2009 ARRL International DX CW Game Face

"Why am I doing this?"

Because...

"I love RadioSport and chasing DX."

My RadioSport game face at 5 o'clock in the morning competing against the kilowatt into monobander high frequency (HF) crowd.

Contest on.

2009 ARRL International DX Contest [CW]

2009 ARRL International DX Contest [CW]

Are you ready? Are you willing? This one will not be easy and what better conditions to check out your station configuration against. Easy is easy but adversity defines one's mettle and this weekend is a defining moment.

The idea is just operate. The ideas is turn on the transceiver and work one, two, three or a hundred or so stations. Think about the accomplishment when pitting your signal against the power of Cycle 24 and its bearish beginning. Easy is easy but adversity defines.

An experience, a story, an epic discussion is about to begin and it will last through this weekend. Challenge self against the ARRL International DX Contest and the magnificent power of Cycle twenty four. Who was logged in the dark hours of the night? Who was logged on a band supposedly closed against propagation odds? Experience high frequency (HF) into a wire antenna running a milliwatt, a watt, or a kilowatt.

The idea is just operate and have a lot of ham radio fun. Be shackadelic this weekend.

Contest on.

Putting The Ham Into Ham Radio | Shackaverse, Shackilicious, Shackamess, Shackavation & Shackadelic

Taking time out from the serious side of KA3DRR's brain and tossing a few HamRadio2.0 terms into the ionosphere.

• Shackaverse -- I'm in my ham radio groove, "Don't harsh my shackaverse."
• Shackilicious -- Something really cool just happened in one's shack, "Dude? Betty? I just worked K5D Desecheo Island after a week at the rig eating donuts and drinking Red Bull, ultimate shackilicious."
• Shackamess -- Need I explain but thank you @wendellb [Twitter].
• Shackavation -- Just invented something ham radio cool or wrote a phat program, "That is shackavation in my logbook."
  
• Shackadelic -- A universal term for having a lot of ham radio fun, "Like I'm shackadelic in my shackaverse dealing with my shackamess but sure is shackilicious. Put that shackavation in your log."
  

Turn on, tune, operate.

DXAnywhere Gets Google Mashup

NexGen ham radio gets Google mashup at DXAnywhere (link). Why DX Skimmer when we have cluster networks? In essence, one's signal is decoded then transmitted via Internet, from and into an operator's shackadelic. Propagation is color coded and plotted by band or as an aggregate delivering a mashup. The number of spotters plugging data into the clusters, in effect, facilitates organic parallel processing of any given band and/or band condition. This is powerful stuff indeed.

Is the margin of error between human and software of statistical significance? I bet, when the numbers hit the processors, the error margin is not significant.

Are we only beginning to realize human potential and its productivity effect on ham radio? I believe, DXAnywhere's mashup is an excellent representation of technology meeting human capacity, for the benefit of ham radio.

73 from the shackadelic.

On LowProfile Antennas For Today & Tomorrow | Bill, KA6KBC Gets Innovation

Read comment (link).

I admire Bill's can-do attitude and his ham radio creativity (link). He says ugly and I say beautiful because his innovative version of the TAK-tenna is budget friendly. And KA6KBC challenges your neuronal wiring putting snap in synapses.

Check out his testing and summary report as well. If one is looking for a lowprofile antenna think about KA6KBC version of TAK-tenna.

And Bill? Keep on innovating! My very best to your creativity, can-do attitude, and thanks for sharing your project with us.

73 from the shackadelic.

P.S. I dig this kind of stuff! Let me about your shackavation?

Celebrating KA3DRR's 2-Year Anniversary

Thank you for your encouragement and support.

photography (link).

Changes @ KA3DRR

I changed the appearance of KA3DRR, in effect, splitting my blog between expressing my thoughts and content management. This was not an accident instead the idea struck earlier this morning. I fired up our coffee pot and poured myself a cup.

I shifted my rooms to the bottom of my page. My goal is 1.) Share my learning experience, 2.) Deliver timely ham radio related content and, 3.) Write about those topics. Additionally, one can enjoy a bookmarklet screenshot in its entirety with concurrent link to subject matter.

FriendFeed Rooms at the Bottom of the Page.

• Shackadelic Awards 2009.
• HamRadioProducts.
• RadioSport.
• HamRadio DXpeditions.
• HamRadio & DigitalCulture.
• Future of Ham Radio.
  
• CognitiveRadio.
• SoftwareDefinedRadio.
  
• HamRadioVideoFeed.

My FriendFeed rooms are updated daily with content orginating from 1.) Subscribed email newsletter(s), 2.) Really simple syndication (RSS) feeds within Google reader, 3.) Twitter posted links, 4.) del.icio.us shared links, 5.) Links within websites, 6.) FriendFeed posted links and, 7.) Search.

If one is reading KA3DRR's RSS feed, keep in mind, the availability of categorized ham radio content streaming through my FriendFeed rooms on a daily basis.

73 from the shackadelic.

YouTube Videos @ KA3DRR Via FriendFeed | K5D Desecheo Island DXpedition & ARRL TAPR 2008

Watch K5D single sideband (SSB) and CW on 20m and 40m as the team hit 26k thus far. Amateur Radio Video News (link) uploaded ARRL TAPR 2008 DCC and take a brief look into ham radio innovation such as high frequency digital voice (link) or a dual 440/144 MHz vertical antenna under development.

Video Feed Menu (link).

• ARRL TAPR 2008 DCC.
• K5D Loud On 40m.
• Desecheo K5D on 20CW.
• K5D Desecheo Island 2009.

HF Digital Voice | Links of Interest.

• Authority on Radio Communications (AOR).
• WinDRM | HF Digital Radio Mondiale (link).
• Frequency Division Multiplex Digital Voice (FDMDV).

Scroll down the page to HamRadioVideoFeed for ham radio action.

73 from the shackadelic.

VK9GMW Mellish Reef DXpedition | 22 March - 06 April

I admire ham radio's tenacity. Mellish Reef DXpedition (link) like Desecheo Island DXpedition (link) speaks to an indomitable human spirit.

According to VK9GMW Mellish Reef DXpedition website, AA7JV (link) and HA7RY (link), are planning a simple, low-key operation with a strong low-band focus. To that end, they designed and developed a new antenna, one that operates in the water.

• "The planned TX antenna is a new design that uses two 18 meter spider poles. It employs three vertical wires and one horizontal wire in an inverted U format."
• "The antenna will be fed via a newly designed 1 kW water-proof automatic antenna coupler."

I like the Mellish Reef team philosophy, "We try to tread the thin line between minimizing the equipment we carry and being effective..."

They are also seeking donations from individuals and clubs to help offset their cost (link).

Chase DX.