue that I always had was finding the time to pursue these hobbies back when I was working long hours and raising a family. I thought that when I retired it would be the time to focus on these activities. Well, at retirement we decided to go another route to enjoy a few years of RV travel to really see the USA and spend some in depth time all over the country. And that has been a fantastic decision at this early stage in retirement.

So for these last three years, a small subset of my ham radio gear has been traveling with us. I would say it was all collecting dust, but everything was well protected and sealed in plastic bins. Okay, let’s back up and let me explain this ham radio hobby and my modest station.

What is Ham Radio (Amateur Radio)?

From the ARRL: Amateur Radio (ham radio) is a popular hobby and service that brings people, electronics and communication together. People use ham radio to talk across town, around the world, or even into space, all without the Internet or cell phones. It’s fun, social, educational, and can be a lifeline during times of need.

Although Amateur Radio operators get involved for many reasons, they all have in common a basic knowledge of radio technology and operating principles, and pass an examination for the FCC license to operate on radio frequencies known as the “Amateur Bands.” These bands are radio frequencies allocated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for use by ham radio operators.

Ham radio operators routinely practice emergency communications to be prepared in case of any disruption of the normal channels. Most have portable battery powered stations and perform testing to ensure everything works as planned.

Many Facets of the Hobby

This is what I really enjoy. There are many different facets to enjoy and here are just a few:

1. Contesting where you try to make an exchange of information with as many other stations as possible. Submitting your detailed log of contacts could also earn you awards.
2. Next up is DXing that is making as many contacts with as many other countries/entities as possible. Many awards for this too for proven contacts.
3. Working all states and County hunters is another feat where hams make contacts with all the states or counties for more awards of certificates. Even more of a challenge is working all grid squares!
4. Special events is a commemorative station on the air to celebrate or commemorate about anything.
5. And of course emergency communications.

I have done some of all of these, but enjoy the casual chat with people all over the US and the world.

My History in Ham Radio

I became interested after spending time with my father-in-law, Ray K9KJD. He was a great mentor, helping me prepare for the written and morse code tests. I took my first exam in 1981 in my little town of Martinsville, Indiana and was soon on the air as KA9KMA with a Novice license.

I was always pretty good at taking tests. Think it was the years of attending college part time and working full time plus some hours. I would do the very minimum in weekly homework, but could cram study and memorize for the exams doing surprisingly well. Although I can vividly remember a couple of occasions where my system did not work out so well.

At that time, the Novice license provided just a few frequencies to operate and in CW (morse code) only. I worked about a thousand contacts over the next several months and increased my code speed. Was having a blast!!

In early 1982, I drove two hours to Cincinnati to the FCC field office. Here I passed the next hurdle, the Technician exam and then picked up voice communications on the two meter band as N9CSJ. That was when two meter FM repeater work was very popular and added to the fun.

A few months later, I was ready for the next hurdle the General license so I drove to Chicago (three hours) to sit in front of the FCC examiner. Talk about pressure! I had a long written exam on electronic and radio theory, electronic practice, and the FCC rules. In addition, it required a CW (Morse Code) test at 13 words per minute. Taking home my new General Class license, this opened up many new modes and frequencies to operate. A whole new world!

The next step was the Advanced Class license with another difficult written exam. This new level gave me a few more frequencies to operate in sections of the bands that were not so crowded.

There was only one more license level remaining in the Amateur Radio service, the mystical Extra Class License. Since it was another written exam and a hefty 20 words per minute (WPM) on CW and only gaining a few frequencies, I did not take this step for another 16 years. But I continued to enjoy the hobby and have many contacts with both local and other ham operators all over the world.

Some of the most enjoyable radio chats were with Ray, my father-in-law. Every week we would meet on 40 meters and discuss Indiana basketball and any world events. We would continue these weekly ham radio discussions for over 30 years. I do miss them. For more background, see my post:
https://www.ourepicrvjourney.com/newington-connecticut-arrl-headquarters-visit/

The world changed in Ham Radio over these years. New digital technologies were now very popular and the FCC turned all testing over to the Amateurs themselves with the FCC still issuing the licenses. In 1999, the FCC announced they were removing the 20 WPM requirement and restructuring the different classes resulting in an Extra “Light” class license.

Okay, the challenge was out there to pass my Extra exam under the old rules and requirements before the dumbing down change. So, it was back to memorizing the multiple choice questions and sign up for the exam being given by volunteers in the neighboring town of Radford, Virginia. How easy was that? Driving ten miles versus 200 miles in prior years for an FCC exam. It was good to bring home that coveted Extra ticket while it was still the pinnacle.

That is my licensing history, but the best part is the thousands of contacts and friends made through the hobby. I’ve been highly involved in some clubs and then not so much in the years prior to retirement as work demands grew. I have been in many clubs and held offices in Indiana, Missouri, and in Virginia. Local clubs and contesting clubs.

My Station

Currently, I am using an Elecraft K3 transceiver, a 100 watt all band HF radio. I built this great little rig about 5-6 years ago and have made many contacts with it. The antenna is a vertical 4 band model by DX Engineering. With just a few radials it is very much a compromise antenna, but in the RV you have to make do.

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Along with these items I have a Heil goldline microphone and Bencher CW paddles to round out the equipment list. Over the years I have had a pretty decent station with a tower and large beam antenna while in Missouri and a good dipole in Virginia. Thousands of DX and stateside QSOs or contacts. My heavy 800 watt amplifier sits in the storage unit back in VA. I miss it for sure.

The “field” station below was set up to test everything. Maybe I’ll work the annual Field Day from here.

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On The Air

It all sounds pretty good so far. The station is set up and I have plenty of spare time. But, alas I soon found out that we are at the bottom of the sunspot cycle making the reliability of ham radio communication very poor. In the peak times, I could make 100 quick contacts an hour in a contest, but today would struggle for one or two. Doh…

What do sunspots have to do with HF (high frequency) radio propagation? Very briefly, the sun has to charge particles in the earth’s atmosphere, the ionosphere, to be able to bend radio waves back to earth. Without this bending effect, the radio wave just travel straight on through to outer space. Not many to chat with out there supposedly.

With many sunspots and a fully charged ionosphere layers, these radio waves are bended or skipped back to earth. Sometimes that have many skips resulting in communications around the globe. The average sunspot cycle lasts 11 years. More info:

https://hamradioschool.com/sunspots-and-propagation/

Not is all lost though. During the solar mins, like we have today, there can be some very good days. They are just less frequent. And you have to be more patient. I’ve made a few contacts, but none have been very strong. I’ll keep trying.

Wrap Up

For any other ham operators out there, contact me if you would like to arrange a scheduled contact. Just leave a comment in the section below. Or email or phone call. I would enjoy that! For the rest of my blog followers, I hope that I may have interested you in the hobby and let me know or else go to the ARRL website for loads of information.
http://www.arrl.org/

For everyone else, that was about ten minutes of your life you won’t get back. 🙂

Be safe everyone, take care of each other and God Bless.