Mattes's Musings by KC2GIK

Ok if you didn' t read last year's post regarding the Amateur Radio Field day go back and take a peek ! Even though this wasn't my first Field Day, it certainly was the best because not only did I use my own radio, I got to actually stay up during the entire event instead of going home when the bands just starting to heat up. Over the past year I became real close friends with the 10-70's VP, Isaac,NJ3C, he's gotten me to the meetings this year ands has really helped me setup my base station right, though I'm STILL not finished! Anyway Isaac,NJ3C, knew this year he was going to try to get me to stay overnight, it's not like we sleep that much anyway!! So anyway I had my radio and arranged for a laptop, "borrowed" a table that was in the lodge and patiently waited as Paul,KC2CJW, built my station. Paul and Issac had an unspoken deal, Isaac would get me up there, and Paul would set me up. Well after a handful of tying different laptops to see if they...

Today marked another milestone in my radio career.  Every ten years hams have to fork over ten dollars to the FCC to renew their license.  Something very significant but overall ve ry uneventful except posting a status update on Facebook band little else. Today was the first day I could renew my ham radio license for the second time. When 2010 rolled along I could hardly believe it was time to renew my license! I had been through so much radiowise in just a quick ten years  I  first got licensed in 2000, Y2K, I did it kind of as a dare. One  of my police scanner buddies, David, K2DBK, studied and passed his Technician test. He and I e-mail]ed each other back and forth exchanging scanner frequencies. He encouraged me to listen to the  hams. ne of he co-workers was a member of the Ramsey NJ Office of Emergency Management and convinced David to go to a meeting. I also began exchanging emails with the Ramsey OEM coor dinator Mike Adams, WA2 MWT . He...

Well after about six years, losing about several, keys and numerous screen freezes I decided it was time  to retire my Toshiba. It had been through a lot especially going back and forth down to Cape May before we moved down permanently I admit I haven't been gently with it at times but it has served me well. I used to help me get one the air with PSK,, was  used to view numerous videos, YouTube and other videos. Also I have explored my writing even more with this machine than all others combined. Sadly some of the keys started popping off and when I tried to replace them the keys b roke off. I got to the point were if I wanted to  type an "X" I needed to  find a webpage with an "X" on it, copy it and then past it  where I needed that letter.  Which made writing anything substantial a real pain. Still I held on to it because it  felt like an old  friend. As it was breaking down I knew I needed to back it up. When my folks went up to Sam's C...

After a year off due to the 2009 ALPCA Convention in Erie, PA  conflicting with Field Day weekend 2009, I entered this Field Day with  my own laptop and a new antenna. As in previous posts I mentioned I now havea Toshiba laptop which I use remotely whenever possible. So this year I can truly call the station my own! Paul,KC2CJW brought the Pompton Lakes OEM vehicle which was  decided to be my home base. It was definitely one of my more interesting setups because I also toured the van to check out there radios and of course what was in them. This year the 10-70 club, callsign N2SE, setup a station at Darlington Park just down the road from our usual location at Campgaw Ski Lodge. It seems the county scheduled their hazardous materials recycling day the same day as Field Day weekend. However it worked out fine because the attendance was down from last year. We were still a lively group I did have some problems with my new Buddystick  antenna.First of all note to ...

Ok the final sign I am back on the air is my first contest which was the PSKFst 2010, the first major PSK event of the year! I tell you it wasn't a disappointment because I cracked down and really got going. Although admittedly I did take a few breaks. One of the aspects of good contesting is endurance because you see the same callsigns after awhile and it can get frustraing. However I posted decent qso count which was pretty exciting.Truthfully I just don't want to come in dead last in my catergory . Anyway it way a great way to start the new year on the air!!! Links: Logsheet for 2010 PSKFest Contest Results for 2010 PSKFest

I was just looking at posts I made the last few years and it seems every August I hit a "slow time" for writing on justinmattes.com. Some might think it's because there's not much going on, but in reality there's a lot going on. So much that I have a hard time finding the time, or the energy, to write about it all. Let's see here I think we'll try something new here... Well the very first day of August I had the Stony Point Lighthouse Activation...this time I was ready with my YAESU radio to do PSK. Even though I only made 19 contacts, the day couldn't have been better. Unlike the rest of the summer the weather was perfect, sunny low humidity and a light breeze off the Hudson River. The group we had was perfect it included 90% of the 10-70 Board and some geust operators. We had a blast and again vowed to make the trip again next year. Although with Howie moving to Reno, it might be tricky. A little aside I did write an article about the day's acti...

Well the PODXS 070 club has come and gone for another year. Even though I have participated in contests ever since I got on the air, the last few times have become a bit more competitive. I have sat down and actually "worked" the contest although not continuously like I do on Field Day or the January VHF contest. Some highlights, I bagged 31 qso's, which is a pretty modest amount. Mark,N8MNI, the king of PSK made 4X as many QSO's but he's located in Ohio really to perfect spot to work all states on 20 meters. Anyway the main goal was to work a new state and I managed to get New Hampshire on 40 which is a new state for me. After the contest, the next three days were spent going over my log and converting them into HTML to be put up on Bergenscanner.com which is a bigger task than writing this soapbox! I then submitted the log into the contest manager and then composed this entry. It then occurred to me I haven't been keeping track of the 070 Members I worked ...

Alright I have been a little behind on posting to this blog but I thought I would do a little backtracking. Every September a few hams setup stations along old Route 66. Now given my love for license plates and cars this obgviously is right up my alley. This past Sempteber was the first time I was able to participate with my new setup! The stations use special 1X1 callsign ranging from W6A to W6S are scattered along the old Route 66. So I looked the information up and learned that the Missouri Texas and New Mexico stations setup PSK, so of course I attempted to pick them off. Well easier said then done. I had to go on 40 meters in the middle of the night to see if I could get them. All of the contacts happened around 2:00 in the morning so I couldn't actually run downstairs and tell my folks...So I had to wait until the next day. I sent the QSL cards out one by one, complete with SASE and patiently waited for the return cards. I also needed New Mexico on 40 Meters so it was a...

Back in the summer I wrote an entry in here about my Lighthouse phone contact with Bill,N8ET , so now I had to top that with a five lighthouse PSK contact in Wisconsin! I was orginally going to wait until I got the card like my other contacts but I think at this stage of the game you can take my word for it. This contact was with a husband and wife team also known as "Team Cheese"--WI9TC (I love the callsign). Like the contact with Bill, they were in the line of sight of five lighthouses located on the Wisconsin shores of Lake Michigan. As soon as I saw them on the BeaconBot (the e-mail reflector used to notify people of lighthouse activations-) I knew I had to take my best shot. There were tons of stations dying to get a contact. Well after some monitoring of the waterfall and waiting for a break in the QSO's, I dropped my call. Unfortunately I was getting overpowered a lot so I actually wound up waiting for quite awhile. Although I have to admit it was also fun just ...

Alright if you're a ham you know the deal with QSLing. Usually the deal is when you make a contact eac h ham sends out a QSL card, paying the postage and everyone is happy. There's no better way to end a contact than to recieve an envelope in the ma il with your callsign on the front. It is a thrill that never get old, at least to me. It's not really a secret that for me qsling is a bit tricky, just like everything else physical in my life. I have to carefully load the evenlope into the printer lining it up just right while hoping it doesn't get jammed. Sometimes when printing the QSL itself the p=aper gets stuck. Also because the printer is downstair, my broke awhile ago I deal with my dad ask "What are you doing down here?" or don't mess anything up! So when individual hams say they require a SASE I really frown becaus the extra hassle is worth much more than a postage stamp. It also occurs to me some hams are just plain lazy many that do require a SA...

An interestting e-mail arrived in my inbox this afternoon. Mixed in with the usual stuff about license plates and lighthouse come the Grid Dip results. This was the first PSK contest I actively participated in meaning I sent in my logs. It wasn't really to score points, but just like everything else on ham radio I decided to just go for it. Imagine my surprise when I found out 28 QSO'S was good enough to take FOURTH PLACE in my category!! I wasn't even trying to compete but I just wanted to see what happened!! There were three operators ahead of me, N3FX,N5PFW and W4EEH, respectively. All of them are serious contesters, so it was a real honor to be on the board with them!! I also would also like to add that I have been expanding my police scanner site to be more inclusive of ham radio. The direct link page is located here: KC2GIK's PSK-31 Webpage Below are some links off of Bergenscanner.com to my logs for not only the Grid Dip but other c ontests as well. ...

This past weekend was the TARA "Grid Dip" which is a PSK contest where you try to get as many Grid Locators as possible over a set period of a few days. It is one of the contests designed for PSK only so there's a lot of action. Like the repeaters if you do enough PSK-31;. For the first time I intentionally stayed up late (besides Field Day) for radio purposes. After awhile I saw KJ6P callsign calling CQ. Like a few other contacts from far away at first I couldn't believe it but then the signal got stronger. As a laugh I answered and would you know it he saw me!! Unlike my Orego n contact I made last year this was a very quick QSO/. Quick or not it's stil- a nice contact and he was as edgar to get my card as I was to get hard card. The day it arrived in the mail I whipped out the old digital camera and snapped the above picture! Of course it took a few more days to actually post it on "Mattes's Madness", but you know how my writing patterns c...

Yes it's the Monday after the last weekend in June, that means it's time for Field Day Fingerings 2008!! Once again I transmitted with the 10-70 Repeater Association from inside the Campgaw Ski Lodge in lovely Mahwah New Jersey. The past three years running I have been doing PSK-31, but this time with my new Yaesu FT-897. Believe me it made all the difference In the world! Like every other year Rocky had to struggle with the computer not noticing the interface right anyway but with a bit of trouble shooting I was running by the traditional 2:00 start. This year my co-pilot was Tim,KA2A (yes I love that call too. Now if we can only get him to get ham license plates) who was jumping on my station every time I got up to stretch which unfortunately was quite often. In the end though we both roped in quite a few stations. There were two major pluses this year, one I had the FT-897 so I was able to bust through some great interference and second, unlike in previous years,...

Let me preface this by saying my first HF rig bit the dust right after Field Day last year. I couldn't even usx it for Lighthouses on the Air!! So I was off HF from the end of June until a few weeks ago when Isaac visited from Germany and we hooked up my Yaseu FT-897 I bought of Mike,W2MLS, in December/. Unlike the Patcomm which is a dual band QRP rig, the FT-897 is an all-band, all-mode radio, in other words my first "real" HF rig!! So of course with this new fllexibility and a lot more power. I tried 10 meters when Isaac was here and managed to pick up a station from of all places Hillsdale,NJ which for those who don't know is the next town over. Talk about your major DX!! Although I also bagged Georgia on 10 Meters and a few guys on 30 Meters It's just something different some new. I would compare iit to fishing in different waters. My old rig I only had the two bands which is the equvilant of having two streams to troll. with this new rig, I can expl...

Seriously I know I should have written this before the Huntsville entry because this was the weekend before Huntsville, but I needed to think about compose my thoughts. Since Isaac went back to Germany, Howie picked me up this year to make the trek up to Capmgaw Ski Lodge in Mahwah. I spent the night before packing up my radios and trying to figure out if I forgot anything. Howie pulled in the drive at 9:30 am Saturday morning to find me still half asleep and woofing down some crumb cake. He actually left with out me, but a quick call on the W2PQG repeater brought him back. I threw my stuff in the back of his car and we were on the mountain a little after 10. Rocky greeted us with a laptop, note to self next year bring the USB driver. This year I truly flew solo and got my prime spot in the lodge right behind the registration desk, which housed the ATV station last year. I also brought my old 2m/440 radio, so I ran the Field Day talk-in station as well. People usually have their ...

Alright that might sound gross but let me explain. For those non hams out there basically Field Day happens every last weekend in June where ham clubs across the nation try to make as many c ontacts as possible. This yearly activity has been around a lot longer than I have and it gets me on the air. Right now my entire ham station is in the crapper, it will be there for awhile. Anyway like almost everything else in this world, the computer enhances everything 100 times over. There are all kinds of "modes" meaning different ways to transmit, there's plain old voice contacts, then there's CW (Morse Code for all you non-hams) you can even do Amateur TV stations on the ham bands. Getting back to the computer, PSK-31 (Phase Shift Key) is among the new digital mediums we are utilizing. Think of it as online chatting but using radiowaves instead of internet. I roped in contacts from a half a dozen states, even KK5K out of Alabama. Yes folks you never know who or what you...