K5ND.radio

21/07/2024

Fun times in the CQ WW VHF Contest with a 10-watt Hilltopper Entry. https://k5nd.net/2024/07/cq-ww-vhf-contest-k5nd-p-hilltopper-adventure/

25/06/2024

New Old Rig in the Ham Shack. https://k5nd.net/2024/06/new-old-rig-in-the-shack-icom-ic-746pro/

10/06/2024

Up and down conditions in the ARRL June 2024 VHF Contest. Read all about my experience at https://k5nd.net/2024/06/arrl-2024-june-vhf-contest-6-meter-vucc-in-a-weekend/

03/06/2024

Reasonable results from DM85 on 6 meters. Read all about it at https://k5nd.net/2024/06/texas-panhandler-dm85-on-6-meters/

18/05/2024

Latest 6m QSOs — Six Meters Still Magic https://k5nd.net/2024/05/latest-6m-qsos-six-meters-still-magic/

21/04/2024

My Ham Radio Adventures. See the new episode on frying preamplifiers and surface mount device repair. https://k5nd.net/2024/04/my-ham-radio-adventures-surface-mount-device-episode/

28/03/2024

Log-checking reports don't need to be a mystery. Here's insight into my recent explorations of this helpful contest feedback tool. https://k5nd.net/2024/03/log-checking-reports-vhf-contests-and-digital-modes/

11/02/2024

Here's my guide for those interested in trying out VHF contesting. Tips, tricks, and plenty of insight. https://k5nd.net/2024/02/guide-to-vhf-contesting/

22/01/2024

Fantastic ARRL VHF Contest. https://k5nd.net/2024/01/arrl-january-vhf-contest-2024-blockbuster/

08/01/2024

Had fun in the ARRL RTTY Roundup with QRP and a vertical. https://k5nd.net/2024/01/arrl-rtty-roundup-2024-qrp-style/

29/12/2023

Update on K5ND 2023 website stats. It's becoming a resource for meteor scatter contacts. https://k5nd.net/2023/12/website-traffic-2023-top-10-blog-posts/

03/11/2023

Magic Band Revealed — Everything You Need to Know for 6 Meter Amateur Radio DXing. New book available on Amazon and eBook download. Find out more at

12/10/2023

Resurrected an old HF Vertical. Photos and words at https://k5nd.net/2023/10/refurbished-hf-vertical-working-atnos-again/

02/10/2023

Just back from the 6 Meter BBQ. What a blast. Also attended the CS-VHF Conference this summer. Photos and words at

I had a blast this year attending the Central States VHF Conference in late July and the Six Meter BBQ in late September. Both events had roughly 100 in attendance. And every single one shared my passion for VHF operation. Central States VHF Conference 2023 I was fortunate to attend this event in 20...

20/09/2023

New antenna at K5ND. Read all about it at

I’m antenna swapping once more here at K5ND. You may have seen my article on EZNEC Modeling as I investigated options for upgrading from my 8-Element Quad for 2 meters. K5ND Antenna Merry-Go-Round Changing antennas is my usual mode of operation, as you well know from reading this blog. The focus i...

13/09/2023

The current learning adventure is EZNEC Antenna Modeling software. Read all about it, with pictures, a

Goal: Determine how a 2-meter 8-element Quad stacks up against the alternatives. As you may recall, I recently added a 2-meter 8-element Cubex Quad to my ham shack. You can read all about it at Quad Antenna for 2 Meters. It’s been working well, but, as always, I’ve been trying to verify its oper...

11/09/2023

Great results in this past weekend's ARRL September 2023 VHF Contest.

I enjoyed the 2023 edition of the ARRL September VHF Contest. I set a personal record for the number of QSOs and the total score for what is typically a very low activity contest in North Texas. In fact, I’m reasonably sure this is the VHF contest, among many, that inspired me to get on […]

13/08/2023

Worked KB7Q while he was operating in DN64. Grid number 483 in my chase for FFMA 488. Thanks, Gene. Great looking sunrise during the Perseids shower of his rover station. Photo courtesy KB7Q.

17/07/2023

It was a good CQ VHF Contest. Could have used a bit more activity. Still fun.

The CQ WW VHF Contest 2023 edition did not match the incredible conditions experienced during the June VHF contest. Saturday was pretty slow, but Sunday picked up, providing a reasonable score. Plus, I picked up a new 2-meter grid thanks to N5ZY/R. I just missed him in what would have been another n...

12/06/2023

What a fantastic ARRL The National Association for Amateur Radio June VHF Contest. My best-ever contest results with nonstop 6-meter Es and some 2-meter Es for extra fun.

The 2023 edition of the ARRL June VHF Contest hit an all-time high for my home station. See the nearby graph of activity levels over the contest weekend, roughly a 5-hour window when I slept, and the rest was non-stop activity. There was a six-meter opening in one direction or another for the entire...

07/06/2023

Six Meters — How I Love It!

13/05/2023

Always improving my ham shack. Here's the 2023 update.

It’s time for another episode of the K5ND Ham Shack Update. Not sure that it’s worthy of binge-watching from 1972 to 2023. Although, if you’re interested, you can check out those previous episodes on my Ham Shack Page. For this episode, it’s a new rig, a new computer, and new monitors. New R...

11/05/2023

New Rig in the Ham Shack — IC-7100. Read the reasons for selecting a rig to go with the IC-9100.

I’ve been looking for a second rig for the ham shack since I parted ways with my IC-910H. I like having two rigs during VHF contests, one running 6 meters and the other running 2 meters. So here I’ll talk about my requirements and how the IC-7100 fit them. Essential Rig Requirements While I’m ...

27/04/2023

You can never have enough antennas. So why not stack them for even more fun? Here's my Omniangle setup.

I’ve been a big fan of the Par Electronics antennas. That started with their ingeniously elegant six-meter Moxon. It fits in anyone’s backyard and makes a real difference on six meters. Then I started using their omniangles for 50, 144, 222, and 432 MHz. They use the same type of construction as...

14/04/2023

Eta Aquarids Meteor Shower April 21 to May 12. Get on the air with meteor scatter via WSJT-X MSK144. Here's how.

I’ve written about meteor scatter a few times on this blog. It started with Meteor Scatter — A Burst of Excitement about my first experiences with WSJT’s FSK441 in 2014. A few years later, I examined the differences between FSK441 and the new MSK144 with My Scattered Compilation of Data Points...

11/03/2023

Looking for operational insight for WSJT-X and Q65 mode? Try this article.

I’ve been amazed by the relatively new Q65 mode within the WSJT-X software suite. It works over long distances when nothing else is happening. It’s said to operate via ionospheric scatter for terrestrial contacts and is becoming the go-to mode for moon bounce. This article provides a brief intro...

26/01/2023

K5ND @ Home for ARRL VHF Contest 2023 — very, very slow going. https://k5nd.net/2023/01/k5nd-home-for-arrl-vhf-contest-january-2023/

22/01/2023

Website Traffic Stats 2022 — Top 10 Posts and More. No surprise that 6 meters generates the most traffic.

My routine has been to assess the website stats at least once a year, publishing the results. So you can find those previous posts with a quick search. For example, the page views have ticked down this past year, as shown below. Year Page Views Users Average Time on Page 2022 44,233 24,282 2:52 2021...

03/12/2022

Ham Shack Makeover — 2022 Version — Read All About the Latest Additions and Changes

My last rover operation was in June 2022 to activate rare six-meter grids DM84, DM85, and DM86 and operate in the ARRL June VHF contest. That’s when I finally decided that the roving life wasn’t for me. Mostly that decision was about my age and lack of desire to pack all my gear into a […]

14/11/2022

Tried the ARRL Frequency Measuring Test this past week. Delighted to provide measurements within 1 Hz as shown in the green window.