K5MJP 👋

I guess as with other blogs, I’m down to posting a year out of catch up. Tons has gone on, not only in the Ham world, but the world, and my own personal world. I’m going to try and timeline it in order from the last 2025 update. This might be a long post! I’ll try and device it up between topics. Let’s see, last post I was making a dipole out of speaker wire in February 2025. ...

Greater Houston Hamfest 2025 was this weekend in Rosenberg, TX. I made it out Saturday, was trying to make friday but got too busy with work calls. The hamfest was much bigger than I expected. I drove out from Houston to Rosenberg, and had my APRS on for tracking, checked the map when I got back home, there were a ton of trackers there! Was pretty neat. I didn’t win any door prizes or the raffle, was hoping to win something. ...

Just a quick note. I cut some old speaker wire down to a little under 8ft. Crappily soldered it to a 15yr old SO-239 chassis mount, and trimmed it down until I could get the SWR under 1.8. Clipped it to the top of the fenceposts in as “straight as I can” fashion. Hooked it into my FT-710, and I’m on the air! Got two contacts with FT8 Nevada and Michigan, (K1BMW and N8RJP), I think I got logging setup, but unsure what to use, so I logged them both to LOTW and QRZ logbook, we’ll see if they confirm! ...

Dale KG5U Wrote this about Tom K5RC, I thought it was a heartwarming story. That’s very sad to hear. He will be missed. Back on October 1, 1986 I bought Tom’s house in Scarsdale Subdivision. For those who did know about the place, it was about ¼ mile west of I-45 (southbound Exit 30) and just north of Dixie Farm Road. He rented (for $300/year) a field behind his backyard fence for his towers and antennas. Tom’s contest station was in half of the 2-car garage attached to the house. The radio half was air-conditioned (heating & cooling), courtesy of Chuch/K5LZO. It also contained the family washer and dryer. The other half of the garage was just a storage area, with the cars relegated to an outside existence. ...

Hi there! My name is Michael, and I’ve been a licensed ham radio operator since November 2004, I had a different callsign but got a vanity in 2017. While I’m currently a Technician Class operator, I’m actively studying for my General Class license to expand the bands and modes I can use. I’ve been off and on with the hobby over the years, I’ve developed a strong interest in various aspects of the hobby. Here are some of the areas I’m most passionate about: ...