Hey — I’m Jesus, callsign K8CES. I’m a relatively new amateur radio operator out of Michigan, and this site is where I document the journey.
I got into ham radio and dove pretty quickly into CW (Morse code) and Parks on the Air. There’s something about getting out to a park, setting up a field antenna, and making contacts across the country or around the world on 5 watts that never gets old.
The Gear
- Radios:
- Yaesu FT-817
- Penntek TR-35
- CFT1
- QRP Labs QMX
- QRP Labs QMX +
- QRP Labs QCX
- LNR Precision MTR3B V4 Currahee Mountain Topper
- FX4-CR by BG2FX
- Xiegu X6200
- Xiegu G90
- Elecraft K1
- Elecraft KH1
- Pebble HF
- (tr)uSDX
- Yaesu FT-891 (Mobile)
- Keys
- K8CES Zippy Paddle
- KM4CFT Iambic Paddle Kit
- KM4CFT KH1 Iambic Paddle Kit
- K6ARK Pico Paddle
- Palm Radio Pico Paddle
- Palm Radio Pico Single
- Palm Radio Mini Paddle
- Modern Morse Nameless V0H Stormtrooper
- N0SA RLP v1
- N0SA SOTA Paddle
- N3ZN ZN-QRP 5/16th’s
- Begali Adventure Paddle with Magnetic Base
- KN4YB SL190RA Bug
- Vibroplex Champion Bug
- Vibroplex Lightning Bug
- Skillman Delux HSK Coffin Bug
- Antennas:
- KM4CFT EFHW (30M/40M Links)
- Packtenna EFHW 20M + 40M Add On Link
- Packtenna EFRW
- Spooltenna ULTRAEFHW-4010
- W5CWT 49:1 EFHW (30M/40M Links)
- Elecraft AX1 + AXE1
- Gabil GRA-HF750T HF Telescopic Antenna
- N6ARA Tiny Gawant
- HamRadioDuo “Just Okay Mini”
- Tufteln EFRW QRP Antenna Long Wire 9:1
- Radioddity HF-009
- CHA SS17
- CHA SS25
- CHA TDL
- HRD LD6 V2 (Mast)
- Explore POTA33 (Mast)
- Power:
- Bioenno Power 12V 3ah LiFePo4
- Bioenno Power 12V 9ah LiFePo4
- TalentCell 12.8V 6ah LiFePo4
- TalentCell 12v 2.6ah Lithium Ion
- Nitecore NB Air Ultra Lightweight and Slim USB-C 5000mAh Power Bank
- KBT 12.6V 5.2ah Lithium Ion
- HRB 18.5V 3600mAh 60C LiPo (For QRP Labs 50W Amplifier)
- Coax:
- ABR Industries RG-316 35ft, 25ft, 15ft FME With BNC and PL-259 Adapters
- Logging:
- Rite in the Rain Notepads
- Field Notes Brand Notepads
- Carrier Wave
- Ham2k PoLo
- World Radio League
- QRZ
- LoTW
What I’m Working On
There’s a few things lined up for me as far as prints go. I plan on making a yet another wire winder variant because why not. Also I plan on making a KH1/KX2 variants of the Zippy. As time allows I dive into these projects.
This Site
Field reports from activations, gear notes, printable designs, and whatever else seems worth writing down. YouTube is for the video side of things.
72, Zeus K8CES