Gary Hanson

KJ5VW's Home Page

Hi Y'all.

Welcome to Austin, Texas and this web page about my favorite addiction . . . HAM RADIO ! ! !

I got my first ham ticket in 1959 when I was 15 years old. I built a two tube regenerative receiver with the receiving antenna lying on the ground, a used Heath DX-35, and a long wire with no tuner, to make my first novice contact. Minnesota to Kentucky on my first call. I've been hooked ever since.

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I dropped out of ham radio for about 15 years to raise a family, but one day a fellow ham who worked across the hall invited me to participate in building a small QRP rig as part of the local club project. My daughter was almost finished with her degree in electrical engineering, but really hadn't built much yet (senior lab was still to come) and had never used a soldering iron. I thought: "Hey, maybe I can get her interested in ham radio." Well, I had to arm wrestle her just so I could wire a few of the components. We had a slight spike on an otherwise perfect sine wave from the transmitter so we had to rewind one torroid coil. Then, BINGO, The MXM kit from Bruce Williams put out a beautiful 3 watts--perfect sine wave and no spike. It is crystal controlled at 7040, but have worked nearly 20 states and several countries so far.

Did my daughter get a ticket? Sorry to say, school, career and an active social life seemed more important, but I haven't given up yet. I still bug her to use the oscilliscope at her office lab from time to time.

Ever since I strung a long wire (500+ feet) from the top of my house to the top of the windmill on that Minnesota farm, I have been intrigued with antennas. At the moment, I have a 40 meter delta loop, a 40 meter inverted vee, a 40 meter vertical and an 80 meter bazooka "floating" above my house on a relatively small city lot. When those Texas thunder boomers roll in my xyl gets really nervous. "Are you sure those antennas are grounded, Gary?"

Luckily, our lot backs up to a 28 acre city park and I have my eye on a tall oak tree about a quarter of a mile away. Let's see, 6 wave lengths on 160 meters would be....?

I have been a QRP "convert" for about two years and I hope you enjoy hearing and seeing the sounds of real QRP operators on 40 meters. If you have any questions about the audio clips or better yet, if you would like to add some of your favorite sounds, send me a note via the web or e-mail me at hansongr@uts.cc.utexas.edu and we can arrange a sound transfer.

Well, enough about KJ5VW. If you hear me on the air, give me a call.

72, 73,

Gary

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	Hi Y'all. Welcome to Austin, Texas and this web page about my favorite addiction . . . HAM RADIO ! ! ! I got my first ham ticket in 1959 when I was 15 years old. I built a two tube regenerative receiver with the receiving antenna lying on the ground, a used Heath DX-35, and a long wire with no tuner, to make my first novice contact. Minnesota to Kentucky on my first call. I've been hooked ever since. Return to QRP Power
I dropped out of ham radio for about 15 years to raise a family, but one day a fellow ham who worked across the hall invited me to participate in building a small QRP rig as part of the local club project. My daughter was almost finished with her degree in electrical engineering, but really hadn't built much yet (senior lab was still to come) and had never used a soldering iron. I thought: "Hey, maybe I can get her interested in ham radio." Well, I had to arm wrestle her just so I could wire a few of the components. We had a slight spike on an otherwise perfect sine wave from the transmitter so we had to rewind one torroid coil. Then, BINGO, The MXM kit from Bruce Williams put out a beautiful 3 watts--perfect sine wave and no spike. It is crystal controlled at 7040, but have worked nearly 20 states and several countries so far. Did my daughter get a ticket? Sorry to say, school, career and an active social life seemed more important, but I haven't given up yet. I still bug her to use the oscilliscope at her office lab from time to time. Ever since I strung a long wire (500+ feet) from the top of my house to the top of the windmill on that Minnesota farm, I have been intrigued with antennas. At the moment, I have a 40 meter delta loop, a 40 meter inverted vee, a 40 meter vertical and an 80 meter bazooka "floating" above my house on a relatively small city lot. When those Texas thunder boomers roll in my xyl gets really nervous. "Are you sure those antennas are grounded, Gary?" Luckily, our lot backs up to a 28 acre city park and I have my eye on a tall oak tree about a quarter of a mile away. Let's see, 6 wave lengths on 160 meters would be....? I have been a QRP "convert" for about two years and I hope you enjoy hearing and seeing the sounds of real QRP operators on 40 meters. If you have any questions about the audio clips or better yet, if you would like to add some of your favorite sounds, send me a note via the web or e-mail me at hansongr@uts.cc.utexas.edu and we can arrange a sound transfer. Well, enough about KJ5VW. If you hear me on the air, give me a call. 72, 73, Gary Return to QRP Power