PA1CA — Cees Alberts, radio amateur from the Netherlands. Ham radio, antennas, contesting, portable operation and the software I build for it.https://pa1ca.nl/https://pa1ca.nl/exploring-end-fed-antennas-a-beginners-guide-to-this-magical-wire/https://pa1ca.nl/exploring-end-fed-antennas-a-beginners-guide-to-this-magical-wire/For some years, I have been using an interesting and popular type of antenna: end-fed antennas. These antennas are simple yet incredibly versatile, making…Wed, 26 Apr 2023 21:16:15 GMTHAM Bloghttps://pa1ca.nl/the-exciting-world-of-radio-propagation-in-the-current-solar-cycle-25/https://pa1ca.nl/the-exciting-world-of-radio-propagation-in-the-current-solar-cycle-25/Something that has always captivated the attention of radio amateurs worldwide is radio propagation in the current solar cycle. Solar cycles have a direct…Sun, 16 Apr 2023 22:03:05 GMTHAM BlogTechnologyhttps://pa1ca.nl/chatting-the-old-fashioned-way-nothing-changed/https://pa1ca.nl/chatting-the-old-fashioned-way-nothing-changed/Mon, 02 Aug 2021 17:48:16 GMTHAM Bloghttps://pa1ca.nl/new-versions-of-apps/https://pa1ca.nl/new-versions-of-apps/Lately I haven't been doing a lot of HAM things. Corona and work have been keeping me busy! 🙁 My work is making mobile apps and I did work on some HAM apps I…Thu, 11 Feb 2021 16:31:15 GMTContestingHAM Blogham radio appshttps://pa1ca.nl/i-got-a-new-website-design/https://pa1ca.nl/i-got-a-new-website-design/After not changing much of my website, for about 8 years, I decided to do a major makeover of my site.Sat, 19 Sep 2020 21:09:29 GMTHAM Bloghttps://pa1ca.nl/another-funny-ham-radio-meme/https://pa1ca.nl/another-funny-ham-radio-meme/This one is pretty appropriate at the moment, I'm sorry to say! :(Sun, 05 Jan 2020 00:45:00 GMTHAM Bloghttps://pa1ca.nl/posting-again-something-after-being-away-for-a-while/https://pa1ca.nl/posting-again-something-after-being-away-for-a-while/After being away for a while I am looking forward to posting again more stuff about HAM radio! Although I didn't post much I still did a lot of things with…Sat, 04 Jan 2020 00:27:18 GMTHAM Bloghttps://pa1ca.nl/73-magazine-online-archive/https://pa1ca.nl/73-magazine-online-archive/If you have been into HAM Radio for a bit longer time, you might remember this; “73 Magazine”. It was a United States-based amateur radio magazine that was…Sun, 13 Nov 2016 08:45:44 GMTDigitalHAM Bloghttps://pa1ca.nl/new-version-of-my-dx-cluster-app-for-android/https://pa1ca.nl/new-version-of-my-dx-cluster-app-for-android/I put a new version of my app; Mircules HAM DX Cluster for Android, in the Google play store! After a lot of testing I finally put this version live.Fri, 13 May 2016 11:20:30 GMTapp storeDXClusterham radio appsTechnologyhttps://pa1ca.nl/unboxing-of-the-qyt-kt-8900-mini-mobile-radio/https://pa1ca.nl/unboxing-of-the-qyt-kt-8900-mini-mobile-radio/After searching the smallest VHF/UHF transceiver with still enough power I found one that looks great and has the right specifications.Mon, 18 Jan 2016 11:18:14 GMTHAM Bloghttps://pa1ca.nl/cheap-cheaper-cheapest-handheld/https://pa1ca.nl/cheap-cheaper-cheapest-handheld/Lately I have been listening a lot to the most popular repeater here in the Netherlands (PI3UTR). I need to travel for work and listening to this repeater is…Fri, 18 Dec 2015 15:28:41 GMTHAM BlogTechnologyhttps://pa1ca.nl/from-china-the-sark100-good-bad-or-ugly/https://pa1ca.nl/from-china-the-sark100-good-bad-or-ugly/After waiting for a pretty long time, my new gadget from China finally arrived! It’s a SARK100 antenna analyzer. I wrote about buying one, in February I…Sun, 19 Apr 2015 15:53:15 GMTHAM BlogPopularportable operationsTechnologyhttps://pa1ca.nl/ham-quicklog-goes-to-the-gambia/https://pa1ca.nl/ham-quicklog-goes-to-the-gambia/I found out that my app; Mircules HAM QuickLog was used in the C5DX DXPedition to The Gambia in Africa!Sat, 04 Apr 2015 09:55:08 GMTapp storeapple app storeHAM Blogham radio appsHAMQuickLogiOShttps://pa1ca.nl/operating-in-the-netherlands-for-radio-amateurs-from-canada/https://pa1ca.nl/operating-in-the-netherlands-for-radio-amateurs-from-canada/Radio amateurs from Canada have been asking me the possibilities of operating with a Canadian HAM radio license in The Netherlands.Wed, 25 Feb 2015 11:30:27 GMTHAM Blogoperating practiceportable operationsRuleshttps://pa1ca.nl/its-all-about-antennas/https://pa1ca.nl/its-all-about-antennas/A week or 2 ago I competed in the PACC contest. This is a radio amateur contest where operators from all over the world need to contact Dutch operators to…Mon, 23 Feb 2015 17:19:54 GMTContestingHAM Blogoperating practiceTechnologyhttps://pa1ca.nl/i-ordered-a-chinese-antenna-analyzer/https://pa1ca.nl/i-ordered-a-chinese-antenna-analyzer/I already have a RigExpert analyzer and am very happy with it, so why did I buy another one?! Well, I must say that the price was a big reason to buy it. It's…Sun, 22 Feb 2015 17:35:52 GMTHAM Bloghttps://pa1ca.nl/mircules-dx-cluster-now-also-for-android/https://pa1ca.nl/mircules-dx-cluster-now-also-for-android/A few years ago I made a DX Cluster app for iOS (iPhone and iPad) called Mircules DX Cluster. I'm a freelance software developer and found it interesting to…Sat, 14 Feb 2015 12:41:39 GMTapp storeDXClusterHAM Blogham radio appsradio amateur appshttps://pa1ca.nl/mircules-ham-quicklog-update-for-sota-and-iota/https://pa1ca.nl/mircules-ham-quicklog-update-for-sota-and-iota/Previous week a new version of Mircules HAM QuickLog came out. As most people will know, QuickLog is a logging app for Radio Amateurs voor the iPad. I wrote…Wed, 14 Jan 2015 16:26:17 GMTapp storeapple app storeHAM Blogham radio appsHAMQuickLogiOSportable operationsradio amateur appshttps://pa1ca.nl/its-a-christmas-miracle-antenna/https://pa1ca.nl/its-a-christmas-miracle-antenna/I got myself a Miracle Whip antenna! Although the things I read about it weren't al that positive, I decided I wanted to get one anyway.Wed, 24 Dec 2014 12:54:13 GMTHAM BlogTechnologyhttps://pa1ca.nl/i-got-a-card/https://pa1ca.nl/i-got-a-card/Some time ago I had a contact with the king of Spain and I wrote about this in my blog. Now I got this short contact with him confirmed with a card!Sun, 21 Dec 2014 17:13:26 GMTHAM Bloghttps://pa1ca.nl/look-what-i-got-from-china-a-tcxo/https://pa1ca.nl/look-what-i-got-from-china-a-tcxo/Lately I have discovered online shopping in Chinese shops. Because everything is so very cheap over there, comparing to our prices in the west, it's easy to…Fri, 28 Nov 2014 15:38:45 GMTDigitalHAM BlogTechnologyhttps://pa1ca.nl/ham-logging-on-the-ipad-with-quicklog/https://pa1ca.nl/ham-logging-on-the-ipad-with-quicklog/After a lot of software development and testing I finally put my new app in the Apple app store! The app is called Mircules HAM QuickLog (or just QuickLog)…Mon, 24 Nov 2014 23:31:21 GMTapp storeapple app storeContestingHAM Blogham radio appsHAMQuickLogiOShttps://pa1ca.nl/my-qrp-setup-on-our-trip-to-montreal/https://pa1ca.nl/my-qrp-setup-on-our-trip-to-montreal/Some time ago I wrote 2 small blogs. One about using a CW filter in digital mode and one about doing more with less. It was about a trip I made to Montreal…Sun, 02 Nov 2014 00:09:40 GMTHAM Bloghttps://pa1ca.nl/giving-away-free-ham-radio-software-for-mac-osx/https://pa1ca.nl/giving-away-free-ham-radio-software-for-mac-osx/Some time ago I decided to make an application for showing DX Cluster information on Mac OSx. People that know me a bit better, know that I already made a few…Sat, 01 Nov 2014 16:27:05 GMTDXClusterHAM Blogham radio appsradio amateur appsTechnologyhttps://pa1ca.nl/ft-817nd-vs-ft-857d/https://pa1ca.nl/ft-817nd-vs-ft-857d/As people that read my blog posts might know; I'm always looking for the best portable setup. At the moment the options revolve around using the FT-817nd with…Mon, 13 Oct 2014 12:43:18 GMTHAM Blogportable operationsTechnologyhttps://pa1ca.nl/my-new-website-www-ft817-eu/https://pa1ca.nl/my-new-website-www-ft817-eu/I like the Yaesu FT-817nd so much that I decided to make a separate website for it! For now it is just full of YouTube movies about the FT-817nd and a few of…Sun, 10 Aug 2014 16:35:23 GMTHAM BlogTechnologyhttps://pa1ca.nl/whatever-happened-to-the-yaesu-ft-818/https://pa1ca.nl/whatever-happened-to-the-yaesu-ft-818/A few years ago there was a rumor going around that a new version of the Yaesu ft-817 would come on the market "pretty soon". This new model would be called…Sun, 03 Aug 2014 20:55:34 GMTHAM Blogportable operationsTechnologyhttps://pa1ca.nl/i-got-my-dxcc/https://pa1ca.nl/i-got-my-dxcc/This is an amateur radio award earned by making a distant contact (called DX), with 100 or more geographic entities (“countries”) around the world.Tue, 29 Jul 2014 21:47:08 GMTHAM Bloghttps://pa1ca.nl/i-got-another-one/https://pa1ca.nl/i-got-another-one/I got another one; the Baofeng UV-3r+! On a rainy Sunday afternoon, after browsing a bit on internet I went to this Chinese website that sells HAM radio…Tue, 01 Jul 2014 22:19:25 GMTHAM Blogportable operationsTechnologyhttps://pa1ca.nl/my-talk-with-the-king-of-spain/https://pa1ca.nl/my-talk-with-the-king-of-spain/In my previous post I spoke about the conversation I had on Sunday with the King of Spain. Some people asked me what we talked about and if we had a nice…Mon, 30 Jun 2014 21:17:12 GMTContestingHAM BlogRuleshttps://pa1ca.nl/concurso-el-rey-de-espana-i-talked-to-the-king-of-spain/https://pa1ca.nl/concurso-el-rey-de-espana-i-talked-to-the-king-of-spain/Today I was again in a HAM Radio contest; the Concurso S.M. El Rey de España SSB (the King of Spain contest). I haven't done many contests this year so I…Sun, 29 Jun 2014 21:57:15 GMTHAM Bloghttps://pa1ca.nl/the-forgotten-band-4m/https://pa1ca.nl/the-forgotten-band-4m/One thing I enjoy from having the full license is that I can use all Radio Amateur bands available. I enjoy the fact that every band has its own…Fri, 30 May 2014 13:46:29 GMTHAM BlogRulesTechnologyhttps://pa1ca.nl/a-new-version-of-one-of-my-radio-amateur-ios-apps/https://pa1ca.nl/a-new-version-of-one-of-my-radio-amateur-ios-apps/I decided to do a very necessary upgrade of one of my Radio Amateur apps in the Apple app store. The name of the app is “Mircules DX Cluster“, Mircules being…Tue, 20 May 2014 13:21:34 GMTapp storeTechnologyhttps://pa1ca.nl/using-the-ft-817nd-with-a-dirty-amp-rm-k300p/https://pa1ca.nl/using-the-ft-817nd-with-a-dirty-amp-rm-k300p/Lately I’m trying to improve my portable HAM Radio setup because I want to do some activations for Castles On The Air (COTA) and WorldWide Flora & Fauna (WFF).Wed, 23 Apr 2014 09:30:43 GMTHAM BlogPopularportable operationsTechnologyhttps://pa1ca.nl/how-many-novice-radio-amateurs-are-actually-pirates/https://pa1ca.nl/how-many-novice-radio-amateurs-are-actually-pirates/Today I saw the QRZ page of a Dutch Novice radio amateur. He had a Youtube movie on his page in which he made a QSO with an American operator in which he told…Fri, 18 Apr 2014 20:45:01 GMTHAM Blogoperating practiceRuleshttps://pa1ca.nl/gone-again/https://pa1ca.nl/gone-again/In my last blog entry I wrote about the “code hanger antenna” I put up. It is in fact a MFJ-1795 antenna of course that looks a bit like a coat hanger.Sat, 14 Dec 2013 16:23:54 GMTHAM BlogTechnologyhttps://pa1ca.nl/is-it-a-coat-hanger/https://pa1ca.nl/is-it-a-coat-hanger/I put up a new antenna; the MFJ-1795. It's a nice antenna, for people with limited space. It is 3.5 meters long, the big HF antennas are 7 meters long or…Sun, 03 Nov 2013 22:39:00 GMTHAM BlogTechnologyhttps://pa1ca.nl/see-who-i-talked-to/https://pa1ca.nl/see-who-i-talked-to/One of the biggest HAM radio contests of the year was this weekend; the CQ World Wide DX Contest 2013.Sun, 27 Oct 2013 20:56:59 GMTContestingHAM Bloghttps://pa1ca.nl/doing-more-with-less/https://pa1ca.nl/doing-more-with-less/At home I’m trying to have the highest antenna with the biggest radio and the most power. Whereas while traveling I want the smallest antenna with the…Thu, 12 Sep 2013 18:01:39 GMTDigitalHAM BlogTechnologyhttps://pa1ca.nl/using-a-cw-filter-in-digital-mode/https://pa1ca.nl/using-a-cw-filter-in-digital-mode/I discovered another use for the new CW filter I put in my FT-817; I found out it also works in digital modes! During my stay in Montreal, working as…Wed, 11 Sep 2013 04:45:21 GMTContestingHAM Bloghttps://pa1ca.nl/another-mod-adding-a-cw-filter-to-my-trusty-ft-817/https://pa1ca.nl/another-mod-adding-a-cw-filter-to-my-trusty-ft-817/I decided to add a CW filter to my FT-817. Although I would hardly call it a mod, it still falls under the heading of "doing a modification" I guess, so I…Thu, 05 Sep 2013 03:32:45 GMTHAM Bloghttps://pa1ca.nl/my-first-love/https://pa1ca.nl/my-first-love/I re-found my first love! I was 13 when I met here and spend hours playing with her. Than when I was 16 I lost her again…..Sat, 10 Aug 2013 19:03:41 GMTHAM BlogTechnologyhttps://pa1ca.nl/the-secret-code/https://pa1ca.nl/the-secret-code/After looking at my RTTY contest results of the previous weekend I noticed that a contest talk looks pretty much like a secret code!Thu, 11 Apr 2013 12:50:33 GMTHAM Bloghttps://pa1ca.nl/my-contest-on-youtube/https://pa1ca.nl/my-contest-on-youtube/They show me making some quick contest contacts on my FT-950Thu, 04 Apr 2013 09:42:06 GMTContestingHAM Bloghttps://pa1ca.nl/contest-results-on-google-maps/https://pa1ca.nl/contest-results-on-google-maps/Previous weekend I entered another radio amateur contest. This time I wanted to use a nice new feature of my logging software.Wed, 03 Apr 2013 12:54:10 GMTContestingHAM Bloghttps://pa1ca.nl/i-made-an-iphone-and-ipad-app/https://pa1ca.nl/i-made-an-iphone-and-ipad-app/Some of you might know that, next to being a radio amateur, I’m also a professional programmer. I have my own company and work as a consultant making software…Wed, 13 Feb 2013 09:06:19 GMTHAM BlogTechnologyhttps://pa1ca.nl/im-an-epc-member/https://pa1ca.nl/im-an-epc-member/After I got more into the digital modes I started investigating this a bit more and found out that there is a real digital modes club! It’s a club for people…Tue, 25 Dec 2012 13:18:07 GMTContestingDigitalHAM Bloghttps://pa1ca.nl/another-contest-czech-style/https://pa1ca.nl/another-contest-czech-style/I did another RTTY contest, this time it was organized from the radio amateur organization in the Czech Republic.Sat, 15 Dec 2012 22:26:41 GMTContestingHAM BlogTechnologyhttps://pa1ca.nl/i-got-the-contesting-bug/https://pa1ca.nl/i-got-the-contesting-bug/I just keep learning with this radio amateur hobby and what better way to learn than by doing the things! I have done 6 contests already in the last 6 weeks.Mon, 03 Dec 2012 21:38:41 GMTContestingHAM Bloghttps://pa1ca.nl/my-first-rtty-experience/https://pa1ca.nl/my-first-rtty-experience/I have a lot of first experiences lately. After my first contest, getting my first tube linear I tried another new thing.Sun, 11 Nov 2012 21:10:44 GMTContestingHAM BlogTechnologyhttps://pa1ca.nl/my-new-christmas-tree/https://pa1ca.nl/my-new-christmas-tree/I got my new Christmas tree! Well, not really of course but it comes close. I opened up my new Ameritron Linear just to see what those 4 tubes look like when…Sun, 04 Nov 2012 22:46:40 GMTHAM BlogTechnologyhttps://pa1ca.nl/my-1st-contest-part-2-the-contest/https://pa1ca.nl/my-1st-contest-part-2-the-contest/On the 27th and the 28th of October I worked my first ever radio amateur contest; the CQ World Wide DX contest 2012! On saturday I didn’t have the whole day…Mon, 29 Oct 2012 15:54:35 GMTContestingHAM Bloghttps://pa1ca.nl/all-blown-up/https://pa1ca.nl/all-blown-up/I took my next step in this great Radio Amateur hobby of ours! I blew something up! :-) Recently I bought a Diamond SX-100 power meter to use with the…Sun, 28 Oct 2012 20:07:46 GMTHAM BlogTechnologyhttps://pa1ca.nl/my-1st-contest-cq-world-wide-dx/https://pa1ca.nl/my-1st-contest-cq-world-wide-dx/After buying the linear and optimizing my coax cables (I replaced all the RG58 with Aircell 7) I decided it is time for my first contest! Every Radio Amateur…Fri, 26 Oct 2012 18:05:32 GMTContestingHAM Bloghttps://pa1ca.nl/my-new-addition-to-the-shack-the-ameritron-811hd/https://pa1ca.nl/my-new-addition-to-the-shack-the-ameritron-811hd/After getting my Full License I decided to buy myself a present. With my full license I can use 400 watt of power on most bands. My current transmitter only…Sat, 13 Oct 2012 21:28:00 GMTHAM Bloghttps://pa1ca.nl/homebrew-70cm-quad-antenna/https://pa1ca.nl/homebrew-70cm-quad-antenna/I made another antenna; a 70cm Quad antenna, and it works like a charm! The "bad" thing about quads is that they are full wavelength antenna's, which in HF…Sat, 13 Oct 2012 20:20:54 GMTHAM Bloghttps://pa1ca.nl/my-new-call-sign-pa1ca/https://pa1ca.nl/my-new-call-sign-pa1ca/I got my new call sign! After thinking a lot about it I chose PA1CA. There are a few reasons for this.Tue, 02 Oct 2012 17:23:21 GMTHAM Bloghttps://pa1ca.nl/i-got-my-f-full-license/https://pa1ca.nl/i-got-my-f-full-license/After studying for 2 months I decided to do the exam for the Full Radio Amateur License and I passed it!!!Thu, 13 Sep 2012 20:09:49 GMTHAM Bloghttps://pa1ca.nl/ft-950-wideband-mod/https://pa1ca.nl/ft-950-wideband-mod/After buying my new (secondhand) Yaesu FT-950 base transceiver I knew I again wanted to do the wideband mod. This is the same mod I did for the Yaesu FT-817…Tue, 01 May 2012 19:58:44 GMTHAM BlogPopularhttps://pa1ca.nl/my-new-toy/https://pa1ca.nl/my-new-toy/So after I made my new antenna (described in the previous blogs) I found out that I can hear a lot more stations. With this there also are a lot of stations I…Sat, 21 Apr 2012 22:58:23 GMTHAM Bloghttps://pa1ca.nl/antenna-part-1-5/https://pa1ca.nl/antenna-part-1-5/Just a quick follow up on my previous blog about a U shaped dipole I made and put up in my attic. I decided to make it a “Fan Dipole”. This is a dipole which…Sat, 14 Apr 2012 14:53:50 GMTHAM Bloghttps://pa1ca.nl/antennas-part-1/https://pa1ca.nl/antennas-part-1/The title of this blog is a bit misleading; I’m already way past part 1 of any antenna story I have to tell. Because this is the first time I’m actually…Sat, 31 Mar 2012 09:04:13 GMTHAM Bloghttps://pa1ca.nl/my-first-mod/https://pa1ca.nl/my-first-mod/After buying my new QRP transceiver, the Yaesu FT-817nd, I found out that not all the bands on it are available for transmitting, some are only available for…Wed, 29 Feb 2012 23:43:03 GMTHAM BlogPopularhttps://pa1ca.nl/less-software-development-more-ham-radio/https://pa1ca.nl/less-software-development-more-ham-radio/As some of you might know, I'm a freelance software developer with a big interest in iPhone and iPad development but lately I haven’t been doing a lot of…Wed, 08 Feb 2012 21:27:48 GMTHAM Blog