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Amateur Radio Station KI7F
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Bill Wolverton, KI7F's Amateur Radio shack at apartment in Denver, Colorado.

June 4th, 2010. Equipment shown here is a Yaesu FT-950 HF transceiver
with the optional Yaesu DMU-2000 (Digital Management Unit) The optional
Yaesu speaker, Yaesu MD-100 Base microphone, Yaesu FH-2 remote control head,
Astron RS-50M 50 amp 13.5 VDC power supply, Icom IC-2000H 2 meter FM
transceiver and Kantronics KPC-9612 Terminal Node Controller (TNC) for 2
meter packet operation. The LCD monitor is connected to the Yaesu DMU-2000
unit and the LCD monitor sits on top of an MFJ Versa Tuner II. Not seen is my
Kenwood TH-F6A 2 meter, 220 and 440 Mhz HT radio. Antennas for HF operation
include an indoor 3 band dipole cut for 40, 30 and 20 meters and a 10 meter
dipole installed on my apartment balcony. I use an indoor 1/2 wave J
antenna for 2 meters. The FT-950 built in auto antenna tuner seem to handle all the
antennas just fine. Now that I no longer use the Grundig Satellit 800 for shortwave
listening, The Yaesu FT-950 covers all the shortwave broadcast bands as well and
functions well for SWL'ing as well! I operate SSB, CW, PSK-31 and other modes of
interest on HF as well. In most cases, I will only run 20 to 30 watts of power on CW
or PSK-31. The lap top computer is used for the digital modes such as CW keying or
PSK-31 as well as C.A.T. remote control of the Yaesu FT-950 radio.

This is me, Bill, KI7F at my amateur radio desk and also a few close up photos of my new
Yaesu FT-950 HF amateur radio transceiver. That code hand telegraph key is a GHT model
GT706KIT FL5138T which I put together from a kit. Also shown is the Astron RS-50M
13.5 VDC 50 Amp power supply to power up the Yaesu FT-950 and accessories as well
as the Icom IC-2000H 2 meter transceiver and Kantronics KPC-9612 TNC. I really
love the colorful front panel display on the Yaesu FT-950 rig! The audio is great and the
rig has some great DSP filters as well and the output power can be adjusted from 5 watts
all the way up to 100 watts and I can also control the radio from a computer as well.

You can view my HRDLOG.net Amateur Radio on line log book at this URL address
http://www.hrdlog.net/ViewLogbook.aspx?user=KI7F

Shortwave Radio Listening



My New Yaesu FT-950 now also being used for SWL'ing!






-------------------- UTC DATE AND TIME --------------------



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Shortwave Radio Listening Activity Log

Here is list of shortwave radio broadcasting stations I can pick up here in the Denver area from hour to hour in UTC time. My current shortwave radio receiver is a my Yaesu FT-950 radio and the current antennas are indoor dipoles. I will keep adding to this list as I hear more stations. Unless otherwise noted, these stations are broadcasting in the English language at the times indicated. I have restarted this log commencing on August 28, 2009 .

0000 - 0100 UTC

Posted on November 15th, 2009
American Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS) Heard on 10.320 Mhz from 00:30 - 01:00 on November 15th, 2009 using USB transmission mode coming in about S5 or so. I believe this particular broadcast is coming from Hawaii.


0100 - 0200 UTC


0200 - 0300 UTC


0300 - 0400 UTC

Posted on August 28, 2009
Voice of Turkey heard on 7.325 Mhz in English. I listened to the broadcast on August 28th, from 0300 to 0330 UTC Good s9 + 10 dB signal. Mostly news and commentary. Some Turkish music was played at around 0328 UTC. This particular broadcast of Radio Turkey is coming from one of the Radio Cananda facility shortwave transmitters in Sackville, Canada which is relaying the Voice of Turkey. Voice of Turkey website is at http://www.trtenglish.com/trtinternational/en/news.aspx?dil=en

Posted on August 28, 2009
Radio Australia heard on 15.515 Mhz. I listened to them from 03:30 UTC till 04:00 UTC on August 29th, 2009. Signal strength was between S8 to 10 dB over S-9 with some occasional deep fades. Even though this broadcast is audible in North America, the broadcast is intended for the Central South Pacific region. They were broadcasting a sporting event and world news was broadcast at 04:00 UTC. The Radio Australia Website is at http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/waystolisten/


0500 - 0600 UTC


0600 - 0700 UTC

Posted on November 15th, 2009
Radio Havana, Cuba. Heard from 06:00 to 06:30 UTC with an S-9 plus 10 dB signal on 6.010 Mhz. News and commentary.

0700 - 0800 UTC


0800 - 0900 UTC


0900 - 1000 UTC


1000 - 1100 UTC


1100 - 1200 UTC


1200 - 1300 UTC


1300 - 1400 UTC

Posted on August 30, 2009
Radio Australia heard on 9.580 Mhz. I listened to them on August 30th. 2009 from 13:00 UTC to 14:00 UTC (07:00 - 08:00 MDST Denver, Co. time.) The signal was fair to good peaking 10 dB over S-9 to S8 despite the locally produced RFI noise and static that I pick up with my indoor 16 foot wire antenna. News at the top of the hour at 13:00 UTC followed by a program called Sunday nights with John Clearly. Radio Australia is on the air on 9.580 Mhz from 08:00 UTC till 14:00 UTC. The North American Continent is not their intended audience. The intended audience for their 9.580 Mhz broadcast is Asia and the Central South Pacific region although the signal can heard quite well across the USA as we seem to be favored in their antenna pattern.
Their website is at http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/waystolisten/



1400 - 1500 UTC

Posted on November 20th. 2009
BBC world service. heard from 14:00 to 15:00 UTC (07:00 - 08:00 MST) on 9.740 Mhz coming in with a signal strength of S-9 to 10 dB over S9. This particular broadcast originates from a transmitter located in Singapore. Malaysia according to online sources. It is good to hear the BBC still transmitting on shortwave in some locations! BBC world Service Website is at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/


1500 - 1600 UTC


1600 - 1700 UTC


1700 - 1800 UTC


1800 - 1900 UTC


1900 - 2000 UTC


2000 - 2100 UTC


2100 - 2200 UTC


2200 - 2300 UTC


2300 - 0000 UTC

Domestic AM Broadcast Radio Listening





My GE Superradio II (Yes, it features analog tuning but offers very high selectivity
and also great sensitvity as well for domestic AM band DX'ing. ) The loop antenna
which is called a "Select-A-Tenna" which has a tuning control and requires no power
to operate works very well to enhance the reception on the Superradio II by simply .
setting the loop next to the radio. No direct connections required! Some times
I will place the "Select-A-Tenna" on top of my Grundig Satellit 800 to improve the
AM band reception on it. You can do a Google search on this radio as well as this
"Select-A-Tenna" and get a lot more information on it.

Domestic AM Broadcast Radio Listening Log of AM stations heard in the Denver, Colorado area.

I am starting to keep a log of local and distance radio stations I am hearing here in the local Denver, Colorado area on the standard AM broadcast band. I am either using my GE Super Radio II radio receiver, my Grundig Satellit 800 receiver with the "Select-A-Tenna" loop antenna or the radio in my car as I commute back and forth to work.

I will keep up dating this reception log as I discover new AM radio stations.

During this month, (April, 2010) I will be updating the list of AM stations
that I can hear during the daylight hours here from my location in Denver, Colorado.

Green text: Stations heard at night or at dusk or twilight by sky wave propagation and normally not heard during the day time hours.

Orange Text: Stations heard during daylight hours (Direct ground wave) from my part of Denver, Colorado

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540 Khz, CBT, Grand Falls, Newfoundland, Canada. I was listening to this station on my GE Superadio III on April 3, 2010 between 05:45 to just after 06:00 MDST (Pre-dawn darkness outside). They were coming in with a fair signal and was much stronger than the local TIS station also on 540 Khz at the Denver International Airport! CBT operates 10,000 watts day and 10,000 watts night. Grand Falls, New Foundland is about 2481 miles from Denver!

540 Khz, TIS Info Station. Denver International Airport. Airport information

560 Khz, KLZ, Denver, Colorado. ESPN Sports. 5000 watts day and night.

580 Khz, WIBW, Topeka, Kansas. News. Heard this station at 5:30 AM, 12-11- 03 while driving to work. Fair signal with some slight fading.

580 Khz KUBC, Montrose, Colorado. Talk format "The voice of the valley" I listened to this station from 5:45 AM to 6:00 AM on April 8th, 2010. 5000 watts day - 1000 watts night.
(I cannot hear this station during the day as they are located on the other side of the Rocky Mountain Continental divide about 182 miles SW of Denver. )

590 Khz, KCSJ, Pueblo, Colorado. News and talk format. Fair signal during the day.

590 Khz, KSUB, Cedar City, Utah. Talk format. Heard this station between 5:45 AM and 6:00 AM on the morning of April 9th, 2010 on my GE Superadio III using the external Select-A-Tenna loop antenna. 5000 watts day - 1000 watts night.

600 Khz, KCOL, Wellington, Colorado (Near Ft, Collins, Co. ) 5000 watts day - 500 watts night. Fair signal during daylight hours.

610 Khz, KNML, Albuquerque, New Mexico. Sports talk format (Called 610, The Sport's Animal)
Fair to strong signal at night and early predawn morning hours. 5000 watts day - 5000 watts
night.

620 Khz, KTAR, Phoenix, Arizona. News and talk format. Heard this morning, September 10, 2009 on my car radio just before 6 AM (Just prior to sun rise) while commuting to work. Fair signal, but a lot of splatter interference from Denver's KHOW on 630 Khz. 5000 watts day - 5000 watts night.

630 Khz, KHOW, Denver, Colorado. Strong local signal. News and talk format. 5000 watts day - 5000 watts night.

640 Khz, KFI, Los Angeles, California. News and talk format. Heard this morning, September 10, 2009 on my car radio just before 6 AM (Just prior to sun rise) while commuting to work. There was quite a bit splatter interference from Denver's KHOW down 10 Khz on 630 Khz. 50,000 watts day - 50,000 watts night. (Just a note of interest; looks like their new antenna tower is working quite well! The KFI antenna tower located in La Mirada, California was destroyed back on December 19th, 2004 by an aircraft that collided with the tower causing the tower to collapse to the ground!)

650 Khz, KGAB, Orchard Valley, Wyoming (Near Cheyenne, Wy.) 8500 watts day - 500 watts night. Fair signal during the day. Cannot hear this station on my car radio due to IBOC QRM from Adjacent stations using digital IBOC mode, but it comes in very well on my GE Superadio III using my Select-A-Tenna loop antenna and I can null out the IBOC interference.

650 Khz, WSM, Nashville, Tennessee. 50,000 watts day and night. Heard WSM coming in very well during the predawn hours between 5:00 and 5:15 AM MST on my car radio while driving to work on Saturday morning, February 7, 2004.

660 Khz, KTNN, Window Rock, Arizona. "Navajo Nation" Good signal this evening, 21:30 MDST, September 11, 2009 on my GE Super Radio III. Some country music and also some Indian singing and chanting and drums, etc. 50,000 watts day - 50,000 watts night ( The official website of KTNN AM 660 is at http://www.ktnnonline.com/default.asp )

670 Khz, KLTT, Commerce City, Colorado (A Denver Suburb) Good day time signal. Christian format programming. 50,000 watts day time - 1400 watts night

690 Khz, KTSM, El Paso, Texas. Heard this station at around 21:00 MDST here in Denver on my GE Superradio III with a very good signal. They were broadcasting Twilight Zone Radio Dramas Hosted by Stacey Keach. 10,000 watts day - 10,000 watts night

700 Khz, KALL, Salt Lake City, Utah. I have been hearing this station on my car radio in the last couple of weeks (September, 2009) while driving to work between 5:45 and 6:00 AM Mountain time just before sunrise. Some splatter interference from Denver's KNUS AM 710 just up frequency. They call them self "The Zone" and they carry the ESPN Sports network. 10,000 watts day - 50,000 watts night.

710 Khz, KNUS, Denver, Colorado. Conservative News/Talk radio format. Good strong signal through out the Denver area. Owned by Salem Media of Colorado, Inc. 5000 watts day - 5000 watts night.

740 Khz, KVOR, Colorado Springs, Colorado. (New Talk 740) News and talk format. Weak signal, but audible. 3300 watts day - 1500 watts night.

720 Khz, WGN, Chicago, Illinois. News and talk format. WGN is coming in with a good signal this early Saturday morning, 2:30 to 3:00 AM Mountain time, September 26, 2009. I am using my GE SuperRadio III receiver. The Brian Noonan call in talk show was being broadcast when I tuned in. Some deep signal fades (QSB) after 3 AM. 50,000 watts day - 50,000 watts night.

760 Khz, KKZN, Thornton, Colorado. News and talk format. Known as Boulder's Progressive talk. 50,000 watts day - 1000 watts night.

810 Khz, KLVZ, Brighton, Colorado. Spanish language Christian format. 2200 watts day - 430 watts night.

820 Khz, WBAP, Dallas, Texas. News and talk format. 50,000 watts day and night. Heard at night.

830 Khz, KFLT, Tucson, Arizona. Christian Format. 50,000 watts
day and 1000 at night. Heard KFLT at 7 AM on Dec. 17, 2003 while driving to work. Weak signal.

830 Khz, WCCO, Minneapolis, Minn. Talk and sports format. 50,000 watts day or night. Heard between 6 and 6:30 PM MST on 12-18-03 while driving home from work. Good solid signal.

850 Khz, KOA, Denver, Colorado. (Transmitter and tower located in Parker, Colorado South of Denver.) "NewsRadio Sportsadio 850" Uses digital IBOC format. 50,000 watts day - 50,000 watts night.

870 Khz, WWL, New Orleans, Louisiana. Good signal with some occasional fade and I experienced some adjacent interference from KRVN, Lexington, Nebraska on 880 khz. I switched from the GE Superradio III to my Grundig Satellit 800 receiver using the AM Sync detector mode selecting the LSB side which got rid of the co- channel interference from KVRN. I also used the external Select-A-Tenna loop antenna sitting on top of the Grundig Satellit 800 receiver. WWL was heard between 17:00 and 18:00 MST on Sunday evening, November 8th, 2009. News at top of the hour at 18:00. They were covering a sporting event. 50.000 watts day - 50,000 watts night

880 KRVN, Lexington, Nebraska. I tuned them in on November 9th, 2009 at around 19:00 MST. News at the top of the hour. Extremely strong signal here in the Denver, Colorado area! Their antenna pattern seem to favor the West Southwest direction. Their "About" page on their web site is at http://www.krvn.com/about 50,000 watts day - 50,000 watts night.

890 Khz, WLS, Chicago. 50,000 watts day or night. Talk Format. Heard at 10 PM MST, 12-14-03 with good signal. Some fading.

910 Khz, KPOF, Denver, Colorado. "The Point Of Faith" Christian format. 5000 watt day - 1000 watt night. More info about this station can be found on their website at http://www.am91.org/about/index.shtml

950 Khz, KRWZ, Denver, Colorado. Oldies music format. "Crusin Oldies AM 950" Pop music from the 50's and 60's. 5000 watts day - 5000 watts night. Website at http://www.cruisinoldies950.com/

990 Khz, KRKS, Denver, Colorado. Christian format. Owned by Salem Media of Colorado, Inc.
(Sister station on KRKS 94.7 FM, Denver) 6600 watts day - 390 watts night (Critical hour: 4200 watts)

1010 Khz, KSIR, Brush, Colorado (About 79.5 miles East of Denver) Farm Radio. Farm and Agricultural news and information. 25,000 watts day - 280 watts night Fair signal into the Denver area

1060 Khz, KRCN, Longmont, Colorado. Business News. "The Big Money Station" 50,000 watts day - 111 watts night.

1070 Khz, KNX, Los Angeles, California. 50,000 watts day or night.
News format. Heard at 7 AM, 12-14-03 with a good signal.

1090 Khz, KMXA, Aurora, Colorado. Spanish language format. "Radio Tricolor" 50,000 watts day - 500 watts night.

1150 Khz, KNRV, Englewood, Colorado. Spanish Language format. 10,000 watts day - 1000 watts night.

1190 Khz, KVCU, Boulder, Colorado. University of Colorado. Plays all kinds of unusual and mixed genres of music, alternative, etc. 6800 watts day - 110 watts night (5000 watts critical hours)

1220 Khz, KLDZ, Denver, Colorado. Gospel music format. "The Gospel Power Of The Rocky Mountains" 660 watts day - 11 watts night

1200 Khz, WOAI, San Antonio, Texas. News and talk format. 50,000 watts day and night. Heard at night.

1260 Khz, KTRC, Santa Fe, New Mexico. Talk format. 5000 watts day - 1000 watts night. Heard at night with deep fading.

1260 Khz, KK262, TIS station, Denver, Colorado As of 4-1-10, a repetitive audio message keeps repeating the following message " KK262 THIS IS HIGHWAY ADVISORY RADIO AM 1260 LICENSED TO THE CITY AND COUNTY OF DENVER."

1280 Khz, KBNO, Denver, Colorado. Spanish language and music format. "Que Bueno!"
5000 watts day - 5000 watts night.

1300 Khz, KCSF, Colorado Springs, Colorado. Sports Format "The Sports Animal 1300 AM" 5000 watts day - 1000 watts night.

1310 Khz, KFKA, Greeley, Colorado. News/Talk format. 5000 watts day - 1000 watts night.

1340 Khz, KCFR, Denver, Colorado. Public radio. " Colorado Public Radio" 1000 watts day - 1000 watts night.

1360 Khz, KHNC, Johnstown, Colorado. Talk format. "American Freedom Network" 10,000 watts day - 1000 watts night.

1390 Khz, KGNU, Denver, Colorado. Public Radio format. "Independent Community Radio" 5000 watts day - 139 watts night.

1430 Khz, KEZW, Aurora, Colorado. Nostalgia format. "Studio 1430" 10,000 watts day - 5000 watts night.

1450 Khz, KGRE, Greeley, Colorado. Spanish language format. "Tigre 1450" 1000 watts day - 1000 watts night.

1460 Khz, KZNT, Colorado Springs, Colorado. News/Talk format. 5000 watts day - 500 watts night.

1490 Khz, KCFC, Boulder, Colorado. Public Radio format. 1000 watts day - 1000 watts night.

1510 Khz, KCKK, Littleton, Colorado. Sports Format. "Mile High Sports" 10,000 watts day - 25,000 watts night.

1530 Khz, KCMN, Colorado Springs, Colorado. Talk and Nostalgia music format. "Legends 1530" Very weak and marginal signal here. 15,000 watts day - 15 watts night time.

1570 Khz, KPIO, Loveland, Colorado. Religious format. Catholic Radio Network. Audible here, but not a very strong signal. 7000 watts day - 18 watts day.

1580 Khz, KMIK, Phoenix, Arizona. Radio Disney Format. Heard in afternoon at 3:45 PM on 12-7-03 with a good signal. Some fading.

1600 Khz, KEPN, Lakewood, Colorado. Sports format. "ESPN Radio 1600" 5000 watts day - 5000 watts night.

1630 Khz, KRND?, Fox Farm, Wyoming. Spanish Music format. Not a very strong signal. I have not been able to get a positive ID at the top of the hour. But, it is a consistent signal every day and it is the only Spanish station listed for 200 miles or under from Denver, so, I am making assumptions that it is KRND. 10,000 watts day - 1000 watts night

1650 Khz, KBJD, Denver, Colorado. Good day time signal. Spanish format. "Radio Luz" 10,000 watts day - 1000 watts night.

1690 Khz, KDDZ, Arvada, Colorado. (Serving the Denver area) Radio Disney Format. 10,000 watts day - 1000 watts night.

Miscellaneous Comments And Notes

Posted: Friday, August 28th, 2009 11:35 MDST
I am currently working on the old 1988 to 1991 10 meter mobile log book entries today, adding log entries or making some minor corrections. This may take me a few days or more. It is now 17:35 UTC or August 28th, 2009 11:35 MDST Denver , Colorado time. By the way, a friend of mine in Utah, Jon, KC7HUB runs an internet radio station that is called MIXUTAH and he plays a good variety of of music. Click on this link MIXUAH to check out the station website and to listen to the station live stream. If you do listen, send him a message and let him know what you think of the programming, etc. Contact info is on the station website.

Posted: Saturday, August 29th, 2009 21:20 MDST
My 10 meter mobile log of 1988 to 1991 has been archived under older postings. I still only have copied 30 percent of that log to my blog page, so, I still have a long ways to go!

Posted: Saturday, September 5th, 2009, 11:30 MDST
I installed a ten meter dipole antenna on my apartment balcony yesterday. Had some issues in attempting to tune the dipole to resonance on 28.400 Mhz and after a couple of hours of adding and cutting wire at the ends of the dipole to no avail, I found a slightly loose connector at the dipole feed point at the PL-259 connector. VSWR now at 1:1 to 1! This morning I had a QSO with a couple of local Denver stations and so now, just waiting for the ten meter band to open up!

By the way, I have started my main all band amateur radio log book as of 9-5-09 in the "older Post" section of this blog.

Posted: Saturday, November 7th, 2009. 06:15 MDST
I took apart my old Clear Channel Corporation AR-3500 ten meter transceiver yesterday that I have not used since 1991 or so. There are two versions, a 150 watt version and a 30 watt version. I have the 30 watt version. It has a blown driver transistor as well as a pair of blown final RF amp transistors and bad MV1Y thermal diodes. (2SC2312, ECG236 or NTE236 RF power transistors and also a 2SC2166 driver transistor) Once I find these parts, I will attempt to replace them and see if I can get the Ranger AR-3500 back on the air! It operates on SSB, AM, CW and FM modes on ten and has nice sounding receive audio. See photo of Ranger AR-3500 radio below. I talked all over the world on this radio when I was operating mobile from my car in Southern California back in the late 1980's and early 1990's running 25 to 30 watts to an 8 foot 1/4 wave antenna whip on my car. I guess a lot of CB operators have gotten hold of these AR-3500 radios to illegally convert them to the 27 mhz CB band since they are easy to convert over. Hopefully I can find the parts I need to repair this rig. For now I am using the Realistic HTX-100 ten meter transceiver. Still waiting for conditions to improve on ten meters!


Clear Channel Corporation Ranger AR-3500 Ten Meter Multimode Transceiver

Posted: Saturday, November 14th, 2009. 08:00 MST
I just installed a 40, 30 and a 20 meter indoor dipole antenna system inside my second floor apartment. All 3 dipoles are connected to the same coaxial feed line. The coax feed line is only about 5 feet long, just enough to reach my receiver or transceiver at my radio desk. The elements of the dipole antenna zig zag around at different weird angles inside my small apartment so as to make it all fit. Hopefully, I won't have too much phase cancellation due to various sharp bends in the dipole antenna wires. There is a possibility that I will be getting an Icom IC-718 HF rig in the not too distance future and so far I have a ten meter dipole on my apartment balcony and the indoor 40, 30 and 20 meter dipoles. I plan to operate at low QRP power levels once I do get on the air on 20, 30 and 40 meters for various reasons including reducing the chance of causing RFI to my apartment neighbors, etc. I plan to operate CW quite a bit and I might even try some PSK-31 as well. One thing for sure, using indoor antennas, I have to turn off my main desk top computer in my apartment as it causes so much RFI and radio interference that I can't hardly hear anything on the different HF bands as well as the domestic AM broadcast band. My smaller Compaq lap top computer does not seem to cause any RFI problems how ever. Anyway, as far as receiving is concerned with the new 40, 30 and 20 meter dipoles, I am still getting an S3 to S5 noise level at times, but, I heard a few Japanese amateur radio operators coming in on CW on the low end of 40 meters yesterday morning, very weak, but copyable on my Grundig Satellit 800 receiver and of course, the signals on 20 and 30 meters are also coming quite well during the day light hours. When I get the Icom IC-718 HF rig, I will of course use an antenna tuner to deal with any mismatches that the antenna might present. Here are a few photos of the indoor dipole antenna system I installed. I used a lot thumbtacks to fast the wire to the walls! Looks tacky and not too domestic, but as long as it allows me to get on the air as well as providing better reception on HF, I really don't care! One end of the 40 meter dipole wire runs all the way into my apartment kitchen and dining room area! Left click on each photo to see a sharper and higher resolution photo image.







Posted: Saturday, January 30th, 2010, 21:00 MST
After much on line product research and comparison, I have decided that I will be purchasing the Yaesu FT-950 this Spring. A lot more built in features for the money and I also like the looks as well as the performance of the Yaesu FT-950.

See photo below of the Yaesu FT-950 and also a modified photo of my ham radio desk of my proposed set up. The Grundig Satellit 800 receiver may have to go. It takes up too much space! For more info about the Yaesu FT-950, go to http://www.dxzone.com/cgi-bin/dir/jump2.cgi?ID=21206 and also at http://www.dxzone.com/catalog/Radio_Equipment/HF_Transceivers/Yaesu_FT-950/








Posted: Saturday, May 15, 2010 11:35 MDST
Here is the latest update in regard to the Yeasu FT-950 HF transciever.
The rig has been purchased and I will have it by the first part of this coming
week. I hope to be on the air on the 40, 30 and 20 meter bands and am looking
forward to try out some PSK-31 operation. All my HF dipoles are installed
indoors except for my ten meter dipole which is installed on my apartment
balcony, so, it will be interesting to see how well the indoor antennas are going to work!
Keep checking back for further updates, photos, etc.

Posted: Saturday, December 11th, 2010 00:30 MST
This weekend is the ARRL 10 meter contest and I plan to participate in the contest on
SSB voice and CW mode. I will be using my Yaesu FT-950 running 30 watts of power
to my 10 meter dipole installed on my second floor apartment balcony 15 feet off the ground. Earlier yesterday evening at around 00:19 UTC, December 11, I contacted XE2K, Hector in Baja California, Mexico as well as AD6ZJ in California and we exchanged contest information. I hope to make many more contacts in the contest tomorrow after a good night's sleep tonight!

Posted: Saturday, December 13th, 2010 22:00 MST
I managed to work 38 stations during the 2010 ARRL 10 meter contest. I worked stations in the USA states of California, Colorado, Arizona, Hawaii, Arizona, New Mexico, Mississippi, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and Louisiana as well as the Mexican States of Baja California and Estado de Mexico as well as Argentina, South America. The 10 meter band appeared to go dead midday between 11 AM and 3 PM local time on both Saturday and Sunday, then after 3 PM, I started to hear signals again. On Sunday, December 12th, at 23:00 UTC (4 PM MST) just one hour before the contest ended, I started to hear stations from States to my East. At the start of the contest, the solar flux was 87, then late Sunday afternoon, the solar flux came up to 89.
Below is a log of the stations I worked during the 10 meter contest that I copied from my electronic logbook that was in "Cabrillo" format. I normally use the Ham Radio Deluxe program logging program, but, for this contest, I used a free logging software program called General Logger v7.0 written by Dave Mascaro, W3KM. See http://www.qsl.net/w3km/gen_log.htm


KI7F 2010 ARRL 10 meter Contest Log December 11th and 12th, 2010.

START-OF-LOG: v2.0

CREATED-BY: GenLog v7.0

LOCATION: COLORADO

CONTEST: ARRL-10

CALLSIGN: KI7F

CATEGORY-OPERATOR: SINGLE-OP

CATEGORY-POWER: LOW

CATEGORY-TRANSMITTER: ONE

CATEGORY-ASSISTED: NON-ASSISTED

CATEGORY-BAND:

CLAIMED-SCORE: 1632

OPERATORS: KI7F

CLUB: None

NAME: Bill, KI7F

ADDRESS:

ADDRESS: Denver, Co 80014

ADDRESS: USA

QSO: 28000 PH 2010-12-11 0019 KI7F 59 CO XE2K 59 BAC

QSO: 28000 PH 2010-12-11 0025 KI7F 59 CO AD6ZJ 59 CA

QSO: 28000 PH 2010-12-11 1620 KI7F 59 CO KT6VV 59 CA

QSO: 28000 CW 2010-12-11 1616 KI7F 599 CO K0MF 599 CO

QSO: 28000 PH 2010-12-11 1625 KI7F 59 CO K6HNZ 59 CA

QSO: 28000 PH 2010-12-11 1633 KI7F 59 CO W6YI 59 CA

QSO: 28000 PH 2010-12-11 1648 KI7F 59 CO K7LY 59 AZ

QSO: 28000 PH 2010-12-11 1646 KI7F 59 CO K7JA 59 CA

QSO: 28000 PH 2010-12-11 1722 KI7F 59 CO NK6A 59 CA

QSO: 28000 PH 2010-12-11 1725 KI7F 59 CO W6AFA 59 CA

QSO: 28000 CW 2010-12-11 1730 KI7F 599 CO W0ZA 599 CO

QSO: 28000 CW 2010-12-11 1743 KI7F 599 CO XE1MM 599 EMX

QSO: 28000 PH 2010-12-11 1813 KI7F 59 CO N0BZ 59 CO

QSO: 28000 PH 2010-12-11 1930 KI7F 59 CO LU1VM 59 229

QSO: 28000 PH 2010-12-12 0011 KI7F 59 CO N6QQ 59 CA

QSO: 28000 PH 2010-12-12 0017 KI7F 59 CO KH7Y 59 HI

QSO: 28000 PH 2010-12-12 0020 KI7F 59 CO K0KE 59 CO

QSO: 28000 PH 2010-12-12 0025 KI7F 59 CO W6TA 59 CA

QSO: 28000 PH 2010-12-12 0028 KI7F 59 CO KC6AWX 59 CA

QSO: 28000 PH 2010-12-12 0036 KI7F 59 CO W6TK 59 CA

QSO: 28000 PH 2010-12-12 0039 KI7F 59 CO N0AH 59 CO

QSO: 28000 PH 2010-12-12 0047 KI7F 59 CO NU6T 59 CA

QSO: 28000 PH 2010-12-12 0058 KI7F 59 CO K6SRZ 59 CA

QSO: 28000 CW 2010-12-12 1619 KI7F 599 CO K0FX 599 CO

QSO: 28000 CW 2010-12-12 1635 KI7F 599 CO K0KE 599 CO

QSO: 28000 CW 2010-12-12 1656 KI7F 599 CO N6WM 599 CA

QSO: 28000 CW 2010-12-12 1738 KI7F 599 CO W2UP 599 CO

QSO: 28000 CW 2010-12-12 1759 KI7F 599 CO K0XTR 599 CO

QSO: 28000 CW 2010-12-12 1807 KI7F 599 CO K9WZB 599 AZ

QSO: 28000 PH 2010-12-12 2107 KI7F 59 CO W5COW 59 NM

QSO: 28000 PH 2010-12-12 2301 KI7F 59 CO N6KN 59 CA

QSO: 28000 PH 2010-12-12 2301 KI7F 59 CO AG5Z 59 MS

QSO: 28000 PH 2010-12-12 2307 KI7F 59 CO WB9PUB 59 WI

QSO: 28000 PH 2010-12-12 2312 KI7F 59 CO W8JUZ 59 MI

QSO: 28000 PH 2010-12-12 2329 KI7F 59 CO KD0BSY 59 CO

QSO: 28000 PH 2010-12-12 2340 KI7F 59 CO WB9Z 59 IL

QSO: 28000 CW 2010-12-12 2349 KI7F 599 CO K9CT 599 IL

QSO: 28000 PH 2010-12-12 2353 KI7F 59 CO N8OO 59 LA

END-OF-LOG:

During the contest, I took some time out to go into the menu settings in the Yaesu FT-950 and made adjustments to the microphone audio speech equalizer/processor (I had to go into 20 different menu items to make the adjustments) which greatly increased the transmit audio punch with the least amount of distortion. Also, since I do not have a set of paddles to hooked up to the Yaesu FT-950 built in electronic keyer (I just have a straight hand key for sending CW) I programmed some pre canned CW messages with contest information which made it a lot more easier. I'll need to eventually acquire a set of paddles.

Here are a few videos of me using my Yaesu FT-950 HF transceiver in the past year.








Posted Monday, June 28, 2010 21:00 MDST

ARRL Field Day With The Colorado QRP Club!

I had a good time on Sunday, June 27, 2010 participating in the
annual ARRL Field Day contest with the local Colorado QRP Club
Held at the nearby Cherry Creek State Park. The Colorado QRP
Club used the club call sign N0CQC and all the rigs used at the
Field Day site were operating at QRP low power levels.

Below is a video that I produced at the N0CQC Field Day site
on Sunday June 27th, 2010.





Posted Sunday, May 15, 2011 21:00 MDST

I HAVE MOVED TO NEW LOCATION AS OF APRIL 2011!

I just moved last month to a new apartment in the Englewood, Colorado area which is a Southern suburb of Denver. I am in a third top floor apartment and am using a 33 foot end fed wire installed above my apartment balcony tuned by an MFJ antenna tuner. I seem to put out a much better signal than I did at my previous apartment. Being on the top floor by the roof line also helps! In the past few weeks, I have worked stations on 20 meter PSK-31 all over the USA as well as the Canary islands and I even received an SWL report via eQSL from a listener who decoded my 20 meter PSK 31 signal in Belgium!

Here is a 2 part video that I made of me in my ham shack at my new apartment describing my amateur radio equipment which can be viewed on Youtube. See imbedded video below. Watch it in full 1080P HD video for the highest quality if you wish at full screen if you have a fast internet connection! I used my new Sony DSC-HX1 to record these videos.





Yea, I know, I need to get in a habit to look at the camera directly! I also need to use
my camera tripod more to keep the camera more steady! Also too much panning and
zooming around to fast! These 2 videos were recorded in 1080p HD, so folks watching
video on a big flat screen HD TV would get a headache watching all the camera shack
and fast camera zooming and panning! I'll try to improve my camera techniques!

Here are some more recent photos of my current ham radio shack.









My Latest eQSL QSL card collection can be viewed at
http://s262.photobucket.com/albums/ii89/ki7f/QSL%20Cards%20Collected%20by%20KI7F/eQSL%20Card%20Collection/?albumview=slideshow



I HAVE MOVED AGAIN AS OF SEPTEMBER 2011 TO SPANISH FORK, UTAH.

I am currently off the air at the moment as my HF station is currently dismantled due to my move. I hope to be back on the air on HF before too long. When I do get back on the air, I will most likely be operating the PSK-31 digital mode.

Ten Meter CW propagation Beacon Station Reception Log

With the on coming sunspot cycle 24, I have decided to maintain a listener log here of every CW propagation beacon station I hear on the ten meter amateur band here in the Denver, Colorado area as of August 29th, 2009. Right now I have a CB mag mount antenna cut down and tuned for the ten meter amateur band sitting on top of a metal filing cabinet here in my apartment and connected to my Grundig Satellit 800 communication receiver, although I may hook up my old Ranger AR-3500 ten meter rig to listen on (It has a blown final transistor and has not been fixed yet, but, at least I can listen on it.) You can view a list of current ten meter beacon stations around the world at this link: http://userpages.troycable.net/~wj5o/bcn.htm

I just set up this old Realistic HTX-100 ten meter transceiver for monitoring
ten meter propagation beacons with a dipole set up on my apartment balcony.
May even attempt to actually get on the air and make a few contacts when the
band finally opens up! It might be interesting to try some PSK31 on ten meters
as PSK31 does not require much power! By the way 28.120 Mhz is the established
PSK31 operating frequency for Ten meters.

Ten Meter CW propagation Beacon Station Reception Log

Posted on August 31, 2009
Just heard the K6FRC/B3 10 meter propagation beacon between 02:15 and 02:30 UTC, September 1st, 2009 on 28.274 Mhz which is located at Mt. Diablo, California. The CW beacon was coming into Denver here with a signal strength of about S7 or so. I made a video clip of this beacon being received which you can watch on Youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aF8zc8zRaok According to a published beacon list, K6FRC/B3 only puts out 1 watt of power into a vertical antenna.

By the way, I am using an old CB magnetic mount mobile antenna (Re tuned for ten meters) sitting on top of my metal filing cabinet next to my radio desk till I get my ten meter dipole installed on my apartment balcony. Just a note of interest, There had been no sunspots for a while and on August 31st, a sunspot appeared according to this article on the SOHO website. See http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/pickoftheweek Which perhaps explains why I was hearing the k6FRC/B3 beacon so well today!

Posted: Saturday, September 5th, 2009, 11:30 MDST
I installed a ten meter dipole antenna on my apartment balcony yesterday. I will be using this 10 meter dipole to monitor ten beacons now instead of the indoor 10 meter mag mount antenna!

Posted on November 22, 2009
I just heard the WA6MHZ 5 watt CW propagation beacon station on 28.278.5 Mhz which is located in Crest, California on November 22, 2009 from 15:50 to 16:00 UTC (08:50 t o 09:00 AM MST) The beacon was coming in with a signal strength of S7 or so.

KI7F's Amateur Radio Log commencing on September 5th, 2009