NOTE: I operated the 2007 ARRL CW Sweepstakes from North Dakota!

Ahoj! (Hello!)

It is most likely you are working me in a contest. I like contests!

LOCATION: My QTH is in the countryside, about 60 Km [40 Miles] northeast of Minneapolis, MN. It is a good location with low noise. You can use http://earth.google.com to look around the area. My coordinates are 45.4123 N and 92.8823 W which should put you on my property.

EQUIPMENT: My transceiver is the Icom IC-756 Pro III at 100 watts. Or I might be using my Kenwood TS-950SDX and SM-230 bandscope. I might even use the Icom IC-2KL amplifier [400 ~ 500 Watts] from time to time.

AERIALS: My primary HF antenna is a Hy Gain TH-11DX at 22m [70 feet] high. I have a single element Telrex 40m dipole broadside to Europe/Pacific at 20m [65 feet] high. A wire dipole sloper provides additional 40m coverage as well as sloping dipoles for the 80m CW and 75m SSB bands. The 260 foot inverted vee launches my signal on 160m with its apex at 21m [67 feet]. I also use a 135 meter [440 foot] Beverage to help receive signals covered by noise.

MODES: You will find me on CW, RTTY, and SSB (in order of preference).

SOFTWARE: I use the N1MM Logger with MMTTY for contesting. I manage my log(s) using the DXLab Suite by Dave - AA6YQ. I upload to both eQSL and LoTW monthly.

LOGS: I am slowly working to upload all 44+ years of logbooks. I have already input 99% of my contacts from 1/1/1995 to present. This period represents over 67,000 contacts from Chisago Township, Chisago County, Minnesota, USA.

OLD LOGS: After these logs are finished I will begin the next phase. These are my contacts for my operations from the City of Roseville, Ramsey County, Minnesota, USA. I made about 35,000 QSO's between 1/1/1978 and 12/31/1994. So if our contact is within this time-frame, this was my QTH. Ramsey county includes the state capitol of St. Paul, Minnesota and has many active amateur radio operators. It is not a Rare County!

RADIO HISTORY: During the beginning of 1975 I studied and obtained my FCC First Class Commercial Radiotelephone license. I lived in the City of Anoka and the City of Fridley, both within Anoka County, Minnesota. I was not active from these locations so there are no logs for this time-frame.

EXTRA CLASS: Going back further in time, the summer of 1968 I bought a home in the City of Blaine, Anoka County, Minnesota. I studied and passed the Advanced (1969) and Extra Class (1970) tests prior to loosing any spectrum priviledges in the "incentive licensing" fiasco. During some period in the early 1970's the FCC threw us a bone and granted the opportunity to request a different callsign. I chose to use my initials and got my first choice.

NOVICE LICENSE: And in the very beginning, my Amateur radio career started in 1962 as a Novice, when I was a sophmore in high school. The Novice exam was administered by my neighbor, John Lonsky - W0BSI (sk). I was issued WN0BGF for my callsign. Six months later I passed the General class written and code tests at the FCC District Office in St. Paul, MN. I was active from my parents home in Columbia Heights, Anoka County, Minnesota during this time-frame. My callsign was upgraded from WN0BGF to WA0BGF.

OPERATING: To this day I continue to be interested in contesting and DX contacts. But I especially enjoy QSO's with OK & OL stations. My heritage takes me back to this country where my paternal grandfather was born. Grandpa Johann Czudek was an early radio pioneer in the 1900's. He built receivers from kits and was an active Short Wave Listener but never obtained a radio license.

I have one of his surviving TRF antique radios at my QTH. As a child I remember walking to his house to listen to his Philco floor standing radio. It had the green "Magic Eye" tuning indicator. He eventually let me take this radio to my house so I could become a full-time SWL!

FAMILY: You can read about my effort to discover and trace my Czech family history by visiting my homepage, here: http://my.pclink.com/~k0rc/ Select the genealogy menu item.

WEBSITES: I also have an amateur radio webspace at MSN. You can view my exotic birds and photos from my QTH and surrounding area here: http://k0rc.spaces.live.com/

I also have a personal webspace at MSN. You can view my photo albums from around my QTH and from my travels here: http://czudek.spaces.live.com/

And finally, I have the proverbial "Junque Box Website" that contains a variety of photos, files, spreadsheets, VSWR charts, audio recordings, and other amateur radio related stuff. You can rummage through the piles of miscellaneous information here: http://chudek.aberon.net

You're 59 in Minnesota, OM! Thanks for the QSO!

Na Zdravie! (To your health!)

73 de Bob - K0RC in MN