Thanks for QSO!

Who is PA8E? As a little kid I was grabbed by the ‘radio virus’ in the early 80’s. I use to own a little transistor radio which I took with me to bed every night. Long after my bedtime I listened to local FM-pirate stations who were talking to each other over the band (duplexing). Many times I’ve tried to build such an FM-transmitter myself. It never worked very well. Also I was completely crazy about walkie talkies. Many friends had some and we spent quite a lot of time playing with them. 

Then came the girls, mopeds and other teenage distractions.

Previous calls

My call-sign wasn’t always PA8E. I obtained my first (novice) license in 2003 as PD0JMW. My first radio was a Yeasu FT-817 which I bought second hand. In April 2008 I passed my Full-license. My call-sign changed from PD0JMW to PA1JIM. Since 2017 I changed my callsign from PA1JIM to PA8E, mainly for more convenience while sending morse code.

HF

My QTH (hometown) is in Hilversum (30 km south of the city of Amsterdam). Locator: JO22NF.
After the Yeasu FT-817 my first Kenwood came. It was a good old TS-450SAT. Great radio which sparked my preference for Kenwood. The TS-450 became a TS-850 and was replaced by a TS-590S. Lovely rig, worked great but it didn't made my heart jump.
Then came the Icom IC-7300 and I immediately fell in love. I was one of the first owners in The Netherlands. I still own the IC-7300 as primary HF-rig and love it. The only thing that dissapointed a little bit is it's ability to tune random antenna wires. Fair enough: the TS-590 just did an excellent job doing that. So I quickly bought a Icom AH-4 tuner to tune my ZS6BKW-like antenna on all bands.  

VHF/UHF

For 2 meter an old Philips Condor replaced the Yeasu FT-817. The Condor was more a mobile rig with very loud audio. Not too comfortable to listen to in the shack. So I replaced it for a Icom IC-910. I never got used to this rig so after a year I replaced it for a Kenwood TM-D710. I fell in love with this rig within the first ten minutes it was on. Typically the Kenwood-easy-of-use I already known from my HF-rigs. But after a while the D-710 in the shack didn’t excited me anymore and I sold it. After some fiddling around with old Kenwood single banders (TM-531, TM-431, TM-241) I bumped in a Kenwood TM-742 with 23cm module. This again was love at first sight. To own one myself was a long term dream. After buying a second hand one, changing the backup-battery and do some cleaning, I finally have my own! I use a Diamond X6000 as main VHF/UHF antenna.

PA1JIM-7

For years I did my day-to-day commute by bike and for this commute I did purchased a handheld from Kenwood, the TH-D72. Due to it’s APRS-ability you were able to track me at aprs.fi as PA1JIM-7.

PA8E-9

Another Kenwood TM-D710 (second hand) for mobile use in my car. Before this extra rig I disconnected the 710 from my shack and put it in the car every time I went mobile. Not an ideal situation. Now I have a permanent TM-D710 in the car which you can track via aprs.fi and the TM-742 in the shack.

PA8E-13

In June of 2015 I got an extension in the shack: a Peet Bros Ultimeter 2100 weather station. A long time wish came true. Now the WX-situation at PA8E (JO22NF) is live via APRS. 

Besides a radio amateur I am a dad of two and husband. My hobby is limited to my spare time which isn’t much these years. I’m unable to put as much time in the hobby as I would. 

Finally a little disclaimer: English is not my native language so please excuse any bad grammar or spelling. Corrections are always welcome and instructive. Hope you enjoy and visit again!

73 de PA8E, Jim