Welcome to Amateur Radio Station K4EQ

Thanks for stopping by my Amateur Radio (also known as Ham Radio) website. I was first licensed in 1960 as KN8WHB and have had many memorable experiences in this hobby through the years.

If you're new to Ham Radio, take a look around my site and see if something sparks an interest in you. Be sure to click here for a great introduction to the hobby by the ARRL, the national association for Amateur Radio.

Ham Radio is fun, challenging and educational. Plus, there are many opportunities for public service. If you're not yet licensed, I hope you'll join the ranks soon.

Above is a picture of my ever-changing ham radio shack. It changes so much, this isn't even the current shack. :-) The two rigs on the bottom are an Icom IC-703 and an IC-706MKIIG. A LDG Z-11 Pro auto tuner is on top of the 706. At the left on the shelf is an Icom IC-2100 2-meter transceiver. Next to it is my Logikey K-3 keyer by Idiom Press. Love it! On top of the MFJ tuner on the right is a LDG Z-11 QRP auto tuner and a Small Wonders Lab DSW-30 next to it. There's not much of the computer screen visible, but I'm running Ham Radio Deluxe software for rig control, logging, satellite tracking, and digital communication. What a program! And free.

Below are pictures and descriptions of some of my station equipment. Click on any picture for a larger view. Enjoy!

SignaLink USB

On the left is the Tigertronics SignaLink USB integrated USB sound card for working the digital modes. Man, this sure makes life easier when getting on PSK31, RTTY, etc. Now I don't have to worry about constantly changing the volumes setting on the computer. I can change them all I want for the computer without affecting my signal from the transmitter. I wouldn't want to be without this on the digital modes now. Click on the picture for a larger view.

NØSA Paddle

I ran across a review of NØSA's new paddles shortly after they came out in 2010. Being a dedicated CW operator, I was intrigued. After reading several other reviews, I just knew I had to have one of these things. So, I ordered the TP-4 paddle and received serial number 037. I have to say this is the best paddle I have ever used. It's a true work of art. Some of its features include miniature precision stainless steel ball bearings, adjustable magnetic return, finely threaded (important) brass adjustment screws, solid silver and stainless contacts, and much more. It's small compared to many other paddles, like my Elecraft (by MFJ) magnetic paddle, but heavy enough not to move around while sending. This turned out to be one of my best purchases. Click on the picture for a larger view.

PicoKeyer Plus

After I finished the little but slick Rock-Mite transceiver, I ordered and built the NØXAS PicoKeyer-Plus from HamGadgets. This is a great keyer--just perfect for transmitters with no built-in keyer. Its speed is variable from 5 to 60 wpm, has four memories, can be set for contest QSO numbering, and has a host of other features to it. I also use it for keying my TS-520. (Click on any picture for a larger view.)

WM-2 Watt Meter

Today I finished the Oak Hills Research WM-2 QRP watt meter. Actually, it's my second one. I built one several years ago and sold it a few years later in a crazy moment of thoughtless stupidity. I won't do that again. It's a great QRP watt meter which allows you to measure output down to 5 milliwatts. I decided I needed one again to measure the output on all my QRP projects, including the Rock-Mite I just built.

The WM-2 is a fairly straightforward kit which doesn't necessitate a great deal of kit-building experience to build. I recommend it to anyone using QRP. Click on any of the pictures to see a close up of it.

Completed the Rock-Mite

 

This is the finished Rock-Mite. Getting everything in the the Mity Box enclosure was the hardest part of the whole project. But sure worth it! What a nice enclosure. Click on any picture for a larger view. This thing is going to be fun.

40m Rock-Mite Transceiver

A while back I got the itch to build something again, so I ordered the Rock-Mite transceiver from Dave Benson (K1SWL) and Small Wonder Labs. The Rock-Mite is one of the more popular QRPp transceiver kits out there today. Based on my experience building a couple of Dave's DSW series transceivers, I knew the Rock-Mite would be a fun little rig to build and use. So far, I haven't been disappointed.

After I stuffed the board and put it through the smoke test (quite a sight all hodgepodged together as it was), I couldn't believe the signals I was hearing on 40 meters. Of course, there was a contest going on, so the band was pretty active. I briefly transmitted a signal and it sounded real pure on my attenuated IC-703.

I put the PicoKeyer chip (from N0XAS at HamGadgets.com) in it and waited to receive the cool Mity Box enclosure from American Morse Equipment.

Collins 51J-4 Receiver

Here's a few pictures of my Collins 51J-4 receiver. The story behind my getting it is interesting. First of all, I live in Marion, Iowa, which is adjacent to Cedar Rapids, home of Rockwell-Collins, formerly Collins Radio Company. So, there are a lot of former and current (over 10,000) Rockwell-Collins employees around here--many of them Ham Radio operators.

I got a call from a friend asking if I'd like to have an old Collins receiver an 80+ year-old friend of his had in storage. He retired from Collins and had worked with Art Collins on the design of the radio. Of course I said yes, and picked it up a couple of days later.

It had obviously been stored for years. The outside of it was in pretty bad shape with lots of sticky crud on it. I feared I may have had nothing but an old boat anchor. But I took the covers off, blew out the dust (which wasn't too bad really), and went to work on the outside. After a whole day-and-a-half lovingly cleaning it, it turned out fairly well.

Then I carefully looked over everything inside to make sure there weren't any obvious shorts or bad components. Everything looked good, so I connected an antenna and, finally, mustered up the courage to plug it in and turn it on. To my amazement, it worked.

Talk about nostalgia! This receiver, first introduced in 1955, was still in production when I got my Novice license in 1960. I was like a little kid playing with that thing. I still am.

Click on any picture for a larger view. By the way, the speaker next to the 51J-4 is a military LS-166/U manufactured by University Loudspeakers, Inc. in White Plains, New York. It came with the receiver and also took a lot of cleaning.