Ham Radio Page

Ham Radio Page of Kory Hamzeh AC6RN

Ham Radio (also known as Amateur Radio) is a great hobby. I've learned so much and met bunch of very nice people. Is it also a great service during times of emergency. If you want to learn more about ham radio, check out "What is Ham Radio?" That page is provided by the American Radio Relay League (ARRL).

I got my Tech license in July of 1995 with the call sign of KE6VWO. By the following November, I had upgraded to General. In January of 1996, I upgraded to Extra and received the call AC6RN. When the vanity callsign program started, I filed a request with a bunch of 1x2 and 2x1 calls and I ended up with WZ6W. I hated it so much that I went back to AC6RN. Then in September of 1997 I filed for K6RY. The FCC denied K6RY even though it is available. They had mistakenly asigned K6RY to another individual (now K6RC). The FCC then realized their mistake and told K6RC (then K6RY) that he could take K6RC. Since K6RY has been active in the past 2 years, it can not be assigned to anyone else. So because of an FCC mistake, I can not have K6RY. I appealed the FCC decision twice and got turned down both times.

Update: OK, the waited the two year period. I was going out of town on the day that K6RY was going to be available for re-assignment. The day before that, I filed for it electronically. Waited about a month only to find out that the FCC rejected my request because according to the FCC, I filed to early! When you file electronically, the FCC uses the filing date and not the processing date (one month later) to determine if they can give you that callsign. I give up! I'll stick with AC6RN.

QRO Operating Position

The main rig is a Yaesu FT-1000MP. I also have an ICOM IC-706. I use this mostly for 2M local repeater stuff. It also has full HF and 6M capability, so the 706 is also my backup rig. My only antenna right now is a Cushcraft R-7000. When we go camping in the RV, I take my TenTec Scount along. We moved from Woodland Hills to West Hill in the spring of 1999, so I had to give up my tower and beam antennas.

My main interested is DXing. DX is a ham radio term for those interested in contacts no-USA stations. I am also a member of the Southern California DX Club.

QRP

I love QRP! Mostly because I really like building my own rigs. My first QRP rig was the Wilderness Sierra. What a great radio! I built it very slowly over a one week period and it came right up the first time without a hitch. The Sierra is probably the finest QRP radio out there right now. It only comes is kit for and is fun to built. For more information, contact Wilderness Radio.

My second QRP rig is the Wilderness SST 30M. I've added the ABX option and crank the output power up by replacing the PA with a MRF-237. I get about 3 watts out at 12.5 volts. The tuning range is about 10khz, which is plenty for 30M.

I've also built a memory keyer consisting of the Embedded Research Tick-1Keyer chip and the Island Memory board. This turned out to be a very nice memory keyer with 4 message banks of up to 64 characters each.

Another neat project was the LDG QRP Autotuner. This tuner is very handy. It is small and light and best of all, its automatic!

I've also built a Norcal NC20, an Elecraft K-2, and a Small Wonder Labs DSW-40.

If you are into QRP or are interested in learning more about QRP, I highly recommend that you join NorCal, the Northern California QRP Club. There is no membership fee, but there is an optional subscription fee to the QRPp quarterly journal. I think QRPp is the finest QRP magazine around.

The second thing I would do is join the QRP-L, Internet QRP Club. QRP-L has over two thousand members. I have learned so much from the QRP-L list that I can not even begin to state. I've also made a lot of very nice friends.This club is e-mail based, so information is passed around very quickly.

Keys and Paddles

I've been searching for the ultimate Iambic CW paddle for portable operations. At home, I use the Bencher BY series paddles. You can (sort of) see it in the QRO station picture above.

The problem with the Bencher is that it's too big and very heavy. My searching has had some success though. My favorite paddle right now is the Schurr Portable Wabbler. The key works great! It's a little of the heavy side, it weights over 27 ounces. The dimensions are 4.9"x2.3"x2". However, this key is by far the best of the lightweight class. The craftsmanship is absolutely stunning! The drawbacks are that is paddle is pretty expensive ($250!) and it is so beautiful, I'm afraid I'll scratch it or ding it.

A lower cost paddle in the same weight and size class is the Envirotronics 501G. The feel of the paddle is not as nice as the feel of the Wabbler, but it is a lot cheaper and has a lower profile. I think I paid around $70 for it new. I don't have this paddle anymore, but I kep this info for others that may be interested.

Now, if you want something real small, the best I've seen is the G4PZY QRP paddle. This puppy is only about 1 1/4" by 1 1/4" and weighs about 8 ounces (a rough guess). It feels great and has a magnetic base. It also comes with a strap you can wrap around your leg or anything else for that matter. This key is not cheap, I think I paid around $120 for it. You have to order it directly from G4ZPY himself in England.

A great low cost alternative to the small paddle is the Whiterook MK-44. This paddle is about the same size as the G4ZPY, but weighs about 2 ounces and cost only $12.95! Whiterook builds a more expensive version with a build in memory keyer! You can't beat that for small, lightweight, portable ops. The drawback to the MK-44 is the fact that nothing is adjustable on it. For more information, click here.

Projects on the Drawing Board

I still have the SSB board for the K-2 which I have yet to build. Maybe one of these days.

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