Biography

For a good deal of late 2023 into 2024 and throughout most of the year I have been doing mostly other things than amateur radio but as of October 2024 I have made it back into the fold. Finishing up countless magnetic loop projects including on for 10-17 meters as well as another for 15, 17 and 20 meters which has yielded good results in the latest 2024 CQWW Contest on the weekend of October 26-27, 2024.

Right now I am also working on another 28 foot diameter magnetic loop to be used for at least 40 and 60 meters but possibly 75 meters as well to give me communications down to 3800 khz. I actually need to upgrade to Extra but never seem to have the extra time at this point to get the rest of the way. I've been doing so much with magnetic loops and experimentation for most of the end of the summer. I have to say the antenna for 15-20 meter bands including 15, 17, 20 has been excellent for making contacts into all of Europe, South America, Caribbean and NW Africa as the contest conditions and band conditions have allowed. I will be testing more to see if I can achieve more contacts into Oceania and East Asia as time permits and band conditions permit.

This page will be getting some much needed maintenance during the mid to late fall of 2024 including in November and December so stay tuned. Just a matter of time that it will get some new fresh material. Its been a while since I last updated things that some might think I fell off the face of the earth. Life gets in the way sometimes but that is the way it goes. Looking forward to being back into the fold that much more.

March 2023 Update

Finally after some time and a whole lot of inactivity became a member of the ARRL DXCC with now my 102nd confirmed country with another 11 that are unconfirmed still waiting on either cards or confirmation over Logbook of The World at https://www.arrl.org/lotw

Glad to get past that threshold of 100 confirmed since I was sitting at 99 for the longest time and finally during 2023 ARRL International DX Contest SSB was able to break the 100 threshold. Onward and upward.

2023 Future Plans

Since we are at the spring contest season and having already worked a few hundred in the logs for the ARRL International DX Contest its a good time to keep pushing forward and running more contacts in the CQWPX Contest on March 25-26, 2023 as well as my usual work on state QSO parties and various other smaller contests. I've also been doing a lot of 10 meter DX recently over the past month or two since we are in Solar Cycle 25 and with sunspot numbers far above what was expected out of this cycle even to the point of one day in February 2023 of 201 which is fantastic and even at 100 to 150 is very good compared to the lousy solar conditions of 2019 to 2021 or so. Much better to work and have the bands open far after sunset even on 20-10 meters. Such is great news for DXers and long range radio enthusiasts versus the terrible conditionso of the low end of the solar cycle.

Other activities include working CQWPX, Mississippi and Louisiana QSO Parties, Missouri and Montana QSO Parties, Florida QSO Party, Indiana QSO Party, Italian DX Contest, 7th Area QSO Party and New England QSO Party.

Other interests will be to do more walking and hiking and pedestrian mobile along with mobile operation from various local locations and lakes and parks and such. Also experimenting with small mobile setups to use various antennas and quality transceivers. Much more to come in the future including solar powered ham radio, etc.

I also operate vintage tube radios on occasion especially the Yaesu FT-101E or FT-101EE and the Kenwood TS-520 versions along with an TS-830 that I also own. Some other rigs are Swan rigs, Heathkit HW-101, Ten Tecs, etc. I generally don't work a lot of 2 meters and 440 meters unless I am out hiking, walking or mobile in the car sometimes though I will work 6 meters especially when conditions warrant. Some of my mobile activities are using an Yaesu FT-891 with various Hustler antennas on a trunk lip mount mostly using 40 meters, 20 meters, 15 meters and 10 meters when I choose to go mobile. You'll generally find me mobile on 20 meters the most since that band is usually open at least 12 to 18 hours a day to most places in the US and surrounding nations in the Americas. I'm also involved a lot into SDRs and shortwave listening and broadcasting being a huge interest.

This station does occasionally operate digital modes but mostly is involved in SSB communications usually on 40 meters, 30 meters, 20 meters, 17 meters, 15 meters, 12 meters and 10 meters within the General class allocations of those bands. One day I shall achieve the Extra Class license which was just barely past my grip in my last test session once I study for it more and know theory a bit better.

Upcoming Spring 2023 Activities

Since in 2021 and 2022 I did not spend as much time with Amateur Radio as previous years I've been catching up since fall and winter of 2022 and 2023 playing a bit more radio but not nearly enough though that is ramping up this spring of 2023 over the next few months. Finally got most of the major health problems now in the rearview mirror that was preventing me from being more active along with hospital stays, rehabilitation and all of that less than fun activities. I am currently building some magnetic loop antennas for 40 meters to 10 meters including a couple that will be stationary on certain bands especially 20 meters and 40 meters while also pursuing various other ham related endeavors such as building multiband portable verticals and heliax and copper tubing magnetic loops.

I am planning to be quite active in March through May 2023 with the plethora of contests on those months especially ARRL International DX Contest, CQWW WPX Contest, Florida QSO Party, Indiana QSO Party, 7th Area QSO Party and New England QSO Party many of which I have neglected in the years of 2019 until present due to health concerns and such. That said I should also be well on my way to doing more daily activities such as working DX on 20, 17, 15, 12, 10 meters and quite possibly 40 meters since my station now has a nice configuration for 40 meter work and somewhat on 75 meters.

One of the activities that I have been doing for many years now since at least fall of 2018 is building magnetic loop antennas of various configurations and varying wattage/voltage capacity. Having found some good links to various capacitor sellers both butterfly capacitors as well as vacuum variable capacitors have been ramping up building magnetic loops for primarily 40 meters up to 10 meters due to the size required for efficent operations on 160, 75 and 40 meters. I'm trying to not build something the size of a Ferris wheel at my current location as well as getting my hands on more Heliax and 3/4 to 1 inch copper tubing which works real well for most magnetic loops above 40 meters. I am sure I could build one of 2 inch diameter copper but not interested in breaking the bank either. Maybe I will take some pictures very soon and put some of my crazy creations up online for the world to see since still doing some experimenting with various designs. Capacitors especially some of the air variable but especially vacuum variable capacitors such as Jennings and Comet for 5 to 25 kv tend to be very expensive.

Below is my main operating position for the HF station including a Yaesu FT-1000MP and a IC-718 as well as a legacy FRG-100 Yaesu Receiver that I enjoy listening to SW and HF when I am not wanting to talk which is rare because I like to talk as you can probably tell by my writings. Maybe I will even start to update the blog and discuss this and put some technical things on there including my experimentation with SDR radio and making things which I thoroughly enjoy doing. Not pictured is other vintage equipment and the TS-480SAT and my various two meter equipment that I have been adding to over the years. 73s for now, W9SUN

Operating Conditions at the QTH.

As time has went along the basic layout and operation of the station and stations has changed quite a bit. The main radio these days is now the Yaesu FT-1000MP which despite having a few years on it works very well at 100 watts and usually don't need a lot of extra power than 100 watts to make most contacts. Considering that I've worked 110 plus countries on SSB from some pretty limited spaces I won't complain about that. My backup rig is a IC-718 and I also use various other rigs for SW listening such as an FRG-100 and Kenwood R-2000 along with the Yaesu FRG-7700. I also have a wide variety of smaller handhelds, HTs, 2 meter/440 rigs and such though most of my interests pertain to being primarily an HF operator though I've did quite a bit with VHF frequencies especially 6 meters and 2 meters over the year. I used to do some 220 work and 440 but I've found there isn't enough activity up there for me so I primarily stay in the HF bands and possibly 6 meters when the spots are good and 2 for ragchew sometimes with local and semi local stations.

My digital station is a Kenwood TS-480SAT along with a Heil IC version Headset and then of course an MFJ 1275 and serial cord along with it being fed into a longwire loop configuration. I like to listen about as much as I transmit most of the time. I also like playing with various microphones either Heil Microphones but also professional studio type of microphones such as Sterlings, Behringers, Audio Technica and Electrovoice. One setup I have is using one or more of the professional microphones with a Behringer mixer, BBE audio compressor/sonic maximizer and using that for both ham radio at times and personal recording interests. I haven't done a podcast at this point but have highly considered such if I got a bit more time.

On any of these pages if you type in W9SUN you should find me and you should also be able to find logs on any of those sites as well. I enjoy experimenting with different modes of communications whether it be learning about digital modes or just antennas, SWL, fixing and repairing equipment, troubleshooting ( Do that a lot!), camping, Field Day, contesting, and working the various QSO parties across the nation.

Other interests include working with computers, web design, photography, technical pursuits, electronic troubleshooting, building equipment and experimentation, antennas, reading, history, geopolitics, photography especially digital photography and videos, travel, sports, and really pretty much anything. Not to mention PVC and wire and copper to build antennas, working with metals such as copper and aluminum, camping, hiking, walking, computer repair and maintenance and much more.

Drop me a line sometime at w9sunradio@gmail.com

73s de W9SUN

Logging Policy and QSL Info

I post my logs not only on QRZ Logbook but also Hamlog.eu, HRDLOG, Club Log, as well as linking them to my blogs at http://w9sun.blogspot.com/ and http://w9sunradio.blogspot.com

I also use the ARRL Logbook of the World where I upload my logs every couple of months to their server.

As far as QSLs go, I try to collect them every 3 months via the bureau as well as direct. I especially find EQSL to be useful with the massive number of cards I am getting these days. More to come in future.

This Is The Outstanding Radio Station Of W9SUN Live And In Technicolor!
QRZ

http://www.qrz.com

ARRL Logbook of the World

http://www.arrl.org/lotw

HRDLOG

https://www.hrdlog.net

HAMLOG

http://www.hamlog.eu

CLUBLOG

https://secure.clublog.org

As well as my ham radio sites and social media

http://www.w9sun.blogspot.com
http://www.w9sunradio.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/w9sunradio
https://www.facebook.com/w9sun
http://www.twitter.com/w9sun

I am also a 35 year veteran shortwave listener and have been listening to shortwave radio in one form or another since 1987 or so when I discovered the wonderful world of shortwave radio back when it was going pretty good still. I've verified about 140 countries worldwide through shortwave radio including all of the major countries of shortwave radio from 1987 since. I've actually probably got more than 140 countries but at one point I just enjoyed listening and not collecting wallpaper or paperwork since life brings enough of that. Some of my more exotic DX catches on shortwave were Lao National Radio, Radio Laayoune in Western Sahara on MW, Voice of the Black Cockerel which was a UNITA backed clandestine station involved in the Angolan Civil War along with stations from most of the 50 other nations in Africa. One of my more interesting catches was Voice of Kampuchea the clandestine pirate former state broadcaster of the Khmer Rouge in the early 1990s on its frequency in the 60 meter band around 5408 khz variable. Other interesting stations received in Asia during this time were stations in Pleiku, Vietnam and Kontum, Vietnam which were low wattage stations of the Voice of Vietnam provincial network along countless provincial radio stations in China, Laos, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. I fortunate to have also listened to the 3 Australian Outback domestic service stations of the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) at Alice Springs on 2310 khz during the 1990s as well as 4835 khz. Other Australian Outback stations I have listened to including the ABC outlets at Tennant Creek, Northern Territory Australia 2325 khz and Katherine Northern Territory on 2485 khz.

Some of my DX catches from Africa include Radio Brazzaville on 4765 khz, Radio Zimbabwe on 3396 khz, Ghana Broadcasting Company on 4915 khz and 3366 khz as well as Radio Malienne on 4783 khz, Radio Niamey 5020 khz, Radio Bangui 5034 khz, Radio Lome 5047 khz, Radio Contonou, Zambia National Broadcasting on 4965 khz, Radio Nationale Tchad on 4905 khz, Radio Khartoum on 9165 khz, Radio Uganda 4976 khz, Voice of Kenya 4915 khz, as well stations in 50 of the 51 countries in Africa on shortwave minus Burundi. Even to this day I enjoy listening to shortwave radio whether it is by my own station at home, on the road or even using software defined radios linked around the world. In my view the world was too easily swayed by Internet technologies to give up the medium of shortwave considering that its a great way to impart information without government control or restrictions that we would see in authoritarian counties such as Russia, China, North Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Iran, Afghanistan and countless other nations. The Internet still allows too much of the ability for unstable or undemocratic regimes to control the flow of information such as which has happened in those above countries but as well as countless African nations over the years where internet access is spotty and media is generally strictly controlled by governmental bodies and officials. Even to the point that ham (amateur) radio is also tightly controlled by those officials or the licensing and paperwork and fee requirements are onerous and bureaucratic.

Worked DXCCs:

Equipment

HF Equipment
Yaesu FT-450D
Yaesu FT-1000MP
Yaesu FT-991
Icom 7300
Kenwood TS-480SAT
Icom IC-718
Icom IC-746PRO
Alinco DX-70TH

Legacy Equipment
3- Yaesu FT101
3- Kenwood TS-520S
Various other Swan, National and other equipment.

VHF Equipment

Various Yaesu and Kenwood handhelds for 2 meters and 440 MHZ
IC-28 2 Meter Radio
IC-V8000 75 Watt 2 Meter Transceiver at 75 watts and Mirage 2 meter amplifier 160 watts ERP
Radio Shack 2 meter transmitter at 25 watts

Various MFJ Antenna Tuners
Various Power Supplies
Current Antennas Used
1. Longwire Loop for 75 meters to 10 meters fed with ladder line and a transmatch.
2. Magnetic Loop For 60 meters and 40 meters
3. Magnetic Loop For 8 MHZ to 15.850 Mhz with use on 30 meters and 20 meters as well as SWL
4. Magnetic Loop 11 Foot Circumference Out of 1 3/8 inch copper pipe for usage on 20 meters,
17 meters and 15 meters
5. Magnetic Loop for 17 meters, 15 meters, 12 meters and 10 meters made of 8 foot of copper
refrigeration tubing and a wide capacitance capacitor
6. Homemade vertical antenna for 20, 17, 15, 12 and 10 meters
7. Magnetic Loop for 160-80-40 meters (under development)
8. Vertical Single Band Antennas
a. 40 meter shortened coil transmit antenna
b. 20 meter 16.5 foot tall transmit antenna
c. 15 meter 11 Foot Tall Transmit antenna.
6. Receive antenna of 150 feet of wire on 3 foot diameter 8 foot tall PVC for SW Listening
7. Various 4-5 feet diameter loops for HF Shortwave Reception.