Station equipment photos (not current layout) found on homepage:

http://kc8vwm.qsl.nu/

Thank you for the many contacts during the 2008 CQWWSSB Contest!

- Pse QSL direct. I QSL 100% -

Current station equipment used during this years contest:

Yeasu FT 847. 100 watts max TX. - No amplifier.-

HF Contest Antenna Used:

Homebrew 135' OCF dipole made from #12 AWG stranded electrical wire. Elevated 33' at the apex and fed with a 4:1 WA2U balun. Ends attached to trees from ceramic insulators using ordinary polyester rope and antenna ends are elevated approx. 27 feet above the ground. Antenna connected to hamfest special 9913 feedline. A random length reflector wire (larger than the OCF antenna itself - not critical) was placed on the ground directly below the antenna. Total investment involved with parts and construction of this antenna is approx. $45.00 Homebrew OCF antenna operates from 160-6 meters with a Ten Tec tuner.

Featured locations logged (not a list of all countries worked) using this homebrew OCF antenna from my location in zone #4:

Virgin Islands, UK, Ireland, Morroco, Argentina, Spain, Russia, Australia,North Pole - Alaska (NL7V) and contacts were made in Japan (JA3YBK, JR7WAB and JH4UYB)

Try building an OCF or Windom antenna design yourself... You will not be a big gun, yagi beam contester, but you will not be dissapointed either. You will definetly work some serious DX with this antenna design!

My OCF was purely constructed and based on this diagram:

http://www.packetradio.com/images/80-10windom.gif

(A common mistake when building this antenna design is fussing over the VSWR readings too much. Some seem to forget this design was never intended to exhibit a picture perfect VSWR when it was originally developed in the days of tube transmitters and lightbulb watt meters. After studying some older ham related publications, it was universally understood in those days that anyone using a 200 watt transmitter in combination with the orginal Windom antenna design was often considered to be using a high powered station!

Just use the dimensions outlined in the diagram, simply throw it up in the clear at exactly 33' above the ground (newer research suggests placing this antenna higher is not always better) and use a tuner on your modern solid state rig. Oh yes..., above all, enjoy working the DX!)

Other station information:

Current VHF Antenna System:

ON6MU 2 meter homebrew yagi located at 43' fed with LMR 400.

My homebrew 2m yagi is featured with contruction photos here:

http://users.belgacom.net/hamradio/schemas/yagi_vhf_antenna.htm

UHF Side of Things:

2 x 11 element stacked UHF yagi's (originally intended for working EME, the birds and ATV operation.) Homebrew ATV tranmitter - Max TX 25 watts.

About me: (KC8VWM)

SWL since 1974. Many years before becoming a licensed ham. Used to enjoy listening to a 1940's dusty Stromberg Carlson floor model SW reciever (Model SW 55 - The one with the green colored magic tuning eye located in the center, just above the main tuning dial.) It all started when the "junk radio" my parents threw out in the garage became my source of interest on many evenings. I went outside into the garage, plugged it in and listened to the world when I was a youngster. (The garage became my hamshack and I didn't know it yet?)

During my SWL activities, I eventually became interested in the diffferent sounds I was hearing coming from around the world and learned CW out of sheer curiosity and necessity. I never actually tested. As a young SWL I wanted to "get in on the action" and had come up with this idea to proudly build my own CW transmitter! I started by fabricating a square wooden block and attached a very upscale and stylish looking metal spoon straight key. (Spoon taken from the kitchen drawer without my parents consent of course....)

The entire -ahem- "CW transmitter" I was constructing to communicate around the globe and beyond! :-) was fashioned using an ordinary door buzzer connected to a chunky 6 volt electric fence "dry cell" battery. I recall the battery had a strange graphic of an electrocuted stray cat on the side of it, so naturally I was thinking it must be a very powerful battery to suit my global communication needs! (In addition, I am now suspecting animal activist groups probobly didn't exist back in '74 either. :-)

Seems the parents didn't share the same enthusiasm as I did when I completed my new "project." They reported it did something to the TV set inside the house when they were watching Adam -12, Kojak and Ironside.

When I am using a straight key these days (less the original door buzzer) I am found operating on the lower ends of 2, 6 and 40m.

I also enjoy exploring EME, ATV, satellite and QRP communications.

QRP Equipment:

Solar powered FT-817 & homebrew portable multiband antenna system. HF invertedV (Adjustable on a roll up reel from 6 - 80m), fold up portable 5 el. VHF 2m yagi. Antennas are placed on a 20' telescopic pole. (Collapsing painters extension pole in a lighweight folding tripod arrangement.)

QRP "Deep In the Trenches" War Story:

- During this years 2008 CQWWSSB contest I decided to throw up this solar powered Yeasu FT 817 QRP setup described above in the outdoors and put it to a live "test." About 10 minutes later, and after tweaking the solar panel at just the right angle directed toward the sun, I started tuning the dial around on 20 meters and heard a few 20+ db stations calling "CQ Contest." I had very little difficulty returning a call and getting a reply. One QRP contact was PJ2T located in Curacao, Netherlands Antilles and the other was XE1CWJ in Mexico. Basically, these QRP contacts were accomplished in approx. 3 calls, and contacts made under 5 minutes apart using only 5 watts on 20 m SSB phone! So yes, this little demonstation once again proves that:

A: I don't need a block of wood, kitchen spoon and electric fence battery connected to a doorbuzzer to make worldide contacts as I previously thought back in 1974... :)

B: That it's entirely possible to make international contacts using a minimal station setup at QRP power levels.

All this can be accomplished by anyone regardless if sunspot activity levels are at it's lowest peak minimum seen in many years, big gun pileups occuring everywhere during a world wide DX contest and when there is a bee hive of adjacent QRN and competition occuring everywhere on the bands. It's funny how the moment you start thinking you are up against all possible odds, that you somehow manage to slice your way through it all, making successful international DX contacts on SSB phone, using QRP!

...So, if "I" can somehow manage to overcome all these overwhelming set of obstacles and circumstances when using a flea powered station, anyone else can too, ...including you!

QRP International: http://www.qrparci.org/

Other Personal Oddities: (Only A Fellow Ham Could Possibly Understand...)

I collect and restore vintage military boatanchor equipment.

Recent heavy metal projects include:

BC 348Q, R, and P. EAC R 390a, R 1051, (not the "B" version) Hammarlund HQ 170A(...Yes the analog clock actually still works!)

Working on:

T-827D military transmitter.

(Exact match for the R 1051 reciever) Intention is to set it up and use it alongside the R-1051 reciever as a CW and/or AM station.

73 de Charles KC8VWM