Purchased a new Gateway notebook last week. Using it for the first time today in the hope of hunting a POTA or two. #KE0FFThingsInMyShack #KE0FFT #KE0FFTpota

Parked for a while in Anna, Illinois due to the winter storm that’s still rolling through. #TruckerHam #KE0FFT

Got a new notebook today that will be the over-the-road radio computer - and #BlackCatBart got a whiff of an amaryllis. #KE0FFT #KE0FFThingsInMyShack

Got a new notebook today that will be the over-the-road radio radio computer. And #BlackCatBart got a whiff of the amaryllis. #KE0FFT #KE0FFThingsInMyShack

Did a simplex test on 2meters today w/ two other local hams who helped me determine the best Bluetooth headset (of two I own) to use w/ the #AnyTone878uv, as well as which mic gain settings sound best w/ HT's internal mic, an attached handheld speaker-mic, a BlueTiger Dual Elite Plus headset w/ swivel mic, & a BT-940 Bluetooth headphone w/ earpiece mic. Results: HT's internal mic was best of all - at Analog-Mic-Gain setting 2. Second Place: (...full results continued in comments below) #KE0FFT

Had another #WINTERHEAT2023 QSO yesterday. It’s been slim pickings where I’ve been the last couple of weeks, but it is fun to try nonetheless. #KE0FFT

I’m looking forward to eventually be set up to do #WinlinkWednesday. Not there yet equipment-wise, but there in spirit. #KE0FFT

Nice #sunrise in #HendersonKentucky this morning. #KE0FFT #TruckerHam

Just found this on the floor of a store’s back room. A long screw with a couple of copper(?) spikes that look like they’ve been soldered to the screw. I wonder what this was used for. Seems really specific. Any ideas? #WhatIsThis #WhatIsIt #KE0FFT

The “Where Am I “ app is useful for me in one situation. If I’m driving in an area w/ bad weather, possible winds, flooding, hail, ice, or tornadoes, I’m listening to #wx radio. The NWS warnings list counties; I might not know which county I’m in right then. This app auto-updates like any tracker - counties also update. If wx, I turn the app on b4 I start driving - never touch the phone - if a warning comes out, I look down at the screen to see what county I’m in. #TruckerHam #KE0FFT #WhereAmI

#AnyTone878 UV with the remote PTT button and BT headset connected. I attaced the PTT button to the side of tge headset without an earphone. #KE0FFT #WINTERHEAT2023

Today I got the #AnyTone878 connected to its remote PTT button & my Bluetooth driving headset. Now I can listen to the HT audio remotely & transmit using the headset mic by pushing the PTT button as long as both are within reception range of the radio. Using that setup, I made a mobile QSO just north of Carlyle, Illinois today - got good signal & audio reports - and we activated all 4 #WINTERHEAT2023 analog freqs. - I think I’ll be using that AnyTone Bluetooth feature all the time now. #KE0FFT

Just logged another two local simplex #QSOs on the #2MeterBand - mobile at #OlneyCityPark for #WINTERHEAT2023. No way I’m in the running to make it a competition so I’m just having fun with it. Will probably put a call out again tomorrow sometime. #KE0FFT

That last toot reminded me of this old, fun pic of my Air Force buddies & I - Todd (left) and John (right) - taken during our trip to Stonehenge back in 1993 when we were all stationed at RAF Chicksands as Morse code ops. #KE0FFT

I forgot that I had an HT monitoring two of the #WINTERHEAT2023 frequencies. The radio crackled to life sometime between 11pm & midnight as a couple of regional hams were working their way through each of the frequencies. #KE0FFT

There are 7 analog freqs & 6 digital freqs (there may be exceptions to the recommended digital freqs depending on your location). You get points for each unique contact on a unique freq - two people can make a contact on different freqs & get points for each QSO.

Made my first #WINTERHEAT2023 QSO today. Both of us were mobile in O’Fallon, IL. Freq. 147.57 at 0831CST / 1431UTC.

Here’s a bit of fun #TruckerHam trivia for you. There is an O’Fallon, MO (off of I-64) about 37mi west of St. Louis, MO *and* there’s another O’Fallon, this one in Illinois (also off of I-64) about 18 miles *east* of St. Louis, MO.

#WINTERHEAT #KE0FFT

All today’s future #HamRadio spots in comments below - don’t want to spam the main feed & annoy anyone. #hamr #CQDX #AmateurRadio #HamRadioSpots #SignalSpots #KE0FFT

At 2207UTC / First ever #10m phone contact! (VE7TT in Vancouver BC fm Olney, IL - approx 3000km / 1860mi on 28.412MHz.) Also first QSO outside the US. Him: Omni VII / 300watts / Ant: 550ft loop @ 50ft fed w/ 400 ohm window line direct to shack / Ten Tec 238a Tuner. Me: Yaesu 857d at 100W / Ant: G5RV Jr. hung from tree @ 12ft as inverted v / YT-100 tuner. He was 5/5 on my end. He reported me as 3/5 at first, improving to 4/5 at one point. #HamRadio #AmateurRadio #KE0FFT #PhoneQSO #QSO

December 21st 2018 ~ Jackson, my mother-in-law’s visiting cat, likes to be where the action is. #KE0FFT

30 years ago, I was finally getting my first look into the real world of ops at RAF Chicksands after several weeks on casual status (working from a trailer outside "the building" on "the hill" at the base). I'll never forget walking onto the ops floor the first time & being completely flabbergasted by what would soon become obsolete tech. I still had training to do before starting work as a #MorseCode op, but let me tell you, that was no doubt the beginning of some very strange tales. #KE0FFT