Amateur Radio
I obtained my first amateur radio license in June 2000 by passing the written and morse code tests for both the General Class and the Advanced Class in one sitting. Subsequently, I was assigned the callsign KG4ICF by the FCC. After passing the Extra Class exam in November 2000, I applied for and obtained the vanity call WT5L. This callsign was chosen for the shorter and simpler phonetic representation and for the shorter and simpler morse code representation. Although I live in "4" territory, a similar callsign with "4" was not available at the time (and are still difficult to come by).
Interests
Since obtaining my license in 2000, I have been primarily interested in working both domestic and international contests. I have concentrated mainly on the following six contests sponsered by the American Radio Relay League (ARRL):
- ARRL International DX CW (Morse Code only)
- ARRL International DX SSB (Phone only)
- ARRL November Sweepstakes CW (Morse Code only)
- ARRL November Sweepstakes SSB (Phone only)
- ARRL 10-meter CW/SSB (Both Morse Code and Phone)
- ARRL RTTY Roundup (Radio Teletype - Digital mode)
I also try to work the three major DX contests sponsored by CQ Magazine:
- CQ Worldwide RTTY Contest (Radio Teletype - Digital mode)
- CQ Worldwide CW Contest (Morse Code Only)
- CQ Worldwide Phone Contest (Phone only)
Modes
My principal modes of operation are the following:
| CW | Communications Using International Morse Code Characters |
| SSB | Phone Operation (i.e. Speaking Into a Microphone) |
| RTTY | Digital Mode Utilizing Frequency Shift Keying (FSK) |
| PSK31 | Digital Mode Utilizing Phase Shift Keying and Characterized By Signal Occupying a Band Width of 31 Hz (Ideally) |
Bands
Presently, I have the capability to work only the High Frequency (HF) bands which are loosely defined as any frequency between about 1.8 MHz and 30 MHz. Within this range, the Amateur bands are referred to by the approximately wavelength of the emitted signal (160 Meter, 80 Meter, 40 Meter, 30 Meter, 20 Meter, 17 Meter, 15 Meter, 12 Meter, 10 Meter). Right now, I have the capability to work stations on all HF bands except for 160 meters. Below is the band/frequency relationship:
| 80 Meter | 3.500 MHz to 4.000 MHz |
| 40 Meter | 7.000 MHz to 7.300 MHz |
| 30 Meter | 10.100 MHz to 10.150 MHz |
| 20 Meter | 14.000 MHz to 14.350 MHz |
| 17 Meter | 18.068 MHz to 18.168 MHz |
| 15 Meter | 21.000 MHz to 21.450 MHz |
| 12 Meter | 24.890 MHz to 24.990 MHz |
| 10 Meter | 28.000 MHz to 29.700 MHz |
QSO's
QSO is Morse code short-hand for a contact between two stations. The following chart shows my QSO activity for each year since I was first licensed in the middle of 2000:
| 2000 (KG4ICF) | 470 QSOs Logged |
| 2000 (WT5L) | 374 QSOs Logged |
| 2001 (WT5L) | 1803 QSOs Logged |
| 2002 (WT5L) | 1558 QSOs Logged |
| 2003 (WT5L) | 1558 QSOs Logged |
| 2004 (WT5L) | 1513 QSOs Logged |
| 2005 (WT5L) | 950 QSOs Logged |
| 2006 (WT5L) | 827 QSOs Logged |
| 2007 (WT5L) | 703 QSOs Logged |
| 2008 (WT5L) | 399 QSOs Logged |
| Total | 10155 QSOs Logged |
Logbook of the World (LOTW)
The American Radio Relay League's (ARRL) Logbook of the World system is a mechanism for electronic confirmation of QSOs. By email or internet submission of logs to the LOTW system, log entries are matched against log entries submitted by other Amateur Radio stations to generate QSL records. (QSL is Morse code short-hand for an acknowledged or confirmed contact or transmission.) The chart below shows the status of my current LOTW activity: (as of 17 March 2008)
| QSO Records on File (WT5L) | 8780 |
| QSL Records of File (WT5L) | 2775 |
QSL Cards
QSL cards are postcards used to confirm two-way communications in the world of Amateur Radio. Domestic QSLs transferred via the U.S. Postal Service. International QSLs can be exchanged via postal services of via the ARRL's Incoming and Outgoing QSL service. The following images are scans of my QSL cards for the KG4ICF and the WT5L callsigns:
Awards
Various awards are available for the Amateur Radio operator. These awards may recognize performance during a contest or may be applied for in recognition of achievement both inside and outside of the contest environment. The following images are scans of various awards that I've collected over the course of my Amateur Radio operations:
