Amateur Radio

I have been doing amateur radio since November 2022. Before that, I was doing quite a bit of CB, with a Uniden PC68 and 5/8 fiberglass whip. I had known about amateur radio since I was a teenager, but never pursued it until I was in my mid-20s. I started out mostly just on 2m repeaters, but I have since gotten into HF as well. I have my General class license, and am working on getting my Extra class license.

Setup

I primarily operate on HF between 40m and 10m, using a Kenwood TS-120S w/ 20m OCFD. I also have a Baofeng UV-5R, TYT MD-UV380 DMR, and Icom IC-2300H for VHF. My truck has the Icom IC-2300H asforementioned, and using a Motorola Spectrum 5/8 wave whip.

Kenwood TS-120S

TS-120S on my desk

20m Off-Center Fed Dipole

20m Off-Center Fed Dipole

Antenna Tuner - ATU-100 EXT

As for antenna tuner, as shown in the radio photo, I have an ATU-100 EXT. This little technical wonder has been sufficient for my needs. I key up with my little amazon-bought straight key in short bursts in order to tune, as these older kenwood radios do not have a tuning button. It is a nice auto-tuner that works well for my off-center fed dipole, and I have had no issues with it so far.

About My Station

My HF antenna is a 20m off-center fed dipole, which I have strung up in my backyard on a 17.5 foot permanent mast. I have worked stations as far as Moscow, New Zealand, and many of the US states so far, on SSB. I do not do any digital modes. I am still very new to this hobby, and have a lot to learn. I got my General class license back in September 2023.

One of the biggest hurdles I have had to overcome is the noise floor in my neighborhood. I live in a fairly urban area, and there is a lot of electrical noise from power lines, electronics, and other sources. This makes it very difficult to hear weak signals, especially on the lower bands. I have been able to work around this by having two current baluns on my feedline: one at the antenna feedpoint, and one at the radio end. This has helped to reduce the amount of common mode noise that is picked up by the feedline. I am using 1:1 current baluns for both 40m (shack-end) and 20m (antenna-end). This has helped to reduce the amount of common mode noise that is picked up by the feedline tremendously, and elimated RFI in the shack and house. Both baluns are simply coax air chokes zip-tied.