My first DX contact!

It was very exciting tonight to make my first DX contact with KP4BI in Puerto Rico!

The contact was on 10 meters and now I know my set up will get out there!

I'm looking forward to getting my General and opening up my DX possibilities even more!

General Exam Study

I started studying this week for my General ticket. It is a whole lot harder than the Technician that is for sure.

I'm really wishing now that I would have paid a little better attention in math class 35 or 40 years ago!

But I'm learning lots of new very interesting stuff, so it's only a matter of time now before I'm ready to take the test.

I can't wait!

ADT false alarms when transmitting.

Had an interesting problem when I keyed up on 10 meters after getting my radio set up Tuessday. After 15-19 seconds of transmission my ADT alarm system smoke detectors tripped the alarm!

Well today the installer came out and located which of the smoke detectors was causing the problem, it was the one closest to the antenna, he pulled it down and replaced it with a new one and now all seems well.

After a bit of research this seems like quite a common problem especially with 2nd floor shacks and attic antennas, which I have both.

Hopefully the problem was with just this one unit and won't have any trouble going forward!

W9SMH

I applied for the call sign W9SMH

Now I just have to sit back and wait eighteen days and see if it goes through.

Yaesu FT-897D on the air!

Today was a great day. Got my antennas and Yaesu FT-897D set up and on the air. Thanks to my awesome friend Rick Garrett N9GSU for helping me get it all together!

First time transmitting!

Tonight I made my first check in during the Marrion County ARES information Net, it was very exciting especially after checking in and having them acknowledge me when they read my call sign back.

This is a neat event hosted on the Indianapolis Repeater Association every Wednesday evening.

Looking forward to becoming involved with the local ARES group!