---
title: Amateur Radio
---

For me, the logical next step in my electronics obsession was to become an amateur radio operator. I got my license back in 2020, and if you listen carefully, you might catch me calling CQ on 7030kHz as **VA3ZZA**.

I'm 90% a CW operator, 9% an APRS user, and occasionally key up on VHF FM to make sure the band is still dead *(...lol)*.

I like participating in the Summer & Winter Field Days, and also helped bring together the first ever [Meme Appreciation Month](/radio/meme-month-2022) event.

## The station

I currently operate from my home. Generally pushing 2 or 3 watts from my Elecraft KX2 through a home-made 40M dipole that snakes its way around my room and through a crack in the door.

Before my current setup, my antenna was my bedframe.. No, seriously. It made me quite a few contacts too. My motto for my setup is pretty much *"Low SWR is Low SWR"*.

## APRS

I find APRS to be a really interesting mode. I quite enjoy building programs that interact with APRS-IS (the radio equivalent of a Discord bot). For example, I was running a program that [tracked Canadian trains](https://github.com/ewpratten/aprs-trains) for a bit.

## Related Pages

- [My first HF transceiver](/radio/pixie)
- [Morse Code Keys](/radio/keys)