K2KI's Blog: Merry Christmas

From me and my family to You and yours Merry Christmas!

About Me

Hi all,

Bob de K2KI here in Vermont reporting in.

I just wanted to say hi and let you know that I will start blogging soon.

I live in Highgate Center, VT up in the NW corner of the state. I can probably spit across the Canadian border. My Grid Square is FN34LW.

I am a member of the St. Albans Amateur Radio Club (STARC). I held the office of President for a few months until health issues forced me to step down.
You can visit their web page at http://www.starc.org or their FB page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Saint-Albans-Amateur-Radio-Club-Inc/121423174606245?ref=br_tf

My daughter Sarah got her ticket at the age of 12. Her call is KB1LJV. She is very interested in getting her General but refuses to test for it until she can copy 13 WPM. She knows that code is no longer a requirement but says "I want to do it the right way" I could not be more proud of her! She has about 80% of the code memorized and has helped out duping during the many Field Days that we have participated in. She presently works 12 hr shifts so CW practice has taken a back seat for the moment.

I am more of a tube rig kind of guy but have a favorite or two that are solid state. I love the warmth of tube rig audio and the distinctive smell of the patina warming on the tubes! :-)

I am extremely interested in CW & AM, Field Day, QRP, Softrock SDR Radios, AM Boatanchors, APRS and of course Kenwood Radios.

My Kenwood gear:

TS-430S (Primarily a Field Day Radio).
TS-520 w/ SP-520 & VFO-520.
TS-830S.
TS-690SAT (One of my favorite rigs even though it's Solid State).
TS-940SAT (Its VBR is a joy to operate CW with).
TS-700.

My Other Hybrid Transceivers:

Yaesu FT-101E Transceiver.
Swan Cygnet SS-16 Special Transceiver.
Swan Cygnet 1200-X Amplifier.

My AM Boatanchor gear:

Heathkit DX-100 Transmitter (Heavy with TimTron inspired mods).
Johnson Viking Ranger Transmitter.
Johnson Viking II Transmitter.
Collins TCS-14 Transmitter.
Hammarlund BC-779 Receiver.
Hammarlund SP-600 JX17 Receiver.
National NC-183 Receiver.

My Softrock SDR's are older RXTX 6.2's and cover the following bands:

160&80M
40M
30M
An unbuilt 15&17M. (I would like to find one for 20M &12M).

I have all of the Softrock's put together in one enclosure and control & switch them with an Arduino and an S!570 (Inspired by Javier KC2QII) (this setup is a work in progress).

My Winter Projects:

An original RXTX Ensemble with enclosure that I plan to put together this winter.
A 40M Rockmite with enclosure, Pico-Keyer and NesCaf Filter which all need to be put assembled. (Another winter project).
Heathkit HW-101 (Came to me as a Basket Case).
Heathkit SB-101 (Needs some VFO work).
I have 2 Drake TR-3's one is in rough shape and the other seems to be ok (I still need to bring it to life slowly) I only have one actual Drake PS for these. I have a couple of other no-name PS's that might work with these.

My antennas are:

G5RV in inverted V configuration with the Apex up at 60Ft.
80M Doublet up at 60Ft.
TH6-DXX Tri-Bander up at 62Ft.
CushCraft 13 Element 2M Yagi up at 65Ft.
Diamond 2M/70CM Omni up 65Ft.
An "Americanized German Quad" in a Horizontal NVIS configuration up at 12Ft.

So there ya have it. My station is in a constant state of flux.
Check back later to see if I have posted anything else.

73...
Bob de k2ki

K2KI's Blog

Thursday, December 25, 2014

Merry Christmas

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