Worked Philippines - DU6/PE1NSQ

 After finally getting my OCF dipole up in the air, I've been hoping to get some good DX.  I had been catching a direct path to Japan on 12m FT8 and worked several stations there. Japan is good DX, but I wanted a new country.  Something to show me that the wire was working better than the small Comet CHV-5x rotatable dipole I had been using tied to the fence post (which had been working surprisingly well).

On 10m FT8, I was decoding a lot of DX (thanks to solar cycle 25 kicking in).  I worked some Japanese stations here too and then I started decoding DU6/PE1NSQ, Rick in the Philippines, with a pretty good signal.  He was actually working a friend of mine John-KA4JON and sending RR73.  I called him for some time and then got a reply!  We worked the contact through to the RR73 and he's in the log!  An all time new country for me and on the 10m band at that!

The Philippines is an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It is situated in the western Pacific Ocean and consists of around 7,641 islands that are broadly categorized under three main geographical divisions from north to south: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. The Philippines is bounded by the South China Sea to the west, the Philippine Sea to the east, and the Celebes Sea to the southwest. It shares maritime borders with Taiwan to the north, Japan to the northeast, Palau to the east and southeast, Indonesia to the south, Malaysia to the southwest, Vietnam to the west, and China to the northwest.

73 and Good DX de K4LST sk

 

Finally Got My Dipole In the Air - Thanks to the Air Boss!

 I purchased my Maxcon off-center fed dipole in November of 2022...but due to weather, holidays, sickness, and laziness...I wasn't able to get it up in the air until the end of January.  I'm a classic over thinker.  Believe it or not, that isn't always a good thing.  I had laid out in my head that I would install my OCF dipole in a horizontal or "flat top" configuration, balun at or above 50ft, and the legs North/South.  Upon inspecting my lot, I realized a few things:

Another Callsign Change (W4LSG now K4LST)

I was licenses as a ham radio operator in 2001 as KG4LST.  I upgraded my license to General class and then to Amateur Extra class in 2017.  I started thinking about changing my callsign to something more mature. At the time I really wanted a 1x2 callsign that started with a W.  Realizing how unlikely I was to get any 1x2 at all, let alone get one that had any significance, I decided to see what might actually be a feasible change.  When I was a young ham, I thought the FCC would automatically change my callsign when I upgraded.  So in the back of my mind I thought that I would become K4LST or KG4LS...I didn't really know how it worked.  So in doing my research for a vanity call, I checked on K4LST and found that it was not available in 2019.  Still liking the idea of a W call, I checked W4LST and found it also was not available.  I ended up choosing W4LSG because it was vaguely similar.  When my application was processed and my tech call KG4LST showed expired, I panicked.  I thought I was being silly and that I would probably eventually get use to W4LSG.  Three years later, I am not liking it very much.  It actually looks great written.  But, I think it was just too different from my original callsign and therefore has no real significance to me.  Like operating under someone else's callsign.

I've been looking around again to see what is available.  I've actually considered going back to KG4LST because it's so familiar.  But still wanting a more mature callsign, I checked on K4LST again.  It just became available in August of 2022.  Sadly the OM (Joe Luna of Smyrna TN) that previously held it passed away in 2019.  So I decided to put in my application to the FCC and change to that.  I hope it's a better fit for me. It's a callsign that seems like the natural progression from KG4LST.  My application is pending, but I think I'll get it.  I hope it fits and I can commit to keep it.  If it doesn't feel like the correct callsign for me, I guess I'll go back to my original callsign and just leave it alone.  It seems so easy for some to change their callsign and never look back.  Truth be told, I identified very heavily with my first callsign and it has felt a bit like an identity crisis since the change. I haven't seen many hams talk about this, missing their old call, or anything like that. I suppose this could be unique to me.  In any case, I shall give a try to a 1x3 homage to my original call and see how it goes.

73 de K4LST sk

QTH move from EM84fm to EM84gg

I'm not always one to admit defeat...but living in a small neighborhood with an HOA just didn't work out for me.  After moving to a new house a couple years ago, the neighborhood filled up much too quickly.  Houses were too close together and the HOA changed hands a few times and became a bureaucratic mess.  Taking advantage of the booming housing market, we sold the place and moved to almost an acre and half of unrestricted land in Banks County, GA.  Now I have the space and privacy to do as I wish...I just need the money! Hi hi.

QTH from OCT 2019 to AUG 2022 in EM84fm in Habersham County, GA

New QTH in EM84gg in Banks County, GA

You can see from the pictures above that it would have been tough to do anything fun with ham radio for the last couple of years!

73 de W4LSG sk

Goodbye Repeater

My last blog was about getting my own Ham Radio Repeater.  Sadly after only a couple years, I've decided to sell it.  I have not had the time or money to pay attention to it.  I had some radio friends that were excited about the opportunity to own a repeater and they have purchased it from me.  I still feel that eventually, when things get settled, I would like to own another one.  

73 de W4LSG sk

My Own Ham Radio Repeater

Over the last several years, I've been learning about ham radio repeaters. I started learning from Jack Norris W4TWX, Terry Jones W4TL, Ron Olexa KA3JIJ and a few others.  I starting getting involved in the maintenance of the local machines and have helped troubleshoot and deploy a few here and there.  But I've always wanted to own my very own repeater.  Nothing too fancy.  A simple FM VHF repeater with a decent coverage located in Habersham County.

Nice 2m Contacts With a Low Vertical Antenna

When I moved to the new QTH, I just stood up my Diamond X200 2m/70cm antenna on the fence in the back yard. It works well enough for most FM repeaters I use, but I have not had high expectations for SSB, FT8, or FM simplex.  

While working from home, I noticed my 2m radio picking up distant repeaters collocated on the same frequencies as our local ones. I started playing around with 2m FT8 and made several good contacts including WA4CQG in Auburn, AL (176 miles), WN4WDE in Piedmont, AL (126 miles), WB4HIE in Glen Alpine, NC (124 miles), and WB4JPG in Dothan, AL (255 miles)!