Ham radio is a hobby that has some requirements. The most significant of these is a license to operate. In order to get that license, one must take a test. And in order for there to be a test, there has to be someone to administer it. The system in the U.S. involves volunteers who…
Category: Deep Thoughts
2022 – The Radio Year in Review
2022 is in the rearview mirror. Seems like the right time to look back at the year in ham radio for KC8JC. Let’s do that, shall we? 2022 GOALS At the end of 2021, I was looking for some Stupid Arbitrary Goals for my hobby. I set four of them. Let’s see how I did….
Thoughts On Hobbies
While logging into the POTA site to get the park numbers for some potential weekend targets, something caught my attention. There was a little rectangle under the header block of my profile. It was an award! A Bronze Hunter Award. I have apparently been a hunter for 10 unique parks. That’s quite a feat given…
Radio Goals for 2022
I’m not a New Years Resolutions kind of a guy, but I do keep a running list of goals that I review every month. It’s a habit I got into years ago, and while it’s rather silly, I do it anyway. So as I was thinking about goals and radio, a neat blog post dropped…
More Privileges
On 02-Oct-2021 I sat for the Amateur Extra exam. I passed! 49/50 for those keeping score (I was). I’m not sure why I waited this long (aside from managing life and work through a pandemic that has touched ever facet of life) but once I started studying, it really only took about 2 or 3…
Thoughts on FT8 Hate
As a newbie to the world of ham radio, some things have been pretty obvious to me that might be missed by those who are steeped in its traditions. One of those is the love/hate relationship between computers and ham radio operators. I think most who are even mildly interested in keeping a log appreciate…
Radio UI/UX Thoughts
I’m taking a lot of notes on the IC-705 as I get acquainted with it. I did this when I got my TH-D74 and it served me well. I keep a little notebook around or throw bits and pieces into my notetaking software with tags so that I can find it later. What is emerging…