2012 Pacificon | Connecting With Budd, W3FF

Connecting With Budd, W3FF of Buddipole

His energy matches the success of Buddipole as the booth was one of a few with a constant crowd eager to share their stories. Beach Boys ARC participants like myself have deployed a Buddipole antenna system either in the backyard or near the beach. Our DXing success is measured by the efficiency of the antenna system especially on the high bands while Cycle 24 moves toward its peak.

We haven't experimented with the different configurations according the manuals that is most likely in the near future. In the meantime, W3FF's enthusiasm and kilowatt like output speaks to the core of ham radio, have fun and enjoy the hobby to its fullest potential.

73 from the shackadelic near the beach.   

2012 Pacificon | Connecting With Lee, KF5DDB

Connecting With Lee M. Morin, KF5DDB

A busy day for United States Navy Captain Lee M. Morin, KF5DDB who flew on mission STS-110 Atlantis assisting with delivery and installation of s-zero truss in addition to the first use of the International Space Station robotic arm to maneuver astronauts around the station according to his NASA biography.

73 from the shackadelic near the beach.  

2012 Pacificon | Special Event Station W1AW/6

Special Event Station W1AW/6

Elecraft

W1AW/6 Connecting With Our World

Weather was exceptional when Saturday morning rolled around and W1AW/6 is connecting with our world. My take away is less is more. The general vibe throughout the weekend was relaxed, conversational, and up beat from individual ham radio operators to the vendors to the staff at the Newington booths. Unfortunately, I didn't record the operator's call sign and name, this is a lesson learned for the next time. Overall, the special event station located in Silicon Valley enjoyed a continuous stream of Qs for the log powered by Elecraft.

Life is wireless.

2012 Pacificon | World Radiosport Team Championship 2014

Doug Grant, K1DG 

A monumental task continues developing in New England as Doug, K1DG spoke about the deployment of stations, technical validation, hardware requirements, and the corp of volunteers who are going to make the World Radiosport Team Championship a resounding success field day style.

World Radiosport Team Championship 2014. 

2012 Pacificon | Northern California Contest Club

Northern California Contest Club

Stopped by the Northern California Contest Club (NCCC) booth and, at least for me, clubs are at the core of RadioSport activity. The club core from my perspective is education, mentorship, technical assistance, skill improvement, and promotion. I'm a ham radio operator without much time during the work week for the wireless however my weekend is different. Similar, I didn't arrive with both hemispheres wired for math, reading schematics, or electronic theory.

The NCCC inspired me to reach for the difficult, extend my knowledge base, and compete against personal best scores while having a kick butt good time when in the game of RadioSport.

Contest on!  

2012 Pacificon Day 3 of 3 Conway Reef 3D2C

A shackadelic welcome home going out to the Conway Reef team as Pacificon winds down. I commented to Big Kahuna that wrapping up the convention with 3D2C presentation takes my weekend to the realm of off-the-hook. We enjoyed hearing about the team's logistical efforts while thinking about my Long Beach backyard experience then explode that by a factor of one thousand. The idea is keep practicing because the fundamentals are the same that is moving people and equipment from point A to point B in a safe manner. Also, I recorded the team's signal through the buddipole antenna system and will post it at Google plus. Overall, Big Kahuna and I left wanting more that is a job well done by the Conway Reef team.

Chase DX!

2012 Pacificon Day 3 of 3 NCCC Intro To RadioSport

Good morning from the Seattle room where learning about RadioSport is underway. The game is not spectator watching the athlete instead one is on the field competing with and against other competitors. One brings their skill set, equipment, antenna systems, knowledge of the playing field (eg. ionosphere), and personal goals into the game. Currently, in discussion about RadioSport terms, lastly, and ultimately the goal of RadioSport is have lots of ham radio fun! Rob, K6RB a presentation well done.

Life is wireless.