About
Ab aethere, vanitati.
There’s a page describing my QTH.
I first got licensed in 2003, motivated by being fascinated by radios and wanting to work with satellites (I’m a lifetime AMSAT member). I have a few major interests: low power and sustainable operation (e.g. solar or other renewable power sources), decentralised communications, and digital radio. I would eventually like to move to the mountains and use my radio as the primary means of communication.
Though I got my tech ticket in 2003 and upgraded to amateur extra in 2016, I’d done basically nothing with HF until 2020ish. I started with FT8 (JA7ETU being my first HF contact ever – on 2.5W from California, no less!) on 20 meter, though that’s a mode that I’m not particularly interested in as anything other than checking propagation and whether my radio is setup correctly. I’ve forgotten a lot of radio knowledge due to lack of use, and I’m working to catch back up. That’s one thing I’d like to use this site for: doing things, then writing about them as a check on understanding. I had a long break due to my life situation until around December 2023, when I set up an antenna at the new place.
I can be reached via my callsign at arrl dot net, via APRS as AI6UA-7 (which shows up via APRS-IS if it’s picked up by an iGate), or if you’re in the area I’m often monitoring the 2m simplex or scanning local repeaters on either my Anytone 878 or my Yaesu VX-6R. I also have a DMR hotspot that I’m frequently monitoring; my DMR ID is 3154319. Feel free to say hi!
I’ve been keeping track of my DX QSOs, as well. My current record is 8,897 miles via FT8 on 12m to Angola.
