Website Update
I have added some pages, with YouTube clips and new blog items. Thanks to Adam for getting things straightened out!
I have added some pages, with YouTube clips and new blog items. Thanks to Adam for getting things straightened out!
I have added a page to cover this aspect of the radio hobby.
In the early 60s, my parents bought me an inexpensive “rocket radio”, which was a crystal radio that covered the AM frequency band. I was amazed how well it worked. Here is a typical picture of what it looked like:
In the late 1960s, I did a lot of radio listening from Niantic, Connecticut. I used a Hallicrafters SX-110 receiver back in those days to a spirally-wound loop about 18 inches of crossed dowels sitting inside the house. I heard a number of South American and European stations along with KFI in Los Angeles on the Medium Wave (what non-DXers call AM radio) band. Below is a picture of the Hallicrafters SX-110 receiver (not the one I had). I wish I still owned this radio!
While living in Saudi Arabia from 1980 through 1985, I had a Kenwood R-1000 receiver there. For an antenna, I used a Hustler 4BTV ham radio vertical. I used the radio to listen to the BBC and VOA on medium wave in the evenings to keep abreast of world news. I did some DX-ing, but not enough to remember. I did hear my Dad, N1CVG, on CW from his QTH in Kingston, Mass on 15 meters in 1980. I also used a Kantronics terminal interfaced to my Apple ][ + computer and did copy RTTY from Albania. For that long ago, it did a pretty good job.
After a longtime without doing any non-ham radio DX-ing, coupled with the fact that there wasn’t much more I could do on the ham bands due to antenna restrictions, I thought that getting back to medium and short wave DX-ing might be fun and something to do that was still radio related. In the fall of 2013, I decided (after much study) to purchase a Perseus SDR (Software Defined Radio) and a WellBrook loop antenna from that company in Wales. In order to take full advantage of the radio’s capabilities, I also needed to procure a new computer. I bought an i5 PC from HP, with 12 GB of RAM and a 1.5 TB hard disk, running Windows 8. This combination interfaced together nicely. The Perseus has no switches on it. All control is done through the Perseus software. The Perseus can record up to 1.6 MHz in bandwidth, which allows the entire medium wave band to be recorded at one time, thus permitting playback at a later time. The filtering of the Perseus is all software driven. The Perseus is a marvelous piece of hardware. I installed the loop antenna in the backyard, with a rotor to allow rotation. During the fall, this combination did allow me to log numerous European, Middle Eastern, and African medium wave stations. Short wave stations have been logged from every continent (except Antarctica). The Perseus page will be used to provide media for stations heard on the Perseus. The Perseus and WellBrook loop are shown in the following pictures:
After completing the 5-Band (80m, 40m, 20m, 15m, and 10m) Worked All States award, I felt the strong need to do one more band. So I chose the 17m band for this effort. Approximately half of the states were worked before the Colorado trip and the last half were finished on 21 July 2013. That completed working and confirming all the states on six amateur radio bands. The close-in states on the higher bands (20m-10m) proved to be very difficult, but getting WAS on multiple bands has always been a goal of mine.
Here is a picture of the 5-Band Worked All States plaque, with the 17 meter endorsement added, for a total of 6-Band Worked All States:
Carolyn and I drove to Colorado for the wedding, which was held on 20 June 2013 at Della Terra in Estes Park, Colorado. Della Terra borders on the Rocky Mountain National Park. The wedding and reception was very nice, as was the rehearsal dinner and the barbecue dinner the day the wedding. Here is a picture of Andrew and Katie just after their wedding:
Before the wedding, we went to Colorado Springs and toured the Gorden of the Gods, took the Cog Rail to the top of Pike’s Peak, and went to the Zoo.
After the wedding, we went through drove the entire highway through Rocky Mountain National Park – going from Estes Park to Grand Lake.  One of the most beautiful drives I have ever made. Actually since Carolyn drove, I should rephrase it to “One of the most beautiful rides I have ever made”.
Colorado is really a wonderful place for a wedding and even a better place to visit.
It has been almost one year since I have posted anything on this website. It is time to remedy that. In the next few days, there will be some new pages added and updates for the last year, as well, we be posted.