Added my call sign to the wall art at The Pi Pizzaria in South Salt Lake, Salt Lake County, Utah (DN40bp).
K1LOK at The Pi
I made my first HF contact. I had a dipole set up about 3 meters high on the south side of my house. The contact was with K0KSU in Kansas (EM17) at 1363 km (847 miles).
A picture of my home shack (DN40cj).
The 2018 Field Day was spent with the Skyline Radio Club on Skyline Road at the top of Ephraim Canyon (DM49gh). I was able to do quite a bit of operating.
I made my first contact on DMR with KI7GGG in Lehi, Utah County, Utah.
I worked at University Avenue and 500 N (DN40dg). I ended up holding an arrow to direct floats. My 2017 location was much better.
I bought a second mobile radio with two band capability. It was a Tytera TH-7800. I have used this radio periodically as both a base and a mobile radio.
This was my first attempt at a portable operation near Kanab, Kane County, Utah (DM37qc). I made contact with K6TIM in Tucumcari, New Mexico (DM85) at a distance of 818 km (508 miles).
This was my 20 meter dipole taken northwest of Kanab.
I bought a Woxun HT model KG-UV8T. It is a tribander giving me capability on the 1.25 meter band. I was thinking about getting a Yaesu FT-60, but I like the display on this unit much better. It is easier to read with my old eyes.
This was my first time checking into any of the mercury nets, this time being the Mercury Rocky Mountain Net on 3920 kHz. The net control was KB7ITU in Rexburg, Idaho.
This year I worked the SW quadrant again from a northside UVU parking lot (DN40dg). I had a good view of the fires in the mountains to the south.
I discovered the Mission Trail Net. I spoke to W6SLZ (Dick) about the net.
This was my first time I tried a contest on my own. I actually had a pileup of a few wanting a contact in Utah. I was on both 40 and 80 meters. I used a 20 meter dipole for some of the 40 meter contacts.
I made 47 contacts on 20, 40 and 80 meters. I contacted 29 different counties. According to the cert I got, I was 5th place in Utah for single operator low power.
I had 12 QSOs. For whatever reason, this was enough to win Single Operator, Low Power, 20 meters. My furthest contact was KH6J in Hawaii at 4803 km.
I made my final strike to join the Northwest Country Cousins. . I had been in Oregon in August for work. I kind of had a Heimweh for my old home state. The next month I found this net. I decided to become a member. To do that one has to have four check-ins (strikes) on four our of five weeks on the same day of the week. The one problem was that I had a family trip to Las Vegas on the fourth week and a work trip to Toronto the next Saturday. This meant I would have to do a portable setup from Las Vegas to be in. I set up a mystery antenna in a field between US 95 and a school. I made it in. Not only was I able to contact Cousin Chad KD7KJF at a distance of 1227 km, but I also talked to Cousin Bryan KG7CUL at a distance of 1457 km. I became Cousin Frank, #1834.
| Strike | Date Time (UTC) | Control | Name | Grid | Distance (km) | My Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 30.9.18 3:15 | W6ERM | Vance | CN87 | 1162 | DN40cj American Fork |
| 2 | 7.10.18 2:30 | KG7CUL | Bryan | CN98 | 1201 | DN40cj American Fork |
| 3 | 14.10.18 2:55 | KD7KJF | Chad | CN96 | 990 | DN40cj American Fork |
| 4 | 21.10.18 2:00 | KD7KJF | Chad | CN96 | 1227 | DM26ih Las Vegas |
This was one of the first times I tried my 20 meter vertical antenna. I went out to the Pony Express Trail a little east of Faust, Tooele County, Utah (DN30ue) and set up. About 15:00, I started to get a lot of stations from Japan. The signals were very clear. I ended up with six contacts. The furthest away was JA6WFM in Kuramoto, Japan (PM52in) at 9676 km (almost ¼ of the way around the world). It was pretty chilly that day (like 5 °C).
The homemade antenna that made it one quarter the way around the world in Faust, Tooele County, Utah
Received RACES Number 2400 (for Utah).
I made 10 contacts all in the western 4 provinces. Just before the contest, I made contact with VE4EA in Manitoba. I had previously made contact with him on the Intermountain Intertie from Las Vegas in October.
created by:
