I’ll fully admit, I’m one of ‘those’ hams who has had my license for a while now, but I don’t get on the air much.

I threw my call out tonight on 2 meter simplex, and had about a 40-minute ragchew with a fellow ham about music and sound production.  It turns out we both played the same musical instrument. What a small world.

Every time I do get on the air it ends up being awesome.  I need to do this more.

When I was looking at buying equipment, one question that I was constantly asking was “what is the perfect rig for a beginner?”.   As I did some research and pondered several options- I realized something very important: there is no perfect rig, let alone one that is perfect for beginners.

My advice to new hams is to start the process with what kind of rig you are looking for, instead of worrying about specific models and brands.

I live in an apartment, and while I can sometimes successfully listen to shortwave here, 90% of the time (especially in the summer with AC units running) – there is just too much interference to operate as I can’t hear anything.  Also I have no ability to get an antenna outside my apartment.

For me requirement number one was portable operations.  I wanted a rig that I could bring anywhere with me so location would never be an issue.  Also important was a rig that could handle multiple bands and modes.  When I found the Yaesu 857- that for me was the winner.  It handles many bands, it is small, and it can go from 5 watts to 100 watts.

Next was the antenna- while just about anything can do here- I didn’t want something that would be too confusing nor difficult to setup.  After a lot of digging, I settled on the Buddipole.  It comes with a tripod, an 18-foot mast, and options for 40 meters through 2 meters.  The flexibility again appealed to me, as one antenna system could let me try many bands out.  Also the Buddipole has many configuration options, I can go vertical, horizontal, or experiment with other ideas as well.  I’ve had the best luck with it on 17-meters, but I’ve also made contacts on 20 and 2-meters.  I have yet to try the other bands.  For some reason the more ‘seasoned’ hams hate on the Buddipole- I was 5×9 to someone across the US running 50 watts, and as soon as I mentioned what antenna I had, the response was “well that is a very illogical antenna.”  Keep in mind, there is no perfect antenna, and if I am making 5×9 reports, I call it success.

I also needed power- so I got a 31 amp-hour gel battery- enough to power the Yaesu at full power for a short time, or at reduced power for quite a while.

The last piece, and most important from my experience, was the antenna analyzer.  The Buddipole comes with stock instructions for how to set each band up, but I’ve found it to be a starting point and not the final answer.   Following the stock instructions, I usually end up in the 2:1 to 3:1 SWR range, and I need to shorten the whips slightly.  Yes, this part is tedious, as I have to raise the antenna, measure, lower it, adjust, and repeat.  However, I can always get the SWR below 1.3:1, and I credit that with my ability to get through with such an ‘illogical antenna.’

With this setup I can operate anywhere.  I also love to go camping, so bringing my rig to a campground is a great way to enjoy nature and talk around the world.  This is the setup that works for me, but your ideal rig could be completely different.

Since getting my general ticket, I have tried the Buddipole on HF outdoors a couple of times.  I was able to make a couple of contacts but I always got low signal reports and generally wasn’t able to complete the contact, and I didn’t get responses for my CQ calls.  I was following the instructions for the Buddipole but not having much luck.

I had ordered the MFJ-223 from a local dealer and it took awhile to get in stock.  Once I got it, I realized how priceless an analyzer is.  I realized I was likely operating with 2:1 to 3:1 SWR- and my low signal reports had something to do with my rig holding back the power due to SWR. What I really like about the MFJ-223 is the graph.  I can scan up to 24 MHz of spectrum and see the results plotted out instantly.  I found that due operating in the woods with several nearby trees, I had to make the antenna slightly shorter than the instructions recommended.

At the park I was at, using the stock Buddipole horizontal dipole setup for 17 meters, my antenna was resonant at 17.7660 MHz- far below the 17 meter voice range.  SWR was 2.17 at 18.110 MHz and 2.42 at 18.168 MHz.  After some experimenting, I ended up leaving everything the same except for the red side element- I shortened that to about 4.6 sections vs. the 5 recommended.  This solved everything, my antenna was now resonant at 18.0860 MHz, and SWR at the voice band edges were 1.09 and 1.19.

Suddenly I had people responding to my CQ calls.  From Great River Bluffs State Park in MN, I was able to contact California, Vancouver Island, and Rarotonga Island.  I was getting some 5×9 reports at the highest, and 4×4 reports at the lowest.  In one contact I had he was running 700 watts, I was running 50 watts, and we were both 5×9 to each other.

I can’ t wait to get outdoors again and try some more bands. More to come.

I’ve been waiting for this for a long time.

I just picked up the last half of an SSTV image and the first part of another from the International Space Station.  This is crazy.  I just picked something up from orbit.  Mind = blown.

The majority of the time the ISS was overhead it was silent between the two images.  When the second image started, the ISS was already on its way out.  Too bad, when the signal was strong I got a clear image.    I can’t wait to try this again.

From a second pass below.  This pass was much lower to the horizon, and as I’m operating out of my apartment in Minnapolis, my guess is the patterns where the signal dropped were buildings in the way.

I heard for the first time last night Hobart Radio International via WRMI on 9955khz. It was their UFO special, and by far one of the best shows I’ve ever listened to on shortwave.  Very unique and very interesting to listen to.

I can’t wait to listen to HRI’s next show.

After much consideration, this is my new rig:

• Yaesu FT-857D
• QJE PS23SWI Power Supply
• Buddipole Deluxe – Long
• MFJ-223 Analyzer

Just waiting on the last two to arrive, and then I can’t wait to play.

I finally decided on the Yaesu FT-857D.  I also purchased a MFJ-1728B 6m/2m mag mount antenna.  I’m going to get some wires run in my car soon and test it out on 6m mobile.  In the meantime I’m using the new radio on 2m/70cm and have already made some contacts.

Doing a little more research- I’m contemplating the Allinco DX-SR8 and an MFJ-1622 indoor antenna.