Welcome from Wes Cosand, WZ7I

Greetings to my radio friends around the world.

Where is your CW signal reaching today?

Try this experiment: Click on this banner, call “CQ” a few times and then see what CW Skimmers pick it up.

 

If you don’t know much about CW Skimmer software read Alex’s description.  I formerly used a simple SoftRock receiver that I built from one of the very inexpensive kits from Tony, KB9YIG.  The output was sent to the website, www.reversebeacon.net.  The receiver has since been replaced by a QS1R SDR receiver that receives 96 khz of CW signals on each of 7 bands at once.

If you live in the Middle Atlantic states, you can know every time one of your CW friends calls CQ

(At least if he has a good fist that a computer can copy.  J ).  The Skimmer software written by Alex Shovkoplyas that controls the QS1R SDR radio has a telnet server.  If you have internet access, you can use any of several software packages written for DX cluster spots to access the computer and have every CQ fed to you as a DX spot.  The difference is that you know that the call can be heard in the Philly / NYC area and that calls from North America are included as well as DX calls.  Just set your DX cluster software to the telnet address cw.wz7i.com, port 7300. 

I use SpotCollector from the DXLab Suite to handle these spots because when I especially enjoy a QSO I can enter the call into SpotCollector with a “Tag” saying that this was a fun QSO, or that we have similar interests, and when he calls CQ next time, up pops my note with the Skimmer CQ call, I click on the SpotCollector entry and my receiver is tuned to his frequency, often while he is still calling CQ.

                                                

                                      QS1R SDR Receiver                                  HyGain HyTower Jr

                                                   Receives 7 bands at once                                      For Reception of CW Skimmer spots

 

 

Or if you are a PSK operator, try this:

Go to the PSK Automatic Reporter site and see where your signal has been detected. 

What a great time to be a ham!

 

I recently started an online photo album

My current station

I would like for you to meet my family and our home area here in Eastern Pennsylvania. I am located in the tiny village of Pipersville, Pennsylvania about 70 kilometers northeast of Philadelphia and about 8 kilometers east of the Delaware River which separates Pennsylvania from New Jersey. We live in the woods so the antennas won't bother our neighbors.

The station equipment consists of a Ten Tec Orion radio, and a Ten Tec Titan amp (which I use very little).

My radio call is from the state of Washington in the northwestern United States near Seattle. I moved to Pennsylvania about ten years ago.

Current tower

The self supporting tower is built by AN Wireless here in Pennsylvania. At the top is a Force 12 beam with 2 elements for 30 meters and 2 elements for 40 meters. Below that is a 12 element Sommer beam for the five bands from 20 meters to 10 meters.

Out in the woods is my favorite antenna. This 80 meters 4-square array is composed of Hy-Gain Hytower elements with a Comtek phasing system.

Comtek phased array

I recently retired after a career as a biochemistry professor and a scientist in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries.  I am enjoying reading, gardening, listening to classical music and ham radio.

Raising a young family in Pullman, WA

Our Years in Bothell, WA

Contact Infomation
 

Some of my favorite folk in this hobby:

AN Wireless (towers)

Bengali Keys (CW paddles)

Afreet Software  (fascinating software)

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