I enjoyed attending the April 28th event on the Square in Headland, Alabama. It was an opportunity to visit with Tom WD0HBR and my other ham friends from the Dothan area. I started with breakfast at Hardees at 7 AM and then went over to the site. I brought Suzy with me this year. She worked the crowd for belly-rubs. I did not stay for the whole event as I needed to also visit my Mom who lives in Dothan.
I have been hearing many references to the
ARC-5 military line of radios on
QSO Today Podcast. Don K1DC brought his line of ARC-5 gear to sell. It was my first chance to see this famous gear close up. I did not bring it home, but enjoyed the tour by Don.
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| Don K1DC ARC-5 gear |
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| Don K1DC ARC-5 gear |
Another friend, Robert KE4AL, brought his Icom 910 rig to do demos for amateur satellites. Robert tunes his rig manually instead of using computer control to adjust for doppler. He showed me how it is done on a linear satellite pass. I will try to repeat this technique with my Icom 910. BTW, Robert is going with Matt NJ4Y on July 6-8 to the Dry Tortugas, grid EL84, in the Florida Keys. They will be doing HF and satellites.
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| Robert KE4AL works a Sat |
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| KE4AL's Icom 910 |
I usually bring something to demo. This year, I operated my Elecraft KX2 from a park bench. The rig was setup like an HF HT with a 40 meter MFJ loaded whip and a nine foot counterpoise wire. With Tom WD0HBR as my witness, I worked Jim, K4VRT in Tallahassee, Florida. Jim was the net control for the Sunrise Net on 7.123. Jim copied all my info. We all know a four foot whip is very inefficient antenna on 40 meters, but you can have success never-the-less.
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| The scene at the Square in Headland |
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| The scene at the Square in Headland |
I have to say the social side on amateur radio is a big benefit of the hobby. It was nice to visit with my friends at the Headland Tailgate.on a beautiful April day.
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| Suzy sunning |
