Author Archives: VA3QR

About VA3QR

Obtained Basic (Canada) license on March 21, 1994. Received 5WPM Morse Code endorsement in the summer of 2003. Obtained my Advanced in the winter of 2014. Active on all Amateur bands between 160m - 70cm (excl. 1.25m), all modes. Primary rig is a Flex 5000A with ATU, RX2 and VHF/UHF module. Mobile rigs include Kenwood TM-D710A, and TM-480SAT. Antennas include Cushcraft MA-5B, Cushcraft A6270-13S, Hustler 6-BTV (with all 3 DX Engineering mods), 2 x Comet CX-333, Custom-Made Random Wire (tunes 160m - 10m), and MFJ Active Receive Antenna. I host the VE3PAQ Repeaters on 1.25m and 70cm, the VE3YAP APRS Digipeater, and the APRS2 Tier 2 network node for Ontario.

ISS School Contact

So after CY9C, I decided I had to get back into satellite work. I’ll write an article on that later on, but one of the awesome things about being satellite-capable is that you can listen to (and if you’re lucky enough, talk to) the International Space Station. Today, Council Rock High School in Holland, PA… Read more »

CY9C II – Day 9 – QRT

As I type this, Connor and I are on the mainland in Dingwall, NS waiting for the chopper to return with the 3rd load from St. Paul Island. We closed operations at 1140z 2019-08-08 after working the last of the JA stations we could hear on 20 and 40 CW and FT8. I’ve sent the… Read more »

CY9C II – Day 8 (Last Full Day)

Good afternoon from CY9C. It’s our last full day of HF operations so we’re shaking every last contact from the bands that we can. As I type this, we’re about to break 25,000 QSOs! We’ve worked 10, 15 and 20 during daylight so far, and Pat, N2IEN had a great run on 40 CW this… Read more »

CY9C II – Day 7

Another great day on the island 🙂 I worked 80m phone last night from 0010z to 0245z and it was just a wall of stations. I went over and tried to work 160m phone, but thunderstorms in the midwest were giving me S9+5dB static crashes, so I gave up and ran 160m FT8 just to… Read more »

CY9C II – Day 6

The HF gods giveth, and the HF gods taketh away. I awoke to the news that we’re experiencing a G1 solar storm. The A index is at 4, and the K index is at 5. For those who don’t know what that means, it means that a lot of the energy we’re putting out into… Read more »