KN4LF
AMATEUR & SWL
RADIO AUTOBIOGRAPHY

THOMAS F. GIELLA 
LAKELAND, FL, USA
27 57 26.5 N 81 56 46.6 W
GRID SQUARE EL97AW
CQ ZONE 5
ITU ZONE 8
Current Time:

"It is not the class of license that the Amateur holds but the class of the Amateur that holds the license"

THE RADIO AMATEUR'S CODE

By Paul M. Segal W9EEA (1928)

The Radio Amateur is:           

CONSIDERATE... never knowingly operates in such a way as to lessen the pleasure of others.          

LOYAL... offers loyalty, encouragement and support to other amateurs, local clubs and the American Radio Relay League, through which Amateur Radio in the United States is represented nationally and internationally.          

PROGRESSIVE... with knowledge abreast of science, a well-built and efficient station and operation above reproach.          

FRIENDLY... slow and patient operating when requested; friendly advice and counsel to the beginner; kindly assistance, cooperation and consideration for the interests of others. These are the hallmarks of the amateur spirit.          

BALANCED... radio is an avocation, never interfering with duties owed to family, job, school, or community.   

PATRIOTIC... station and skill always ready for service to country and community.

Welcome to my blog styled "KN4LF Amateur & SWL Radio Autobiography". This site exists as an amateur radio educational tool. Amateur radio has done allot for me and this is one of my ways of giving back to our great hobby and service.

Amateur radio is a Fraternity. An order of gentle men and gentle women who share equal space in a common community. Ham's are the grassroots citizens of the United States and our "free to speak" voices are heard worldwide by all humanity. What we say, what we do and how we act is a mirror image of America to this alliance outside our borders.

I still believe in the concept of a brotherhood through amateur radio. I still believe in the fraternity of amateur radio, where I can meet a total stranger and we immediately hit it off and become friends at some level. I still believe in elmering new amateurs, though many new hams take offense when you try to assist them in learning how to properly operate. I still believe in international diplomacy and peace through amateur radio. I still believe in voluntary public service. Unfortunately though I'm afraid that I'm part of a rapidly shrinking group, a dinosaur!

Do You Know Jesus?

I have many interests within the hobby and they include ionosphere radio wave propagation data collection, study and forecasting, antenna design modeling, construction and experimentation, DXing, digital modes operation such as BPSK31/63/125, Feld Hell, Olivia MFSK 500/16, MFSK16, MT63 and RTTY, AM mode operation, QRP operation on CW, RTTY, SSB and PSK31. I'm also a very active SWL and spend quite a bit of time DXing the LF/MF/HF bands both broadcast and utility.

I do have other hobbies besides amateur radio. They include space and troposphere level weather observing and forecasting.

Other interests include astrophysics, cosmology, gardening (flowering plants), geology, geomorphology, paleoclimatology, space plasma physics, theology and world history.

Here is one of my favorite astronomy/astrophysics oriented websites. Check it out it will make your head hurt.

AN ATLAS OF THE UNIVERSE

My radio shack is 12' x 13' in size. It contains an electronics work bench, computers, radio and weather observing equipment.

I'm retired military, the U.S. Coast Guard. In the military I did radio communications and troposphere level aviation and marine weather forecasting. I also did space and troposphere level weather forecasting for some private weather forecasting companies, other federal government entities and in my consulting business. I retired in 2004 at age 47.


In my personal opinion understanding and taking advantage of LF/MF/HF/VHF radio propagation conditions is an integral part of successful DX operation, whether it be as an amateur radio operator or SWL and can really fatten up your DX totals!  Unfortunately the new Technician, General and Extra Class exam's together only ask a total of nine questions about radio wave propagation. To offset that disparity I have several websites that cover LF/MF/HF radiowave propagation theory and also keep track of current solar, space and geomagnetic weather conditions, as well as an archive for the data.

I also produce a free daily LF/MF/HF/6M frequency radiowave propagation forecast. The forecast is very unique in that nothing similar to it is produced by any other amateur radio operator, SWL, government or university entity. I publish it every Friday at approximately 1600 UTC. Amateur radio has done allot for me and this is another one of my ways of giving back to our great hobby and service.

G4ILO has written a piece of propagation prediction software called VOAProp v1.1 It is actually an interface for the very accurate but otherwise difficult to use VOACAP software written for the Voice Of America and honed to near perfection over many decades. After you download VOAProp you then download VOACAP and the two pieces of software work together in a seamless fashion. When you unzip the VOACAP file called itshfbc allow it to install on your C:\ drive directly, not into the "Programs Files" folder. The software covers 1.8-30 mc and the 120-11 meter shortwave bands. BTW both pieces of software are free.

DOWNLOAD G4ILO'S VOAPROP V1.1 

DOWNLOAD VOICE OF AMERICA'S VOACAP  

KN4LF 160 METER (MF) RADIO PROPAGATION THEORY NOTES

SOLAR SPACE WEATHER & GEOMAGNETIC RAW FORECAST DATA LINKS

KN4LF DAILY SOLAR SPACE WEATHER AND GEOMAGNETIC DATA ARCHIVE

2008 KN4LF DAILY LF/MF/HF/6M FREQUENCY RADIOWAVE PROPAGATION FORECAST & ARCHIVE

SUBSCRIBE TO THE LF/MF/HF/VHF/UHF FREQUENCY RADIOWAVE PROPAGATION EMAIL REFLECTOR


I have been involved in radio in one form or another since 1965, through long wave, medium wave, shortwave, VHF and UHF DXing and Amateur Radio since 1989. I currently hold an Advanced Class license which I earned in 1990.

I am the only amateur radio operator in my family. My grandfather of whom I was named after was an MF AM broadcast band SWL and owned an Italian language newspaper in New York City, NY in 1930's and 1940's. He had a 1960 Zenith Royal 50 all transistor portable (huge by today's standards) AM radio and a 1959 Zenith AM/FM table top radio. Both radios were purchased on "Radio Row" in Manhattan Borough, New York City. In 1965 he began letting me listen to the Zenith table top radio both day and night and this began my fascination with radio and The Beatles, as they were on AM radio at that time. He also was an amateur weather observer and forecaster as he raised citrus, of which I also picked up from him.

My XYL had an uncle named George Friend. He was a very active amateur on CW, AM and SSB and held the callsign W4MTU but is now a silent key. He also co-owned the local MF AM broadcast radio station WPLA 910 kc 5KW in nearby Plant City, FL for many years. When the station signed off at local sunset he would use the self supporting 1/4 wave station tower on 160 meters and had a very big signal. He was very fond of Heathkit equipment and had an enormous setup at the radio station and also at his home QTH.

WPLA 910 KC GEORGE FRIEND W4MTU
CLICK TO ENLARGE

As of 08/31/2005 I began operating at a newly purchased relatively low QRN QTH on the south side of Lakeland, FL on approximately 1/3 of an acre at an elevation of 218 feet, on the NW slope of a 260 foot hill overlooking a good sized lake with no HOA/CC&R nonsense. Though I'm on a hill I have wetlands on the east and west side of my property, with the surface soil type consisting of black muck underlain by red clay, with a high water table. So this QTH is a pretty good location for vertical antennas. I also have my own dedicated radio shack for the first time since 1995.

My current rigs are two Icom IC-746 Pro's powered by Astron RS-35M power supplies and monitored with Autek Research WM1 SWR/PWR meters. My amplifier is an Ameritron AL-811 amplifier with three 572B's which easily puts out 600 watts PEP. Initially I used Icom SM-6 microphones but now use Heil iCM desk microphones, which are mounted on professional looking homebrewed booms. The iCM is designed for Icom rigs and at -3db passes 30 hz to 12000 hz audio with a bit of a peak at 4000 hz. I've received some very good audio reports with the microphones so far.

You can directly key a linear amplifier such as the Ameritron AL-811 and most other modern amplifiers with the Icom IC-746 Pro. The IC-746 Pro can handle switching voltage and current of 16 volts at 500 ma and the Ameritron AL-811 16 volts at 100 ma. However to be safe I use a rig to amplifier buffer interface. I use the Ameritron AR-704 and also a K4AVU interface. The K4AVU is a plug and play interface that does not require an outboard power source and costs only $33.00. You can see it at the link below.

HEIL ICM MICROPHONE

K4AVU AMATEUR RADIO ACCESSORIES

On the receive side I use a pair of MFJ-392B headphones. The impedance is 16 ohms and the audio range on the headphone is 20-20000 hz and has independent volume controls for each can. This is my third pair of 392B headphones in the past ten years, as the first two sets fell apart electrically and mechanically due to poor construction. However my newest set seems to have been totally redesigned and much more sturdy. Of course only time will tell.

I also use an active noise canceling headphone made by Encore, model #ANC-01 with an impedance of 32 ohms and audio range of 20-20000 hz, that I bought on eBay for only $5.99, a once in a lifetime deal! They actually make copying CW under poor conditions easier!

ICOM IC-718 REVIEW BY KN4LF

ICOM IC-746 PRO DIGITAL MODES INTERFACE INFORMATION BY KN4LF


KN4LF IN FRONT OF THE
ICOM IC-746 PRO STATION
CLICK TO ENLARGE 

STUDIO A THE ICOM IC-746 PRO STATION & THE ICOM IC-746 PRO STATION CLOSE UP
CLICK TO ENLARGE

STUDIO B THE ICOM IC-746 PRO STATION & ELECTRONICS WORK BENCH
CLICK TO ENLARGE

STATION ANTENNA & GROUND SERVICE ENTRANCE
CLICK TO ENLARGE


FOUR ANTENNAS HIDDEN IN PLAIN VIEW
CLICK TO ENLARGE

Other rigs I've owned over the years include a Hallicrafters BC-610, Heath Kit DX-60 and DX-100B, My first radio station when I got my ticket in 1989 was the Heathkit DX-100B and a Hammarlund HQ-180C receiver! Soon I will be adding some new boat anchor gear.

I also owned an Icom IC-701, IC-735, IC-751A, Kenwood TS-830, Yaesu FT-101E, three FT-840's, FT-990 and FT-1000MP Mark V Field. The FT-990 had the worst receiver on HF due to intolerable hissing in the audio chain and IMD distortion from nearby MF AM Broadcast band stations. On 160 meters I found the Kenwood TS-830 to have the best receiver as far as internally produced VCO phase noise, with the Yaesu FT-840 a close second (seriously).


My full parameter weather observing station is a model #6152 Davis Vantage Pro2 with model #6312 LCD console, model #7747 fan aspirated instrument shelter kit and model #6332 wireless wind vane/anemometer transmitter kit. It's tied to my personal computer with the Davis 6510SER data logger/PC interface. Wind data uploads occur every 1-2 seconds, barometric pressure every 60 seconds and temperature related parameters every 10 seconds. As far as software I use the excellent Weather Display v10.37m b14, Weather Display Live v5.04 and VP Live v1.1.10 I have a dedicated computer for the weather software. It's an old HP Pavilion 6635 running a 533 mhz Intel Celeron Pentium III processor with 384 megs of RAM, a 10 gig hard drive and runs the Windows XP Home SP3 OS.

All weather observation parameters are in real time to the Internet via a 3000/700 kbps speed permanent DSL broadband connection. My weather station is part of the National Weather Service (NWS) Citizens Weather Observer Program (CWOP) and is ID'ed as #AR692/KN4LF. The weather observation data enters NOAA Meteorological Assimilation Data Ingest System (MADIS) in Boulder, CO, where it enters the weather forecasting model's and 500 other end users.


LAKELAND, FL, USA
LIVE WEATHER OBSERVATIONS
AT SCOTT LAKE IN THE LAKELAND HIGHLANDS


Weather observations collected by a Davis Vantage Pro2 weather station with
fan aspirated temperature/humidity shelter and wireless anemometer/wind vane kits

Use the reload or refresh facility on your browser to retrieve the latest data

5 minute update Weather Display v10.37m b14 software


CLICK TO ENTER

MY VERY CLOSE ENCOUNTERS WITH FLORIDA LIGHTNING BOLTS

MY LIGHTNING STRIKE PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN ON JULY 19TH OF 2006
HARMFUL MAN INDUCED CLIMATE CHANGE (GLOBAL WARMING) REFUTED

LAKELAND FLORIDA DAILY CLIMATOLOGICAL WEATHER OBSERVATION DATA ARCHIVE


When I manage to get up early enough I check into the New England Weather Net. It operates on 3905 kc Monday through Saturday beginning at 5:00 am EST for informal check ins and 5:30-6:20 am EST for formal check ins. The New England Weather Net began operation in 1955 and has operated continuously since. Check ins are not limited to the New England region. For more information check out the website below.

NEW ENGLAND WEATHER NET

MIXW RIG EXPERT TINY & TIGERTRONICS SIGNALINK USB DIGITAL INTERFACES
CLICK TO ENTER

As I already mentioned above I'm very active on the digital modes on 160 through 2 meters using the Rig Expert Mini soundcard interface and the Tigertronics Signalink USB outboard soundcard interface to my Icom IC-746 Pro's. My first digital modes interface was homebrewed and I still have it but it does not allow for computer control of my rig.

I also operate a little on all MF/HF bands but am most active on 160, 80, 40 and 17 meters using CW, SSB and AM, both rag chewing and DXing. Most of my time is spent on the digital modes such as BPSK31/63/125, FELD HELL, MFSK16, OLIVIA MFSK 500/16, MT63, RTTY and THROB.

While on the subject of the digital modes there is an issue with the PSK mode that I am going to address. I've been operating the PSK mode since 2003 and I'm seeing more and more dirty PSK signals (as wide as 3000 hz versus 31 hz) than ever on the HF bands, especially on 20 meters. I always make it a point to work stations with a dirty signal so as to assist them in cleaning their signal up.

Most of the time they are running 30 watts or less and the problem is how they are operating their rig, i.e, controlling output power with the RF output potentiometer on their rig. Unfortunately though too many newer digital operators are unwilling to do it the right way and often get offended when you tell them that their signal is dirty.

The correct way is to turn up rig output power for maximum ~100 watts and control the power output with the rig mic gain potentiometer and/or computer or outboard sound card slider. I say control as in reduce output until the transmitted signal is clean with no adjacent sidebands.

With my Rig Expert Tiny interface on my Icom IC-746 Pro using this method I can run up to 100 watts with no ALC movement and have a clean signal. With my Signalink USB outboard sound card interface I can run up to 150 watts with no ALC movement and have a clean signal. The performance of the internal sound card of the Signalink USB is very impressive, much cleaner than the expensive sound card in my computer.

I belong to a good number of radio clubs and organizations. I am member of the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), #349 of the Pennsylvania/Ohio DX Association (PODXS) 070 PSK31 Club, member #141 of the Feld Hell Club, member #1723 of the North American QRP CW Club, member #3097 of the Straight Key Century Club (SKCC), member #691 of the 30 meter Digital Group, member #1243 of the Digital Modes Club a member of the U.S. Coast Guard Radio Club and Lakeland Amateur Radio Club.


ARRL

FELD HELL CLUB

PODXS 070 PSK31 CLUB


AMATEUR RADIO CLUB
CLICK TO ENTER

Click here to join 30 Meter Digital Group
30 METER DIGITAL GROUP
CLICK TO ENTER


Click here to join 30 Meter Digital Group
DIGITAL MODES CLUB
CLICK TO ENTER


NORTH AMERICAN QRP CW CLUB (NAQCC)
CLICK TO ENTER


STRAIGHT KEY CENTURY CLUB (SKCC)
CLICK TO ENTER


LAKELAND AMATEUR RADIO CLUB (LARC)
CLICK TO ENTER


As of 11/01/2008 my all band all mode DXCC entity worked total is 192, with 128 confirmed. Until five years ago I spent most of my amateur radio hobby operating time focusing on 160 meters only, so my overall DXCC entity worked total is low.

Using CW, PSK31, RTTY and SSB phone my 160 meter DXCC entity worked total was 168, confirmed 158. I started over again on 160 meter DXCC on 01/01/2007 and my worked DXCC entity worked total is 86, confirmed 46.

My all band RTTY DXCC entity worked total is 134, confirmed 87. My all band BPSK31 DXCC entity worked total is 108, confirmed 69.

Using CW, PSK31, RTTY and SSB phone my all band QRP DXCC entity worked total was 81, confirmed 50, QRP WAS total was 50, confirmed 50. However I started over again on QRP DXCC on 03/04/2007 and my all band QRP DXCC entity worked total is 30, confirmed 15, QRP WAS total is 24, confirmed 13.

KN4LF QRP DXCC ENTITY & WAS TOTALS

I recently purchased a U.S. Navy flame proof straight key. It has the orange U.S. Navy stenciled on the bottom and the serial number on the base is CMI-26003A. CMI means that it was made by Molded Insulator Company and the number is the model number.

I am also second owner of a non iambic paddle, the Vibroplex Vibrokeyer. It's a beauty with a serial number of 243902 that was manufactured in 1965.

I also do some of my Morse Code sending with a computer, sound card, keyboard, MixW v2.18f and MRP v4.061 software due to rheumatoid arthritis in my hands. At times I find it less painful to peck with my index fingers then to actuate a key. MixW is an excellent piece of software for handicapped amateur radio operators that want to send CW, the MRP v4.061 software not as good due to an increasingly outdated interface.

Though I can copy CW at 20 wpm by ear, when my MFJ-392B and Encore model #ANC-01 headphones fall short the software assists me in detecting signals below my local receiving noise threshold when signals (QSB) fade and noise (QRN) is high and allows for good contacts to be made 99% of the time. In any event marriage between computer and rig is total at this QTH.

My radio hobby computer is a recently built generic PC with a 2 gig Celeron Pentium Processor, 2 gigs of DDR RAM, a 160 gig hard drive and running the XP Home SP3 OS. I also have a laptop for portable operation. It is a Toshiba Satellite A205-S5000 laptop with a 1.86 gig Celeron Pentium processor, 2 gigs of DDR RAM, a 120 gig hard drive and the XP Vista Home Premium OS. I connect to the Internet via a 15000 kbps down and 2000 kbps up permanent broadband connection. Besides running amateur radio related software on it I access callsign databases, DX spots, radiowave propagation and lightning strike data.

As far as amateur radio related software programs I run the following: N3FJP ACLog v3.0 for general and DX logging, G4ILO's VOAProp v1.1 and W6EL v2.7 for propagation prediction, EZNEC 5.0 for antenna modeling, Geo Clock v8.4 for sunrise, sunset and gray line mapping, MixW v2.18f and Digital Master 780 v4 sp4 b 1901 for BPSK31/63, FELD HELL, MFSK16, Olivia MFSK 500/16, MFSK16, MT63, RTTY and THROB operating, MRP v4.061 and MixW v2.18f for computer keyboard CW sending, Ham Radio Deluxe v4.0 sp4 b1901 and CATCI-V v2.5 for CAT rig control and Storm Lab v4.0 radar for thunderstorm tracking.

KN4LF HOMEBREWED DIGITAL INTERFACE PLUS HOOKUP INFO FOR THE FT-1000MP/MARK V/FIELD TRANSCEIVER


I currently have four transmit antennas and one receive antenna up in the air. All are grounded for lightning surges with impulse suppressors/arrestors (I.C.E. model #303/U and #309/H) purchased from The Wireman. http://www.thewireman.com . Speaking of lightning check out the website below:

CHOICES AND CONSEQUENCES OF STATION LIGHTNING PROTECTION

My station ground system is made up of 300 feet of #6 solid bare copper wire buried 3" deep that encircles my house. Attached are six eight foot ground rods, plus the three eight foot ground rods for the power mains, cable TV and telephone, my house copper pipe plumbing system and the city water system. The ground rods do nothing for collection of RF and are tied in per NEC standards for lightning protection.

Antenna #1 is a 288 foot horizontal full wave loop on 80 meters (3489.583 kc) that is made up of black UV resistant double coated plastic stranded #14 wire. It is in a square configuration with each leg 72 feet long and mounted 35 feet above ground at each corner. The feed point is in the middle of the leg that is broadside N-S. For 80-10 meter operation the antenna is fed with 122 feet of high quality #18 gauge stranded hard drawn copper 300 ohm window/ladder feed line. It is tuned by my link coupled balanced Johnson Viking Match Box (275 watt carrier/1100 watt PEP).

Antenna #2 is a 160 meter 1/4 wave inverted L that is made up of 129 feet of black UV resistant double coated plastic stranded #14 wire. The vertical section of the antenna is 42 feet tall with a horizontal section of 87 feet which points towards the NE. It is fed with 80 feet of RG-213U.

As follows is a photograph of the antenna feed point and radial plate. The gray watertight PVC electrical box contains the feed point connections that make the antenna magic work. The Teflon PL259 coax cable connector is water proofed using high quality electrical tape and also liquid electrical tape.

Though not shown in the picture below, at the feedpoint of the antenna I have placed a choke BALUN made out of RG-213U. The dimensions are eight turns (twelve feet) of RG-213U coax on a PVC form 6 1/2" in diameter. The choke BALUN prevents the feedline from radiating RF and also from picking up unwanted local QRN.


1/4 Inverted L Feedpoint & Radial Plate
Click To Enlarge

The ground system consists of eighteen 1/8 wave radials (64 feet) using #16 stranded bare wire. I also have nine eight foot ground rods, my house copper water pipe system and city water system tied in with the eighteen radials. Eventually I will get the vertical section 65 feet high. The radial plate was purchased from DX engineering and is of high quality stainless steel.

Antenna #3 is a K4TR D&G Antenna MFG. & Sales http://kk4tr.tripod.com/index-10.html three half waves (3/2) doublet for 6 meters made out of 28.5 feet of black UV resistant double coated plastic stranded #14 house wire. It has a G5RV type feed point arrangement with 8 feet of 300 ohm window line to a 1:1 BALUN and then 55 feet of 50 ohm hard line. The antenna has approximately 3 db of gain with a bidirectional broadside pattern. It is currently mounted at 25 feet above ground broadside NNE-SSW. The antenna is built like a tank and will hold up under most high wind conditions.

Antenna #4 is 1/2 vertical J Pole for 2 meters made up of soldered copper water pipe with the highest current point at 25 feet AGL, 115 feet HAAT and 218 feet AMSL. The antenna is fed with 25 feet of 50 ohm hard line. This setup allows me to hit most repeaters within a 200 mile range. The antenna was designed and constructed by Don Jeerings KI4EFL.


2 METER J-POLE DESIGNED AND CONSTRUCTED BY KI4EFL
CLICK TO ENLARGE

As far as receive antennas on 160 meters, I use an eight foot diameter balanced coaxial loop with the base mounted at 2 feet above ground on a Hy-Gain AR-35 rotator and a KD9SV 160 meter preamplifier. It is fed with 50 feet of RG-213. Here is a photograph of the loop. Further down is a link to a website that I published concerning construction of the antenna.


8 FT DIAMETER BALANCED COAXIAL LOOP
CLICK TO ENLARGE

Another all band transmit antenna that I've had great success with in the past is the switchable horizontal doublet/vertical Tee transmit antenna. For more information about it go to:

KN4LF/K4TR 160-10 METER LINEAR LOADED TEE VERTICAL/DOUBLET ANTENNA

KN4LF 160-10 METER LINEAR LOADED INVERTED L ANTENNA

W4TWW 160 METER BROAD BANDED COAXIAL INVERTED L ANTENNA

KN4LF 160 METER 1/4 WAVE INVERTED L ANTENNA

KN4LF 160 METER 8 FT DIA. COAXIAL RECEIVE LOOP ANTENNA

80 METER HORIZONTAL FULL WAVE LOOP ANTENNA

KN4LF 80-10 METER FAN DOUBLET ANTENNA

K4TR ANTENNA MANUFACTURING & SALES

If you really want to learn about antenna's, feed lines and VSWR check out W2DU's .pdf file sitting on my server. He is a retired professional in the field of antenna design and put's to rest allot of bad antenna theory that's been floating around within our hobby for decades.

W2DU TO LOW AN SWR CAN KILL YOU

NJ4A UNDERSTANDING ANTENNAS FOR NON TECHNICAL HAMS

Last but not least, as far as QSLing I use ARRL LOTW and eQSL. I will respond to old fashioned paper QSL cards if I receive them but no bureau please. I long ago obtained mixed mode DXCC and WAS via paper QSL cards. I'm now also approaching same through ARRL LOTW and eQSL.cc.

If you would like to save $$$ and design and print your own QSL card check out this website link.

K7LS ONLINE QSL CARD MAKER

In my personal observation digital modes operators are dedicated QSL card swappers and actively use LOTW and eQSL.

Enter your callsign to see if you have an eQSL waiting!


CLICK TO ENTER


I'm also still an active SWL going back to 1965. My grandfather of whom I was named after was an MF AM broadcast band SWL and owned an Italian language newspaper in New York City, NY in 1930's and 1940's. He had a 1960 Zenith Royal 50 all transistor portable (huge by today's standards) AM radio and a 1959 Zenith AM/FM table top radio. Both radios were purchased on "Radio Row" in Manhattan, New York City. In 1965 he began letting me listen to the Zenith table top radio both day and night and this began my fascination with radio.

My current modern receivers include an Icom R-75, Sangean ATS-909, ATS-818, ATS-505P, Grundig S350DL and Eton E10.

Older receivers include a Zenith Transoceanic H500 and Royal 7000, Realistic DX-60 and DX-100, Hallicrafters WR600 and S120, Sony ICF-6500W, Kenwood R-1000 and R-2000 and Collins R-390A.

However at the moment I'm using my Icom IC-746 Pro for SWLing. Rig control is via Ham Radio Deluxe v4 SP4 b1901 and the logging program is B Log v1.1.

On the low frequency (LF) band, I've logged 100's of part 15 LOWFERS, air navigation, marine and broadcast stations in 27 countries. I'm also active experimenting with DSP receiving software such as Argo, Spectran, Spectrum Lab, etc. for weak signal reception. As far as receive antennas for LF I use an 160 meter 1/4 wavelength coaxial inverted L.

On the medium frequency (MF) AM broadcast band I have logged 1300+ stations in 43 states and 41 countries. BTW my first job in weather forecasting was at a small 1 kw station in Florida, WDCF 1350 kc in Dade City, FL. As far as receive antennas for MF I use an outdoor 5 foot balanced coaxial loop and an 160 meter 1/4 wavelength coaxial inverted L vertical.
I am or have in the past been a member of the International Radio Club of America (IRCA) http://www.ircaonline.org ,the National Radio Club (NRC) http://www.nrcdxas.org and American Broadcast Band DXers (ABDX) http://www.americanbroadcastdx.com .

On the
shortwave (SW) broadcast bands, I have 2000+ stations logged in 201 countries, approximately 75% broadcast and 25% utility. I actively DX on all of the shortwave bands, with an emphasis on the 120, 90, 75 and 60 meter bands. I'm also a news and programming listener of shortwave broadcast stations on all bands. As far as receive antennas for SW I use an 80-10
meter (90-11 meter) horizontal full wave loop (285 feet long) up at 35 feet.



NOTE!!! If the following pro U.S. Military content offends you then feel free to keep scrolling past it. I support the "War On Terror" (though I feel that it has been mismanaged due to the rapidly spreading plague called political correctness) and I strongly support our troops.


Freedom is not free with it comes responsibility


I'm A Disabled Life Member Of Chapter 65 Of The
Disabled American Veterans


I'm A Medically Retired Veteran And Proudly
Served My Country In The Vietnam Era
In the U.S. Coast Guard
 

Are you fat dumb and happy? Do you sleep well at night in your warm and comfy bed because you feel safe and secure? Are you a life long taker, not a contributor to our great representative republic? Well check out how our military personnel have been living in Afghanistan and Iraq while protecting our precious freedoms!!!

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CLICK HERE TO VIEW A TRIBUTE TO OUR
BRAVE MEN AND WOMEN IN UNIFORM


NATIONAL COALITION FOR HOMELESS VETERANS

MILITARY DOT COM ALL THE BENEFITS OF MILITARY SERVICE


Some of the steel from the fallen World Trade Center towers in New York City was used to build a new U.S. Navy Ship USS New York.


CLICK TO ENLARGE

You can contact me at
kn4lf at arrl dot net

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