Getting on HF

There's one thing I forgot to mention during my 2020 update. And it's important one at that.

I was finally able to get on HF!

Yes, during May 2020, me and my father went into the attic and hooked up the QuirkyQRP Slinktenna I have. It was quite the challenge as not all of the attic over the room where my station is has floorboards to step on, just studs. It also necessitated drilling a hole in the wall because despite our best efforts, the electrical fish tape kept falling behind the the metal junction box that was already in place in the wall.

The hole in the wall that was drilled to properly snake the cable through the junction box below.

The Slinktenna hung up behind an old TV antenna.

Nevertheless, we persevered and I was able to start using HF via FT8. So far, SSB hasn't been successful but I believe that's due to the high noise floor I have. But still, I've had luck so far with FT8 and have made at least 20 QSOs so far with some QSL cards to boot.

My station setup

Getting ready to send one of my QSL cards.

Some of the QSL cards I've received so far.

Unfortunately, the FT-900 died during a session of FT8 and I haven't been able to get it to turn back on. So I am in the hunt for a new radio because the FT-900 has long been discontinued. Right now, I'm deciding between a Yaesu FT-991A or an Icom IC-7300.