Biography

------IF WE HAVE MADE CONTACT, PLEASE CONFIRM ON LoTW, QRZ.com, OR eQSL------

Hello, my name is Jacob. I'm 14 years old, and I received my Technician test on July 2nd, 2022. I tested on January 7 for the General and failed the test. I tested again on March 4 for General and passed. I then applied for and received the vanity call, KA4JAM, to suit my initials, which somewhat ironically spell "JAM". My previous call was KQ4CCE. Please visit my QRZ.com page at https://www.qrz.com/db/KA4JAM. Thank you!

My favorite mode is the basic SSB and my favorite band to call CQ is 20m in the evening, when it's most active. I do a little CW, but I rarely do Morse. If you ever hear me, please go slow. I may be able to type fast, but I can't fully understand most of what people key. I have been out of CW recently, and I need to get back into it... I just got Invisilign, which is like a mouthguard that acts like braces. So you might hear me with a lisp.

I am apart of a youth group called YACHT (Young Amateurs Communications Ham Team). They have regular chat sessions on Echolink everyday except Sunday. Their main chat sessions are on Monday, Friday, and Saturday at 8:00 PM Eastern Time. It's a great way to communicate with other young hams. To learn more about it, please visit K8KDZ's QRZ.com page or visit the YACHT group page through this link: https://qsl.net/yacht-arc/home.html. If you are interested in Echolink, please visit https://www.echolink.org, to learn more about this radio-less communications system and how it all works. If you want to sign up, then go to the Validation tab.

I love collecting QSL cards in the mail, please send me one if we have made contact (also please send SASE and a LARGE envelope as well, low on stamps for now. Thank you!). I have a few, because a kind ham was generous enough to send 20 stamps, so don't send SASE if you can't, I'll be able to cover it. I also accept Clublog's direct QSL-ing system. Same instructions as above.

I finished my WAS on 03/06/2023 mixed mode and all bands. I need Kansas for SSB WAS. Still looking for that state.

If you need my state or county, be free to ask me to make a contact on any band. My email is good on QRZ.com.

My grandpa set up almost all of my equipment. I currently have the common Icom 7300, and I use a Yamaha headset for the headphones. I tried the mike that comes with the headset, but it doesn't sound good at all. So I switched back to the Icom-7300 hand mike. Now everyone says I have great audio! Pictures below show my grandpa (W9SN, here's the link to his QRZ.com page: https://www.qrz.com/db/W9SN) setting up the dipole. I think the internal tuner for my Icom-7300, so I can't use all the bands. However, using RHR, I can just use other peoples' radios (hehe).

I am now a youth member of RHR (remote ham radio). It's an amazing website. You can operate any band and any mode straight from your computer. No software is needed, because it is a website. People donate their stations to the website, and other people can log on and use their stations. To learn more, please visit https://www.remotehamradio.com.I upload all of my logs daily to LoTW, QRZ.com, Clublog, eQSL, HamQTH.com, and QRZCQ.com, all for your convenience. Though, it may take some time for LoTW to upload fully (up to one day or overnight). If you did not make it in the log, feel free to ask me to put our contact in the log. Please provide all of the information for the contact, and I will do my best. Thank you!


I love receiving QSL cards via eQSL. If we have made contact, than please send me one!

DX watcher for KA4JAM:
https://hamalert.org/myspot?c=KA4JAM&h=75460f3e359ffd60&dark=1

Please follow this link:
https://s01.flagcounter.com/count2/gf/bg_214EFF/txt_FFE180/border_CCCCCC/columns_5/maxflags_250/viewers_0/labels_1/pageviews_1/flags_1/percent_0/

Equipment

My grandpa set up almost all of my equipment. I currently have the common Icom 7300, and I use a Yamaha headset for the headphones. I tried the mike that comes with the headset, but it doesn't sound good at all. So I switched back to the Icom-7300 hand mike. Now everyone says I have great audio! Pictures below show my grandpa (W9SN, here's the link to his QRZ.com page: https://www.qrz.com/db/W9SN) setting up the dipole. For some reason, I cannot operate on 160m, 80m, 30m, 17m, 15m, and 12m, because the SWR is extremely high on each band, and my tuner won't work on them. It's not that my dipole is only suited for the bands not listed, because I used to be able to work on those same bands without a problem.

Back to the rigs, old radio was a Kenwood ts-570. I don't use the Kenwood anymore. Still have it, but my grandpa says next time we're over at his house, I'll just give him back the Kenwood so he can sell it. Picture below is me right after receiving my Technician ticket on my old Kenwood TS-5700. I had only made a total of 3 contacts then...