PA1ZZ Gets Ticket in Southern California

A while back we reported on the Californian travails of long-time listener Rogier, PA1ZZ.   We are happy to report that OM Rogier has joined the ranks or U.S.-licensed radio amateurs and is preparing to wiggle the ether with the FB rig pictured above. 

Hey Bill,

Since the FCC doesn’t like it if you use the foreign license as a Permanent resident. I took the plunge and passed the technician and general exams in one day.

So here I am KJ6ETL QRV from San Mateo, CA.

One day I will do the Extra class but that's for later. First I have to study for my career, hobby comes 2nd…

I still had my DSW-II build from a kit when I was living on Bonaire. But never managed to get in the air due to the lack of a dummy load to tune the final stage and a very strong HF signal from a local US religious broadcast station (50KW) aiming at South America and the Radio Netherlands relay station. Both put so much HF in the air that my SWR meter needle was pushed in the corner without my transmitter hooked up…

Now, years later, I polished the March R3A paddle and finally tuned the DSW-II. Next step will be to hang an invisible 20mtr band dipole on our balcony (hoa’s….) and see what happens.

Since my morse skills are very rusty and antenna and power are rather limited I might want to jump ahead and start with the digital modes...

Smiles across the wires,

Rogier