Pattern and Match

I'm still here. New blog articles are slow to appear because I am very busy with antenna and tower projects, 6 meter DXing and a large n...

From my start on 6 meters in the mid-1970s, to the tremendous solar maximum of 1989-1990 and into the modern era of FT8 it is interesting th...

A vacuum tube high power RF amplifier is full of high voltages. The large physical size of the tubes requires high voltage between cathode a...

You might think that because I write a blog about antennas and station building that I always do things right. I only wish! Perhaps I make f...

The E s (sporadic E) season is well underway. It peaks at the solstice, which is less than 3 weeks from now. Although the season is reasona...

My on air activity is limited at the moment. This is partly due to the arrival (finally!) of warm spring weather. There is so much to do tha...

Building a middling large contest station necessarily involves lots of spending. It adds up quickly. Consider the following (partial) list: ...

Summer is coming. The solstice is less than 6 weeks away and E s (sporadic E) season is well underway. As I tell everyone I know with a p...

A common source of ideas for this blog is other hams. When a recurring question came up recently I thought that it would make for an interes...

Early this year I gave a talk on 6 meter DXing with FT8. It was well enough received that I was twice asked to repeat my performance to two ...