Biography

I got licensed in 1996. What got me interested in Ham were the VHF and UHF bands. I was involved in traffic nets, weather nets, fox hunts, and other community activities that involved Ham Radio, and right from the start, enjoyed antenna building. I was involved for a few years until I drifted out of the radio hobby and by 2009 I officially left the hobby.

In 2020 I got licensed again as my interest in radio had returned, due in part to the addition of digital voice modes that weren't there when I first got involved with Ham. I had also moved from where I used to live. Here in Maine, the VHF UHF bands are pretty dead compared to where I come from. Disappointed, I put Ham Radio down for awhile to work on other radio/computer related interests. One of those being, building a radio receiver out of a Raspberry Pi and some software defined radios that covered 1KHz-3GHz. I started monitoring the HF bands and my first love with radio, the AM broadcast band.

Another Ham had been urging me to upgrade my license and so I started studying. At the same time, my wife (KC1UIL) also started studying. We both walked into a test session and passed. I had no intention of really getting on HF but I decided to purchase a radio, tuner, and some ladderline because I was getting a little tired of listening to the conversations and other activities and not being able to talk. I purchased a Yaesu FT 891 with a MFJ 949F tuner and built a doublet antenna that tunes up well on 160-6m.

HF is really growing on me and I am really enjoying it. I have found activities on HF that I used to enjoy on VHF and UHF back in the day. There are other things that are HF specific that have grabbed my interest. From way back before I got originally got licensed back in the 90's, I have always loved antennas. When I got into Ham, I immediately started building my own antennas and learning all that I could about them. So, as I have gotten into HF, I am very interested in HF antennas and how they work. The doublet antenna I currently use is the first HF antenna I have built and I have gotten very good signal reports off of it. Out of all that HF has to offer, antenna building and HF propagation is what interests me specifically on the lower bands below 20 meters. I am looking forward to exploring more with antennas and propagation on HF.

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While I hold a General class Ham license and a GMRS license, I am mainly on HF. I only use the VHF/UHF Ham bands for low power use between my wife and I, and GMRS on one local repeater to me. Due to bad band conditions all the time and all of the one sided conversations I hear between the guy running a kilowatt and a beam, I disconnected my Yaesu 991a and tuner and packed it away in the closet. On a rare occasion I pull my Yaesu 891 out and make a contact or two and then pack it away again. I have found other non-radio things to occupy my time.
Zello - User name: WRQI583 or N1YFA

Equipment

In the House:
Yeasu ft 991a
Shure SM58 Microphone w/foot pedal PTT
MFJ 949F tuner
Doublet antenna
VGC VR N7500
MXTA25 Ghost antenna

In the Car:
Yaesu FT891
MAT 30 Tuner
Homebrew HF antenna (80m-10m)

Zello App on my cell phone
Username: N1YFA