NZ6A

My dad was first licensed not long after I was born, so I grew up around ham radio.

From the moment we acquired the Arizona place, my plan was to set up a shack and an antenna there for HF, maybe even 6 meters too.

I regularly write weekly posts (“Weeknotes”) — a recap of what’s been going on — over on my general interest blog.

I haven’t worked Field Day in years.

One of the interesting things about having a 2×1 call sign is that you are one of only 26 people (or clubs) with that same format and prefix.

You may recall that about a year ago I decided it was time for a change and I set about replacing W8MHB, a call sign I had used for almost 28 years.

Similar to the “All the Cameras” post I wrote last year, this post lists all the radios I’ve owned or used since I first got my license back in 1984.

At the end of the year it’s interesting to look back and remember the milestones. 2025 wasn’t my most active ham radio year ever, but there were a few things worth noting.

The Maidenhead Locator system is a system of encoding geographic coordinates that is commonly used in Amateur Radio.

This one comes in handy for securing my 1-pound arborists’ weight to a line.

The scaffold knot can be used with or without a thimble.

Instructions for tying a taut line hitch (101knots.com) 101 Knots The Bear Essentials Outdoors Co.

My dad had a sizeable collection of QSL cards.

After nearly 28 years as W8MHB, I decided recently to apply for a new vanity call sign.

The first weekly assignment of the 2025 Ham Radio Challenge is to create a QSL card design.

Note: As of June 2026, I operate as NZ6A.

FT8DMC Membership Certificate #19378 (2022-Mar-27) World Worked All Members 500 Stations 400 Stations 300 Stations 200 Stations 100 Stations Worked Region 2 20 Stations 10 Stations Worked All Continents Mixed 15 Meters 17 Meters 20 Meters 40 Meters Worked…

My collection of print (and some digital) QSL cards is now online!

I hadn't worked 30 meters in a while and I was doing a little experiment to see whether I could tune my off-center fed dipole and make some contacts.

The last of my very first QSL cards This is one of my first QSL cards.