Welcome to my amateur radio website!
Below is a rough outline of my current radio-related interests.
2m Simplex - These days, I am less active on 2m than I'd prefer to be... but I try to hop on when I can and answer any stations calling CQ. Occasionally, I enjoy hiking NorCal mountains with a hefty LiPO4 & mobile rig, shouting affably into the RF void 🙂
My current 2m simplex distance record is 106 miles— achieved when my friend and I stood on his truck's roof and called out CQ with a 5 Watt HT + 5/8 λ antenna. Miraculously, we were able to chat with a station in Fremont from our location in the Sierra Foothills, despite the fairly poor signal quality.
QSL Cards - Receiving these little cards is almost my favorite aspect of ham radio. I am trying to collect as many as possible; however, as of late 2025, my QSL wall collage is still embarrassingly sparse 😕 — and sadly, my HF endeavors have yet to yield any intercontinental cards. I suppose the postage ain't cheap.
(Note: If you received my QSL card and appreciate the design, please reach out! I will gladly generate one for your callsign and preferred color. I would be thrilled to see more people send physical cards— but sometimes settling on a respectable design can be the greatest hurdle. After you receive a generated SVG from me, have your local Staples print a stack of them!)
At some point, I will upload a photo of my ever-expanding QSL collection 😄
Net44 Routing - I am currently building out a multi-hop relay network for low-power sensors. For the moment, my allocated AMPR prefix is being originated from HE's FMT2 facility via eBGP. (Please reach out if you are interested in peering! We can connect over a common IX fabric or split the cost of a new PNI.)
In the future, I look forward to designing some long-haul RF links so I can peer directly with the greater AMPR network (no Internet required!)
About a year ago, I went through a lengthy APRS phase but haven't really touched it since then. However, after finally acquiring a prefix, I am regaining some interest — and want to explore some use cases that integrate AMPRNet with classic APRS packet radio.
notryan.com
ryan@ae6n.com
Last Updated: 2025-12-22