A side benefit of family knowing that you're a "Radio Person" (non hams often lump #HamRadio into anything remotely radio related) is that you end up being the person they give old radio stuff too - i.e. - "Vance might want this, he's into all that radio stuff."
This week I was gifted a 1994 Sony BoomBox from a relative, and the tape decks actually work! I'm now rocking out to all my 90's Alternative cassettes 
(i.e. Green Day, REM, Bush, Tripping Daisy, Butthole Surfers, Live, etc.)
And a final #SSTV picture from the #ISS.
Thanks @ARISS_Intl for this fun activity!
I let the IC-7300 eat on 20m FT8 for the better part of the arvo, a bit more than 75 QSOs today. The 7300 is extremely tolerant of high power operation, so I just wound it up to 100W & let it go.
Australia is about the longest distance QSO most #hamradio ops will ever get, so I'm sure more than a few were excited to log VK.
Last @ARISS_Intl image for tonight and probably the last of this SSTV event. Not too bad. Changed radios. This was received with my IC-7000 & 9el horizontal yagi. I tracked the ISS with the rotator as it passed through my sky. Not as much rippling as the comparative velocity was a lot slower on this pass.
Thanks again @ARISS_Intl, you folks are great #hamradio
Some more #hamradio SSTV from @ARISS_Intl
Pretty good pass, nearly got 3 whole images on this track.
The [F] means the callsign is filtered. I'm not talking to Russian/Belarus/Kaliningrad stations. Call all you want, raise your power to PA burnout levels, you're not getting a QSO from this #hamradio station. Full stop.
Who's up for some evening celebration of #vaccines on #hamradio? W7O will be on 20, 40, and 80m FT8/FT4 for anyone who needs this station! #PolioOnTheAir
My Icom 7300 suffered from a lightning strike in the back yard some time ago. It turns on and all buttons and things seem to work, but RX on any freq is just white noise.
I finally got to opening it up to take a peek. It looks like the tuner board has some physically damaged components. Maybe 3 or 4 surface mount components. Also, maybe an inductor or relay shows some possible damage. What I don't know is if other things (that don't look obviously damaged) are also in need of replacement. This board is marked 'tuner' and is where the auto antenna tuner is.
Almost makes sense to price out the tuner board and go from there. Anyone know the best method to contact the Icom parts folks and get a quote? I've heard that calling their published phone number can take a long time to get a call back.
One down side of my new DX Commander antenna can be seen visually in the attached FT8 spot map: The great big donut-shaped dead zone centered on my QTH.
The low angle of radiation is certainly a plus for some things, but this is definitely requiring some adjustments to my expectations about operating HF, and I don't really have other options at the moment anyhow.
RF is weird. And fun. And frustrating.
I made my first and only FT8/digital POTA 80m QSO last night. Now if I would actually get credit on the POTA site, that would be grrrreeeeat... It's never a totally sure thing. Hopefully it will come through, so I don't have to put my rig through those 'high SWR' warnings again lol. 
LATER EDIT: It showed up, woohoo!
With my new DX Commander up, and not too far from the back deck, I figured it was essential (I’m right, yes?) to be able to easily switch from the shack feed, to a coax cable from my go bag, so I can operate outside this summer.
Voila! Weatherproof box and a coax switch so I can keep the antenna connections silicone-weatherproofed. I’ll be able to set-up in a couple of minutes. 
Is my house a POTA site? 
We’re excited to announce ARISS STEM activities for a new school!
They were selected for an ARISS-USA #HamRadio contact with the International Space Station during July - December 2025.
Congratulations to Lincoln Magnet School, Springfield IL for their successful proposal!
There is still a chance to "Work them all!" For the @nars Polio on the Air Event, even if you can't get on HF!
On allstar (61672) and echolink (934860) and the Pride Radio Network, these calls will be on this week:
4/15 22:00 UTC - W7P
4/17 13:00 UTC - W7L
4/17 22:00 UTC - W7O
4/18 13:00 UTC - W0O
4/18 22:00 UTC - W7I
The internet can be a wonderful resource of information... my local branch #f07 has a #signalgenerator Adret Electronique 7100D, a device at least 10 years older than me... most manuals you find are in french, but another member found a lot of information in english.
now I can not only test if the #hermeslite2 does receive anything on #50mhz but also how well it performs above its nyquist frequency of 38.4 MHz ( half the samplerate of the #ad9866 in the #hl2 )
#hamradio #amateurradio
What is a good antenna dual band (2m/7cm) for living in a hole on a rental property where I can't install anything permanent? I don't have an unlimited budget, but a couple hundred's not out of the question. Even if I need to learn to make something myself as long a simpleton like myself can do it. I don't have a soldering iron, yet, so if that's a requirement, that's a part of the budget.
Former RAC Vice-President Ian MacFarquhar, VE9IM, SK
https://www.rac.ca/former-rac-vice-president-ian-macfarquhar-ve9im-sk/
