KE4PT Kazimierz 'Kai' Siwiak Coral Springs, FL QCWA # 35475 Chapter 69

Portable operation piqued my interest, so I stuffed a "DX-Go-Bag" station with a Yaesu FT-817, CW key, Signalink-USB interface, small laptop computer, 98 Wh rechargable battery pack, Elecraft T1 ATU and a KE4PT-OCEF all-band dipole. The 41.5 ft long homebrew OCEF dipole is shown drooping from a 20 ft long fiberglass tent pole attached to a balcony using a bungee cord. I use exactly the same rig/computer settings for all digital modes, so I can operate PSK31 or RTTY or WSJT-X modes by just setting the appropriate frequency and running the appropriate software for the mode (Digipan and MMTTY shown). Please listen for my QRP operations.

At home, my Icom 706mkIIg pushes 100 watts through a coax-coil + ferrite current choke to an AH-4 automatic antenna tuner at the bottom of a 4.3 m tall, 14.6 m long dual element inverted "L" that is strung in the attic of my one-story home [QST, Oct. 2007, pp 33-37]. The antenna covers 160 m - 6 m. It's a modest station, but good enough for WAS-TPA, WAC [8-bands], DXCC [225 cfm], and 6m-VUCC, and to copy HAARP lunar echoes on 6.7925 MHz with "no visible means of antenna". I'm always looking for Asian stations hidden behind the Auroral "ion curtain".

First licensed as WN2PGH, I operated a homebrew 6L6 oscillator and Hallicrafters SX-110 receiver. I soon upgraded the transmitter [QST, Sep 1959, pp 11-17] to a pair of 1625s driven by a 6AG7 oscillator, and the roof sprouted a wideband "conical monopole" antenna. Founded TimeDerivative, Inc. in 2003, a wireless consulting services and Ultra-Wideband (UWB) radio technology, and digital signal technology company. I was a member of the SAREX (Space Amateur Radio Experiment) team, and am a life member of AMSAT, member of ARRL, ARRL RF Safety Committee, ARRL Technical Advisor, QST Contributing Editor, and QEX Editor.

I enjoy chasing DX. The extra 17 dB that CW has over SSB helps with my modest station, so please look for me at the CW end of the HF bands! Look for me on RTTY, PSK and JT65/JT9 modes as well. I'm a member of the A1-Operators Club, QRP-ARCI (#2194), South Florida DX Association (SFDXA), NAQCC, SKCC (#1985) and DCARC. Many of my recent QSOs took place from the SFDXA club station (see "Mantra" above). Now I also dabble with 2 m EME, where I've earned WAC 2 m EME Digital Mode certificate.

Can you decode my Secret Ham Message? Send your solution to ke4pt (at) amsat.org - Congratulations to the many successful message decoders!

The final courtesy of a QSO is a QSL card. I reply 100% in kind: direct to direct, and bureau to bureau. I upload all my logs to LoTW, and reply with 'AG' to eQSL cards.

October 01, 2016