About

I’m Matt, an amateur radio operator living in Ocala, FL.

My home VHF/UHF radio is a Yaesu FTM-150, paired with a dual-band j-pole antenna mounted at around 33 feet.

My home HF radio is a Yaesu FT-710 AESS, currently paired with a 29′ “Rybakov”, a non-resonant, multi-band, vertical antenna with the feed point at about 10′ above ground. This antenna is fitted with 4 elevated radials that are cut to be resonant on the 40m, 20m, 17m and 10m bands, one radial per band. 60′ of RG-213 direct-burial cable connects the antenna to the radio through a Comet CAT-300 manual tuner. This setup changes from time to time, as I am always experimenting with different wire antennas.

I do some light contesting, and both hunt and activate Parks on the Air. Most of my POTA activations are done QRP with a Xiegu G106, paired with a Spooltenna 40-10 EFHW antenna.

I exclusively use World Radio League software for logging and recommend it to any new hams looking for logging software (and so much more). I also use it to upload all QSOs to both QRZ and LoTW regularly.

I’m a member of the Silver Springs Radio Club, also located in Ocala, and have made a lot of friends through it. I recommend that any new ham operator join one or more local clubs, and hopefully you find one you like. Hobbies are more fun with friends.