Qso Today - A Conversation For Amateur Radio Operators

Larry Tyree, or Tree, as he is known in amateur radio circles, loves to operate contests, work DX on 160 meters, from his 28 hilltop acres in the Oregon forest, near Portland.  Tree is a serious CW operator, where good antenna design, focus, skill, and patience bring the amateur radio rewards.  Tree tells his ham radio story in this QSO Today.

Roland Smith, K7OJL,  entered ham radio almost 60 years ago after the launch of the Sputnik satellite.  His ham radio activity paused for many years as a result of professional relocations and family commitments.  Roland has since returned to amateur radio at a fast and furious pace, operating in just about every band and mode. 

Peter Shilton, VE7PS, became a lifelong chaser of meteor scatter and EME contacts because of a very early acquisition of a Drake receiver and a transverter, at the beginning of his ham radio career.  VE7PS tells this story in our QSO Today.

Patrick (Pat) Brown, AK5TX, has always had a love for radio leading to opportunities from Chicago to Alaska to Texas! Amateur radio was the game-changer for Pat when he suddenly lost his eyesight, almost 20 years ago. Pat is now “More than able, I am Handi-Capable!” He continues his journey including contributing to our art, hobby, craft, sport, and science in the amateur community residing in Tyler Texas. He is a part of our amazing hobby. Today, my QSO is AK5TX!

Dan Marler, K7REX, owes much of his professional opportunities and success to his amateur radio background.  A people person, K7REX, likes to give back to the amateur radio community as an ARRL Section Manager and founder of the RATPAC, a group that does not include Sammy, Dean, and Frank.  Dan tells his ham radio story in this QSO Today. 

Tom Robinson, G0SBW, made a very interesting presentation at the Expo called, “Amateurs Research Poor Radio Communications at the Battle of Arnhem, in 1944”, where the British lost this WW2 battle because of poor communications.  I urge you to go view Tom’s presentation at the Expo.  I interviewed Tom back in September of 2017, because Tom likes to operate backpack mobile on the English Shore, dragging his counterpoise, like a tail behind him.  He has had amazing success with this operating mode, and shares how you too can get out of the noise by also operating manpack mobile.  G0SWB is my QSO Today.

When it comes to understanding how antennas really work, then the “go to” ham is Bob Zavrel, W7SX, author of the ARRL book, Antenna Physics - An Introduction.  Through this book, Bob bridges the gap between “how to” antenna books,  and calculus based antenna theory books for engineers.  Bob has a long resume in radio and electronics, is the accidental creator of the Signetic NE602 mixer chip.  Bob was my guest in this interview over 200 episodes ago and shares his story in this replay in this QSO Today.

FlexRadio is the Platinum Sponsor at the next QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo. I wanted to bring back an interview that I had with Steve Hicks, N5AC, VP of Engineering at FlexRadio. Steve will be a speaker at the Expo. Steve is a natural teacher in addition to leading a team developing the most advanced software defined radios for amateur radio. Of course, he also has a great ham radio story that he tells in this QSO Today.

John Ackermann, N8UR,  was my guest almost 200 episodes ago and is a speaker in the upcoming QSO Today Virtual ham Expo.  John spends much of his time as a proponent of open source, freely sharing both hardware and software designs with the TAPR community. Join us as we discuss TAPR, SDR transceivers, and the issues around open source and the maker movement.

Gerald Youngblood, K5SDR, is the founder and CEO of FlexRadio that is now on the cutting edge of building advanced software defined radio (SDR) platforms for amateur radio, as well as for government, business, and the military.   Gerald is a leader and pioneer in the development of SDR leading to the founding of FlexRadio.  This episode is a newly minted version of the original interview that I had with K5SDR in 2015.

Patrick Stoddard, WD9EWK, is best known for his satelite QSOs using portable gear from grid squares all over the World.  He documents and captures many of his contacts and the equipment that he uses on his website and YouTube Channel.  WD9EWK is a recent addition to the AMSAT board of directors and is my QSO Today.

Bob Allphin, K4UEE, was my guest in Episode 79 over 5 years ago.  As he is one of the speakers in the next QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo, his ham radio story would interest today’s listeners.  K4UEE has traveled the World in pursuit of activating DX entities that are isolated, desolate,  and uninhabited.  Forty in total.  Out of his love for travel, he has been to 126 countries during his lifetime. I know that you will enjoy my Bob Allphin, K4UEE.

Jerry Weisskohl, AC4BT, always had a love of radio and short wave listening.  He got a late start in amateur radio but thinks that the art and practice of CW, or Morse code, is exactly what quiets and relaxes the mind after an engaging day as a computer scientist.  AC4BT has taken lead roles with CWops and CW Academy and is my QSO Today.

Peter Butler, W1UU’s ham radio journey began with the purchase of a J38 code key and a trip to the library.  Sputnik inspired Peter to a career in microwave engineering reinforced by this ham radio interest.  Peter is the Vice President of CWops and actively involved in sharing his love for CW and good operating practice with the hundreds of amateurs who are signing on to do the same.  W1UU is my QSO Today.

Mel Swanberg, WA6JBD, has a love of radio that goes back to his childhood.  Growing up in Southern California, Mel found his Elmers and Mentors that led him into a career in the land mobile business  and public safety radio.  Mel is the former president of the Cactus Intertie, perhaps the largest point to point full duplex amateur radio network in the World. Other interests include microwave communications and he is a leader in the San Bernardino Microwave Society.  WA6JBD is my QSO Today

Clint Turner, KA7OEI, is an experimenter, builder, and operator on all bands and modes.  He shares his background in microwave communications, EME or Moonbounce, and his involvement in the Northern Utah Web SDR Project, an amazing on-line resource hams who want to listen to all of the lowbands with waterfall display at the same time.  KA7OEI is my QSO Today.

Tim Deagan, KJ8U, loves to build just about anything to try out a new tool, and he has an amazing assortment of tools to support his construction of amateur radio antennas as well as Burning Man like propane powered visual displays.  KJ8U is a maker, and since ham radio operators were the original makers, Tim’s cross-over between the maker community and the amateur radio community is just natural.  Tim tells this story in this QSO Today.

Joe Reisert, W1JR, continues to pay forward, the kindness of his early ham radio mentors, with his contributions to our amazing hobby. Amateur Radio paved the way to a successful career and amazing encounters, Worldwide,  with people and technology.  W1JR tells his amateur radio story in this QSO Today.

Wayne Yoshida, KH6WZ, has been an active ham since the 1970s, growing up in Los Angeles.  Wayne is a home brewer, especially microwave equipment on 10 GHz, and has taken our amateur radio hobby to the Maker Faire in the Bay Area for live demonstrations. As a technical writer and Contributing Editor to CQ Magazine, Wayne is in one of the best places to experience just about everything in ham radio.

Michelle Thompson, W5NYV, is a third generation amateur, beginning her ham radio journey in elementary school.  Her interest in microwave circuit design and computers led her to a successful engineering career and now a board member of AMSAT.  Michelle is an advocate for open source applied to satellite design fueling future generations of amateur spacecraft. W5NYV is my QSO Today.