Biography

Hello everyone from Asuncion city, Capital of Paraguay in the heart of South America - "An island surrounded by land" :-)

Thanks for looking me up and please click my web visits before you leave - 73 :-)

I'm from Dublin, Ireland, but I live and work in Paraguay since 2009 .... Here are some of my adventures in South America so far ... https://garrettkennedy.com/

FIRST OFF ... My QSL cards were printed by Gennady UX5UO using photos I took here in Paraguay .. So ... send me a card and get two cards in return :-) Direct is good - the Bureau works - but it doesn't work very quickly here.

As far as the log goes, all contacts go live into Ham Radio Deluxe live as they are made, from where they are uploaded almost instantly to QRZ.com, HRDLog.net, eQSL and LOTW. When I'm in a contest, I wait till the contest is over, tidy up the log, then upload it from N1MM+ (best competition log in the world!) to Ham Radio Deluxe - from where all of the above happens instantly.

I can cover most to the traditional modes - SSB, CW, RTTY, PSK, but I would rather poke my eyes out with a rusty nail than use FT8 and all those new/digital modes ... sorry about that :-)

Current hardware line-up;

Kenwood TS-990s / Yaesu FT-990 / Yaesu FT-991 / Elecraft KX3 QRP rig with all the options (Don't really like the KX3 much - too fussy, but still a good little QRP/CW/SWL radio when on holidays but probably for sale). SPE 1.3K-FA solid state amplifier, which is truly amazing bit of equipment - like having a 1.5Kw radio! I also have an ACOM 1500 'back-up' amplifier (great amp too). I use a Heil Gold Elite Mic, which is undoubtedly good, but not sure it's great value for the money. I use a Heil Pro-7 Headset for competitions, but I always have a sore head after wearing it for a couple of hours ..... maybe my head is the problem there!

For mobile ops:- Yaesu 857D & ATAS-120A. The ATAS is a bit expensive - but it's a great 7Mhz to 50Mhz all-rounder once you get used to it - it's very fussy about receiving 13.8 volts or more, but nothing less - a problem many seem confuse with being fussy about really good earthing - which it's not - mine has no earthing other that the two little allen grub screws that pinch the top of the car door for the trunk-lip style mount, and it has never had a problem.

For SWL: - All of the above and old Icom IC-R7000 receiver

For SWL portable: - Sangean 909x, Tecsun 660, Tecsun 880, Sangean S-8800 and a GP-5 SSB (a really amazing little radio now that it has SSB).

For portable TX: - A Yaesu FT2 hand held. I wanted to see what Wires-x was all about, so I bought an FTM-400XD as a node radio and an HRI-200 black box and set up my own node .... #40616 .... and nobody has ever come into the room! hihihihi. Although it is interesting to go into the various rooms around the world from time to time, especially when the bands are dead, and chat with other hams.

For stopping my boat from drifting off in the river ... HAMMARLUND HQ-100A (compliments of Jim - KL7JBB :-) )

Antennae:

I'm in a fairly noisy city environment so Rx isn't easy here for any antenna, but this is the current line up;

OPTIBEAM OB11/5 beam for 10, 12, 15, 17 & 20m. You can't beat having one antenna that is more or less resonant on five bands ... (SWR < 1.5:1 everywhere). Very good build quality.

For 40m, I have an old renovated HY-GAIN 402b 2-element yagi, mounted a couple of meters above the Optibeam, on the same 16.5m self supporting tower at the back of the house.

On the front of the house, I have a HEXBEAM for 6, 10, 12, 15, 17 & 20m which is on a 3m pole on the roof of my (2-storey) house. ... It has a fairly wide lobe ... (I got CA7CAQ in Chiloe Island off the back of the hexbeam with 5 watts on the first day when I was testing it). It is only about one s point below my Optibeam on receive, and maybe a couple of points less on Tx .... but it has 6 bands and again, no tuner - SWR < 2:1 everywhere. Anyway, it's a really great performer and only weighs about 12Kg - if you're thinking of getting one - do it - you won't be dissappointed with the 'bang per buck' :-)

I still have the G5RV strung out just 3m above the roof to keep all the others honest - its a great reference benchmark and still a good SWL antenna .... I added an 80m INVERTED V DIPOLE recently, but propagation has been so poor that I can't decide if this has been a success yet.

Thank you for reading my story and 73

Gary ZP5BVK

Worked DXCCs:

Equipment

Base Station Radios:
Kenwood TS990S / Yaesu FT-991 / Elecraft KX3 / 2 no. Yaesu FT-990

Mobile Radios;
Yaesu FT-857 / Yaesu FRT-400XD / Yaesu FT2D


Amplifiers;
SPE1.3K-FA and ACOM 1500


Antennae:
Hexbeam, Optibeam 11/5, Hy-Gain 402b, 80m Dipole, G5RV and MA-6000 for VHF/UHF

Mobile antennae;
Yaesu ATAS-120A, and CHA F-loop