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Taylorsville, NC, United States
Hi all. I am age 62 and was happily married to Irene for 27 years until her untimely death on March 24th, 2012. I have 3 children, 2 sons, 1 daughter, and 1 grandson, 3 granddaughters, My hobby and favorite past time for 27 years as of October 16, 2023 is "Amateur Radio", better known as Ham Radio. I make friends all over the world using voice, digital, and International Morse Code. CW (Morse Code) is my favorite mode!

Sunday, December 19, 2010

LOOK WHAT SANTA CLAUS GOT ME!

Santa Claus AKA "My XYL" bought me an old German Junker (pronounced "yunker") CW Key for Christmas! Actually she purchased it from PA3FLM John in the Amsterdam, Netherlands back on November 19th, but thanks to the heavy shipping of Christmas gifts, cards, etc it took 26 days to arrive! I was quiet surprised to see my daughter Elizabeth with a package when she came home around 10 PM Tuesday night. I wish I had drove the 1 mile to the mailbox earlier that evening and I could have used it in the North American CW Club (NAQCC) December QRP CW Sprint. I worked the 2 hour sprint earlier that evening running only 5 watts and wound up with 28 stations in 16 states which got me 2nd place in the entire W4 division using my Begali Camelback straight key! I love my Begali and hope to someday get me a set of Begali paddles! Below are a few photos of the key Santa got me:




An excellent Christmas gift indeed and very much appreciated! Well, at least I'll have it to use  today from 1800 UTC until 2359 UTC in the ARRL CW Rookie Roundup and in the  ARRL Straight Key Night coming up on New Years from 0000 UTC until 2359 UTC! CW is by far my favorite mode of operation and, speaking from 14+ years of experience on amateur radio, where you encounter the best and most courteous operators. If your a fan of Facebook take a look at my CW OPERATORS page on Facebook. I try and post the latest events for CW operators on there each week to keep folks informed. Well,  guess that's about it this post and thank you for reading my blog. Be sure and sign my guestbook if you have the time at the link  at the very top of the page.
Hope to work you on the bands! 73 and "Merry Christmas" and a "Happy and Prosperous 2011!" de Cliff KU4GW  SKCC#652  NAQCC#1491  FPQRP#1183 30MDG#865

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

SEPTEMBER 4TH, 2010 "54TH ANNUAL SHELBY HAMFEST"

Had a great time at the 54th Annual Shelby Hamfest and got to meet a couple of hams I usually talk with daily on 3895 ,but had never met them in person before. Got to meet N4LMF William & K5TBZ Craig. I rode down with my good friend W4WWF Dale. There was a great turnout even though hamfest officials said attendance was down from last years. Checked out all the newest Yaesu & Icom gear, but Kenwood was a no show. Was wanting to look at the new Kenwood TS-590 to see what it looked like up close & personal, but no luck there! Also, the ARRL was a no show this year, not sure what happened to them, they're usually there every year! I didn't really need anything, but did pick up a few PL259s and 30 solder lugs to attach the radials to my Hustler 5BTV vertical I'm fixing to put up. Think I'll lay down 10 radials each for 20, 30, and 40 meters. Also bought me a set of the plastic HF tuning tools and a set of hemostats to use for a soldering heat sink. I also have another antenna I'm fixing to put up, a double bazooka cut for 75 meters, want to compare it with my 260 feet doublet and also string it up perpendicular to the doublet. Next thing I'm interested in amateur radio wise is to get into QRP in the field. Ten-Tec has a nice little QRP dual band HF rig for $249.00 I'm particularly interested in: Two Band CW QRP Transceiver - 40/20 Meters  It's a 20/40 meter dual bander CW rig. Here's a closeup view: Ten-Tec R4020  Also need to get me a portable tripod & antenna for QRP in the field and  a 12 volt portable power pack or solar panel. Hopefully I'll be ready by next summer for some fun in the field! Have posted a couple of hamfest pics below, but you can see all my photos from the hamfest here:  Shelby Hamfest Photos  Been having a lot of fun lately with my new rig! The VRF (Variable Receive Frontend) is my favorite feature on the FT-1000MP Mark V. It is amazing how much QRN it will take out! Also I like the CW tuning meter which makes zero beating a breeze visually. Until next blog very 73 and hope to see you down the log!


Saturday, May 15, 2010

My New Rig Has Arrived!

Just received my new rig, a Yaesu FT-1000MP Mark V (200 watt version) on May 3rd, 2010 and absolutely love it! I purchased it from W4CCW Craig. It is loaded with filters,a VRF=Variable Receiver Front end and much much more to help dig those really weak signals out of the noise, especially on CW! I have already sold my Kenwood TS-570D to KD8KAK Tim in Ohio and recouped some of the bucks spent out on the Mark V. Also, finally got new coax to set up my other two antennas. I'm putting up a Hustler 5BTV vertical ground-mounted with 30 radials cut for the 40 meter band and also a Double Bazooka cut for 3.895 Mhz made and given to me free of charge by my good friend KT4FW Sid. Well, that's the latest from the KU4GW shack so until next blog very 73!
Cliff KU4GW

A FEW PHOTOS OF THE NEW RIG

Sunday, January 10, 2010

WA2BEN BEN LIPTON SK

I write this entry with much sadness at the recent loss of my good friend WA2BEN Ben Lipton who recently passed on. Ben was a great friend whom I spoke with for many years on ham radio and is sorely missed! I always loved his great sense of humor, especially the funny things he would say on the air when bickering back and forth with WZ4I Mark. They had the type of relationship where they would continuously put each other down, all in fun of course! If Ben and Mark were nice to each other on the air I would have thought that something was definitely amiss! I got many good chuckles out of the things those two would say to each other! May God bless and keep Ben by his side through all eternity! Heaven is a better place with the presence of Ben Lipton!


PHOTO FROM THE WA2BEN MEMORIAL DINNER HELD JANUARY 9TH, 2010 IN MEMORY OF OUR FRIEND BEN LIPTON
PHOTO OF WA2BEN BEN LIPTON-CENTER IN PHOTO BELOW