Amateur Radio Station
Notes from getting on the air, learning repeaters, and figuring things out as KD1AAA.
Journey
Passed the Technician exam on August 8, 2026, opening the door to getting on the air.
Received KD1AAA on August 12, 2026, making the station official.
Checked in through W1FY on 147.150 MHz FM, then started improving HT technique from there.
Passed the General exam on August 17, 2026, opening the door to HF privileges.
Recent Entries
A simple flashcard study page for reviewing the amateur radio question pools.
I added a study tool to the site today.
It is a simple flashcard setup for the Technician, General, and Extra question pools. It keeps progress in the browser, shows one question at a time, and now includes explanations and the official diagrams where they matter.
Partly this is for future studying, and partly it just felt right for the website to be useful while I keep learning.
A big license milestone: passing General and opening the door to HF operating.
I passed my Amateur General exam today.
That feels like a big step forward. Technician got me on the air and into local repeaters, but General opens up a much wider part of amateur radio, especially HF. Now I can start learning what it is like to make contacts beyond the local area and begin exploring the parts of the hobby that depend more on band conditions, timing, antennas, and patience.
There is still a lot to learn. I need to get more comfortable with the General privileges, the band edges, and the practical side of operating on HF. But today feels like the next door opening.
A day at Northeast HamXposition in Marlborough, with a budget fox hunting seminar and a hands-on hunt.
Today I went to Northeast HamXposition in Marlborough, MA. It was my first bigger ham radio event since getting licensed, and it was nice to be around a room full of people who were all somewhere on the same general radio path.
The session I went to was about fox hunting on a budget. That was exactly the right speed for me: practical, approachable, and focused on what you can do without turning the whole thing into an expensive equipment project.
After the seminar, we went out and did an actual fox hunt. We found three foxes, which made the whole thing feel much more real than just hearing about the technique indoors. There was a lot of listening, moving, checking direction, and slowly narrowing things down.
This was a fun step beyond just working repeaters from the HT. I’m still very new, but this felt like one of those activities where the basics matter more than having a perfect station. Pay attention, try things, listen carefully, and keep learning.
KD1AAA now has a home on the web.
I bought the kd1aaa.radio domain name and created this website.
The plan is to use it as a simple activity log for contacts, station notes, lessons learned, and the gradual process of becoming more comfortable on the air.
A better Waltham repeater contact from the attic, with helpful advice from KA1JHZ and W1MJ.
I initiated contact with the Waltham repeater the next day.
This time I went up into my attic, where the transmission was much better. I was able to talk to KA1JHZ and W1MJ, and they gave me good pointers on HT usage.
Small change, big difference: location matters a lot with a handheld.
On The Air