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NØLX
Jake's ham radio page
Introduction: I was licensed in 1987 as KB0APA. Upgraded to General, then Extra in 2000 when I received the call N0LX. I am a member of the following clubs and organizations...
HFpack,  QRP ARCI #10524,  Amateur Radio LightHouse Society #447,  Colorado QRP Club #720

Most of my ham radio fun takes place outdoors, especially since March 6, 2004 when a fierce windstorm took down the Cottonwood tree that supported a 10-80 meter Windom antenna. Around 90 percent of my contacts are QRP, running Five watts or less. I would put my operating into five categories. Here are some pages that detail how I spend my time on the air:
Marine Mobile Or, another way  to have fun in a boat without fishing.
1. Marine Mobile  I have a small eight-foot rowboat that works as a fine platform for ham radio.
Marine Mobile with an Ionic Liquid Antenna  First successful use of a saltwater antenna while afloat!
Marine Mobile on Lake Estes While I was attending HamCom 2003
Logbook excerpt Worked Christmas Island from a Winter trip out in the boat December, 2003
Last Marine Mobile trip of the year, New Year's Eve, with ice on water
Marine Mobile Altitude Record 13,800 feet...someone had to do it!
*** Latest addition...10/03/2005 ***
2. Pedestrian Mobile  Have backpack-will transmit.
Pedestrian mobile with balloon in  snowstorm I add a fishing pole for windy conditions.
Pedestrian mobile with shortened ZEPP antenna No more balloons with this design.
My best DX  eQSL confirmation of my nearly 6,000 mile, 2.5 watt QSO to Uruguay
3. Bicycle Mobile    How to get some serious excercise and work the world at the same time.
Bicycle Mobile...First Ride This is my recent attempt adding the radio gear to the bike.
I have since added the ability to run my IC-706 and 5 to 50 watts with a 17 AH battery.
I'll add photos as I can. Here's a shot of the new High-Z matching unit I made to handle the higher power.
4. Portable setups
USIsland  A story about working from some of the islands here in Colorado.
The USIsland website link.
QRP Portable on a nearby mountaintop.
VHF-  SSB    First experiences with a new mode
5. VHF Hilltopping
    I have discovered the "OTHER" side to two meters: sideband!
6 Meter-pedestrian mobile Walking around with a Yagi antenna overhead
6. APRS, digital modes
APRS Trace This is a brand new area of the hobby for me.
                                                                                                                                                          
Antennas and accessories I have built and used.
Leaky Tank Antenna   Just something I thought about late one night at work
Shortened 40-meter vertical for backpack or boat
ILA Antenna. The concept of transmitting through a tube of saltwater was the idea of Dave, N9ZRT. Here are some of my attempts at making ILA's (Ionic Liquid Antennas):
Ionic Liquid Antenna First one I built. It works!
Ionic Liquid  Dipole Don't try this at home...
Large Ionic Liquid Antenna ideas  40 and 80 meters with a liquid antenna.
   4 pages from conception through construction to completed antenna.
Liquid radials   Using saltwater as a ground system
Ionic Liquid vs. Conventional Antenna Test   Test done on December 14, 2002 between a copper tubing vertical and a similar length ILA. I think there is an optimal minimum diameter of  one inch, below which there seems to be an attenuation of the signals.
Matching unit for running higher power into end fed half-waves. I use it on the bike.
                                                                                    
Solar image  Dec. 7, 2002
Oct. 24, 2003
Solar images I have taken
Solar image Dec. 16, 2002
Solar Image Dec, 21 2002
Made by projecting the sun through a pair of binoculars on to a sheet of paper. A Canon G2 captures the image. It is then adjusted for contrast and gamma in Adobe and converted to gray scale.  I decided to try it once and now have a small collection going.

 

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