Welcome to the W4HH Amateur Radio Website

Contents 

•  Front page                        

•  My station
   

•  My Antennas
   

•  What is amateur radio
  
   

•  Mobile   station
   

•  Where to find me on the air
   

•  My QRP rigs
   

•  Links to sites with amateur radio info
  
   

•  Using solar and battery power
   

•  Operating with Morse code
   

•  My bio
   

•  Field Day June 2010
   

•  Search this site
   

Welcome to my website

I am Joe Schlatter, amateur radio call sign W4HH and this is my amateur radio website.  I have set up this site to share my interest in the hobby of amateur radio.  There's nothing earth-shaking on this site, just one person sharing his experiences -- I hope you find something interesting here.  I'll add material from time to time, so, please come back and visit.

My current station

I have three HF rigs and one VHF/UHF rig: 

•  An old ICOM IC-729 160-6 meters, 100-watt, all-mode transceiver, purchased in Japan in 1992; with AT-150 antenna tuner and PS-55 power supply.
•  A Yaesu FT-817 QRP 160-1.25 meters, 5-watt (0.5 - 5 watts), all-mode transceiver; with LD Z817 antenna tuner
•  An Elecraft K1 QRP 40-30-20-15 meter, 5-watt CW transceiver with built-in keyer and antenna tuner.  I purchased this rig used in March 2012.
•  Yaesu FT-7900 VHF/UHF transceiver.

I use simple wire antennas on HF and a vertical on VHF/UHF:

•  An off-center-fed dipole for 80, 40, 20, and 10

I operate almost 100 percent CW using an old 1950 Vibroplex Lightning Bug, an WW-II-vintage J-38 straight key, a miniature key from American Morse Equipment, an AME miniature paddle, and, occasionally, a K1EL WinKeyer.

Most of the time I use the FT-817 at five watts with the old Vibroplex Lightning Bug

My amateur radio biography

I obtained my first amateur radio operator's license in November 1958 -- Novice Class, KN4FPT.  A few months later I upgraded to Technician Class, K4FPT.  Here's my license history:

• Novice, KN4FPT, November 1958;

• Technician, K4FPT, February 1959;

• Advanced, K4FPT, April 1979;

• Extra, K4FPT, September 1992;

• Received vanity call W4HH, January 6, 1997.

• While stationed in Japan, July 1990 - July 1993, I held Japanese amateur radio license 7J1AJJ.

I am a retired Army officer and was on active duty from May 1967 to April 1995.  As a result of frequent moves and living in all sorts of housing -- our own home, rented houses, apartments, military housing -- I have been on and off the air.  At times I was on the air with a lot of equipment and antennas, at other times everything was packed away and I was not operating.  Now that we have settled down into our own home, I am on the air from time to time with a modest station.  I try to get on regularly, mostly on 40 CW.  I usually am on the air 3-4 days a week, early morning and late evening.

Location:  Northumberland County, VA along the Potomac River where the river joins the Chesapeake Bay.

Here's a photo of me making bread -- one of my other hobbies. 

And here are my two grandsons -- Little Joe (L; b. 29 Aug 2007) and Jackson (b. 18 Nov 2010)

Here I am operating my QRP station during ARRL Field Day, 26-27 June 2010 -- 1 watt output -- powered by a battery that is charged from a solar panel.

What's on this site?

The Table of Contents for this site is located along the left side of each page -- click on the links next to the little blue diamonds.

This many folks have visited the site since 12 December 2008 -- THANK YOU !!