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“Back on the Air: Reclaiming My Voice Through HAM Radio”
A few weeks ago, I had a serious health scare—completely unresponsive. My hosts rushed to call 911, and I was taken to the hospital where I was diagnosed with pneumonia. I pulled through after a full battery of tests and enough antibiotics to knock out an elephant. But after six days, they tried to put me in a nursing home.
No thanks.
I came home—to my true home—with people who treat me like family. While I’m still recovering and much weaker, I’m getting stronger every day. And I’m back doing what I love: radio communication and self-reliance.
I recently got my HAM license—call sign KK7YQS—and I’m operating my Yaesu 991A on 40 meters, usually hanging out on 7208 kHz LSB with other “old timers.” But I’ve got a lot of local noise here in Las Vegas, so I use a remote SDR receiver in Half Moon Bay, California:
📡 http://websdr1.kfsdr.com:8901/
Tune to 7208 kHz, set it to LSB, and zoom in. It’s like having your ears in California and your mic in Vegas. I call it my “BIG head” setup. It’s made communication much easier, especially with West Coast hams.
My setup includes:
- A “hidden” long wire antenna with a 49:1 balun
- An LDG auto tuner
- 100 watts of output, which gets me 500–1000 miles depending on conditions
- I’m also part of the MeshTastic LoRa network here in Vegas
And when the internet or phone lines go down? I’m ready. Between HAM, MeshTastic, and a Baofeng dual-band radio tied into the Nellis AFB repeater, I’ve got full local and long-distance comms covered.
Now about power…
I picked up an EcoFlow Delta Max 2500W solar generator with a 4500Wh battery bank and an 800W solar panel. I monitor it via the EcoFlow iPhone app and control grid charging with the Smart Life app. On sunny days, I stay fully charged by night and still have ~45% battery left before sleep.
This setup powers:
- My Mac mini
- My HAM rig
- A large display
- And my YouTube editing tools
I’m completely off-grid when I want to be. And it feels amazing.
🎬 Upcoming YouTube Videos
I’m now planning videos on:
- Early electronics & tube technology (I started in 1962!)
- Using KiCAD for vacuum tube circuits
- Emergency power & radio prepping
- Remote SDRs and how they help in noisy cities
- And how I protected my gear from EMP events (think nukes & solar flares)
I even got in touch with someone from the KiCAD forums who’s expanding their vacuum tube symbol library. That’s a story I want to tell.
📣 Your Turn
Would you like to see videos on:
- Designing vintage tube circuits in KiCAD?
- MeshTastic mesh comms?
- Getting started with HAM radio in 2025?
Let me know in the comments, and don’t forget to subscribe if you want to follow the journey. Please feel free to comment, and also if you’re familiar with KiCAD, please come forth and let me know. I’m very new at this, so learning is slow for me.
KiCAd is a modern circuit analysis program like LTSpice, where I hope to “emulate” the transmitter, perhaps with the help of my old school readers and viewers, I hope to put enough info on how to build it.
COMMENTS ENABLED!