Welcome to November, everyone! The holiday season is officially upon us! Just like last month on "Bark Publication Day" it's once again raining pigs and chickens here in the Pacific Northwest and I couldn't be happier! (I grew up in Washington and for most of us, rain is an important part of our natural well being!). Once again, thanks for all the great feedback on the October issue (and prior issues) of The Logger's Bark, the newsletter & magazine of W7DK, The Radio Club of Tacoma! You can read about the club at www.W7DK.org and if you're ever in Tacoma, WA on a Saturday, the club holds open house almost every Saturday from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM and all are welcome. Full details at the link. This month it's a good solid issue at 131 pages! And NO ADS! In this month's November 2025 issue of The Logger's Bark magazine: How Hams Got, Then Lost the 11-Meter Band Bigfoot 2025 Special Event Results Meet the Godfather of Top Band: Stew Perry W1BB Archie Collins and the Collins 1909 "RadioTelephone Scam" - the Theranos of its time The WARC Bands - What Are They and How Did We Get Them? Announcing: The QRZ Annual Turkey Day Net! Hope to See You There! ARRL November Sweepstakes: How it all Works One Ham's Journey Through the Contact Cleaning Wars featuring Steve @KW4H Rediscovering 222 MHz with the Kenwood TM-D750A HAMFEST India 2025 - A Great Success! Can a $35 Communications Receiver be Any Good? The ATS-20+ Reviewed The Heathkit "Indian Series" - Where Did it Come From? Sherlock Investigates: Lithium-Ion Battery Charger Failure Telegrapher's Liniment - Patent Medicine ca. 1900 and Who Invented it QST Volume 1 Issue 1 from the W7DK Clubhouse Library The 1970s & 80s 2m Repeater Explosion! @KO7T Updated POTA File Cleaner Software Explained And a whole bunch more - photos, tips, tricks, blurbs, puzzles, all about amateur radio and NEVER any ads! Download the November 2025 issue of The Logger's Bark with the links below: 1. FULL SIZE uncompressed - BEST quality: https://static.qrz.com/w7dk/November2025-QRZ.pdf 2. COMPRESSED for slower connections: https://static.qrz.com/w7dk/November2025-QRZ-compressed.pdf IMPORTANT: Be sure to actually download it to read - if you merely use Preview mode, the external links won't work! Also, to open a link, "Right Click" > "Open in New Tab". The software I use unfortunately doesn't support "targeted links"... unless you right click, you will leave the document. Dave W7UUU Editor/Publisher [image below is static - the links won't work - download the full version with the link above]
The latest edition is good for to have a talk or discussions about this or that. Maybe it will change something. Kenwood did a good job with the new idea of the tribander for the US market. Its like my always prefered FTM-400 instead. Loving these big display with all its infos and possibilities. When for Europe a tribander with 23cm band than 220 Mhz is possibel, it will maybe change my choice. And these transceiver will have a good influence for to discover the lower range of SHF in an easy way. Ham radio needs fresh new ideas which are sorely needed for to inspire. At next the range of 1240 - 1300 Mhz is as underestimaed like the bigger free range of the all mode section in the 70cm band. So many propects, but people do always the same.
Another great addition of The Logger's Bark magazine! (Not even half way done yet) Thanks so much for being put in the "Member Spotlight"! It is a great honor! I had a blast being made Team Captain for the W4S Bigfoot Special Event! (Thanks so much for the accolades)! It was so much fun talking with all of the hunters and making some new friends along the way. I am really looking forward to next year. Sad that there is only one more addition left for Dave W7UUU as the editor of this great magazine but all things as in life come to an end. Hopefully the tradition set forth here will inspire the next editor to continue such pride in publication. Ronnie NZ4X
Its about time Kenwood made the jump to a tri-bander base rig. I have the Kenwood HT TH-F6a handie talkie, a tri-bander which is so versatile, that I have used it as a piece of test equipment besides repeater use. Used it as low power signal source, birdy finding, noise sources and power line interference and as stated, every now and then, repeaters. I also have single bander for 220, an Anytone, UV-588, very rare that it is used it at all.
Loggers Bark, certificate. I don't know how many of the members actually operate HF and if they do, they're not on that much unless they operate CW exclusively. My last CW contact was in the 70's, haven't used it since. Following the suggested search for county, for state, etc. in my log, after 50+ years of operating, found many Washington state contacts, found ZERO for Pierce County. I guess I'm not getting the certificate.
I'm the guy that prints and sends out the certificates.... I've sent out MANY over the years! The Radio Club of Tacoma has many active operators in many states now. I just recently sent two Logger's Certificates to Brazil, two to Japan, to Florida, California, Ohio, Hawaii, West Virginia, and even the "semi-rare DX country" of Nauru in the Pacific Ocean. I earned mine back in 1975 (#399). These days, the club has many operators using FT8 so no it's NOT just CW. Far from it. But you have to be pretty active of course because you're talking about the MAJORITY of club members on the air being centered in Pierce, Kitsap, and King Counties in Washington state. The certificates are printed on ORIGINAL 1957 award paper that was custom ordered that year by the team that created the certificate. They ordered REAMS of the stuff - I still have a least 2 reams left and print out new certificates - local, across the U.S., and DX - every single month and have since 2013 when I took over the role as Logger's Certificate chair (among numerous other roles I have with the club). So get on the air - get active - start working the WAQP Salmon Run event and maybe you CAN get the needed contacts! Just ask Phill C21TS in Nauru - IT CAN BE DONE! Dave W7UUU
Here it is in fact.... from the August Logger's Bark: https://w7dk.org/images/rct_bark/bark_2025_08.pdf Phill C21TS in Nauru (the third smallest country in the world, after Monaco #2 and Vatican City #1). Dave W7UUU
I'm blessed to have contributed to another issue of a truly fine magazine. Dave's departure as editor will be a huge loss. 73 - Steve, KW4H
