I’m a radio amateur from the Netherlands. The radio bug bit me as a boy, chasing voices on CB. Life got in the way for a couple of decades, until a friend dragged me back into the hobby in my late thirties. Once it had me, it didn’t let go: I passed the Novice exam in 2011, got my licence early 2012, and nine months later passed the Full (F) licence exam and became PA1CA.
Since then I’ve worked my first contest (CQ WW DX 2012, and caught the contesting bug), earned my DXCC on multiple bands, blown up a power meter, put up more antennas than my XYL would like, and once even had a QSO with the King of Spain. I like portable and QRP with the trusty FT-817 and KX3, and at home the Ameritron AL-811HD is back in the shack. My long-running mission: the “perfect” compromise antenna, and getting better at CW.
By day I’m a software developer, so I build the ham radio apps I want to use myself: HAM QuickLog (iPhone, iPad, Android and Mac), DX Cluster and Ham Distance. You’ll find them all on My Software.
Daily ham news: radioamateur.today
Videos: youtube.com/@pa1ca-nl
Find me on: QRZ.com and HamQTH
73 de PA1CA