N6KJ
I have been a ham since 1975 when I was 13 years old. My
first callsign was WD8DMX. I was living in White
Cloud, Mi. (where my parents still live) at the time. I have held the following callsigns in succession – WD8DMX, KI6NX, AA6BE and
now N6KJ.
Daily Operations
My favorite activities are contesting and DXing. I spend
about 95% of my time operating CW, typically moving along at 30 or 40 wpm. The other 5% is a combination of SSB,
PSK-31, and occasional RTTY. My
station consists of a Yaesu FT-1000MP, a Yaesu FT-857D, a Yaesu FT-817, a
3 element SteppIR yagi at
about 45 feet, and a 40/80 dipole at about 35 feet. The FT-1000MP is the primary HF
workhorse. The FT-857D is used
primarily for VHF/UHF. The FT-817
is primarily used as an IF rig for microwave transverters. When not contesting, you will usually
find me hunting DX in the CW subbands.
Emergency Communications and Public Service
It is important for all amateur radio operators to be
prepared for emergency communications.
I maintain a battery backup at all times in the event of a power
failure. I am a member of SVECS (Silicon
Valley Emergency Communication Service) and RACES and I am a registered DSW
(Disaster Services Worker) in San Jose. I have provided emergency communications
on several occasions in the past (most notably during the severe blizzard of
1978 in Michigan) and I am prepared to do so in the future. Obviously, we all hope this type of service
isn’t necessary, but I believe in being prepared just in case. This is part of the service amateur
radio provides to the community.
As an ex-boy scout I enjoy communicating with other scouts
around the globe during JOTA (the Jamboree on the Air). This is a yearly event which gives
scouts the ability to speak directly with other scouts around the globe via
amateur radio. One of these days
soon I would like to host a group of scouts at my home for this event.
Contesting
My station is severely underpowered for serious contesting,
so most of my serious contesting is done from one of several nearby contest
stations W6NV-Sunol Ridge, W6YX,
or N6IJ. Occasionally, I put in a modest effort
from home. My most recent serious
contest effort from home was during the 2003 November SS CW contest in which I
made about 450 QSO’s in 10 hours of
operation. This effort was part of
a larger effort by the Northern California Contest Club NCCC to win the November SS Unlimited Club
competition (which we did).
I frequently operate as part of a multi-op team from the
awesome W6NV-Sunol Ridge contest station.
I am typically part of the team for CQWW DX, CQWW WPX, and the ARRL
International DX Contest. My most
recent contest at Sunol Ridge was the 2003 CQWW DX
Phone contest (using my callsign, N6KJ).
I am a member of the Stanford University ARC W6YX. This club has become quite active in the
past couple of years. The club
station at W6YX hosts everything from HF and VHF contesters to moonbounce, microwave, and satellite enthusiasts. I spent the first 3 hours of Field Day
2004 at W6YX running the 20m CW station at a rate of about 70 QSO’s per hour.
The next 3 hours were spent running the 15m CW station at a rate of
about 50 or 60 QSO’s per hour.
I am also a member of the Monterey Bay ARA, hosted at N6IJ.
The N6IJ club station is located on the old Fort Ord campus in the city of Marina, Ca., just north of Monterey. N6IJ provides many people with the
ability to operate a competitive contest station, in addition to providing
emergency communications for the Monterey Bay area and general
all around amateur radio operations.
DXing
Unlike most other members of NCCC, I still collect QSL
cards and still work toward awards like 5BDXCC and the DXCC Honor Role. My current DXCC counts are shown
below:
Band/Mode
|
Worked
|
Confirmed
|
80
|
30
|
25
|
40
|
101
|
69
|
30
|
19
|
14
|
20
|
209
|
179
|
17
|
78
|
54
|
15
|
155
|
124
|
12
|
39
|
27
|
10
|
145
|
122
|
PHO
|
190
|
167
|
CW
|
231
|
207
|
MIX
|
262
|
255
|
Some of my most prized DXCC contacts are: TO4E (Europa), 3C0V (Pagalu), KP4AM/D (Desecheo), XZ7A (Myanmar/Burma), XF4DX (Revilla
Gigedo), R1FJ (Franz Josef Land), XX9TVR (Macao), YV0D (Aves Island), VU4RBI (Andaman Island) and YI/KV4AB (Iraq).
I return QSL 100%.
I periodically upload my log to the ARRL’s
LOTW database for those of you that prefer electronic QSL’s. I do not use eQSL.
VHF/UHF
I have only owned a multi-mode VHF/UHF rig (the FT-817) for
a little over 1 year now. I was
able to make a few VHF/UHF contacts (mostly 6 meters) with it, but the rig is a
bit underpowered for serious contesting or award hunting. With the purchase of the FT-857D I am
able to work toward VUCC. Below is
my current VUCC status.
Band/Mode
|
Worked
|
Confirmed
|
6
|
40
|
30
|
2
|
3
|
1
|
1.25
|
0
|
0
|
70cm
|
2
|
0
|
33cm
|
0
|
0
|
23cm
|
0
|
0
|
13cm
|
0
|
0
|
9cm
|
0
|
0
|
6cm
|
0
|
0
|
3cm
|
0
|
0
|
Microwaves
I dabble in QRP and Microwaves. I am a member of the Northern
California based 50Mhz and Up
club. I currently own a 10GHz
station based upon the DB6NT 10Ghz transverter transverter and a Yaesu FT-817.
The antenna is a modified 18” DSS dish. The transverter
output is approximately 250mW.
Using this system I made approximately 35 QSO’s
from the top of Mount Diablo in Northern California during the first weekend of the 2004 10GHz cumulative contest. The longest QSO was just over 290 km
(about 165 miles). This QSO
was made between Mount Diablo and Mount Lassen.
I recently integrated a PLL and 10MHz OCXO into my system
to provide frequency stability. The
PLL was designed and built by AD6IW.
The 10MHz OCXO is an ISOTEMP OCXO purchased on EBay. This modification really made a big
difference in my ability to make long distance QSO’s
this year. It is my hope that I can
integrate a 2W (or more) amplifier into my design prior to the 2005 contest.
RFI
I am currently trying to track down the source of some RFI
at my QTH. The noise sounds sort of
like a motor starting up. The noise
lasts about 1 second and repeats at 24 second intervals. It is very predictable. I have heard this noise on all bands
from 40M through 6M. QRN levels at
my QTH are probably too high to hear it on 80M. This noise reads S9 on 20 meters while
in AM mode and with a 6.0 KHz bandwidth.
It is closer to S7 in a 2.4KHz bandwidth. I have DF’d
the noise and determined that it is not coming from my own home OR my next door
neighbors OR anyone on my street.
The direction appears to be at least 1 street over from mine. If the noise is coming from a home, then
that home must be at least one street away and at least 8 or 10 homes (about
500 feet) or more away. I have
scoured the neighborhood up to 1 mile away with my FT-817 and have not been
able to find the source.
I recorded this noise as a .wave file. NOTE – This is a 1MByte file. You can hear the noise by clicking on
the following link:
Any help in identifying this noise would be greatly
appreciated. Thanks.
Last Updated On: Jan. 22, 2005