ACØPR Homepage

Amateur Radio Station ACØPR

Welcome to my homepage! Above is my current QSL card, taken in Snow Canyon State Park about 10 minutes from my home . This site is related to my amateur radio (ham) activities and interests. I hope you enjoy it and find it useful in some way. I did live in North Dakota for 6 years, a fun place to be a ham. Thanks for stopping by! 73 de Mike.

Field Day 2021 w/ W7CXX
Video from Field Day 2020
My Ham Radio Blog
Link to CEDAR BREAKS NATIONAL MONUMENT (MN16) VIDEO

My base station consists of my main radio, a Yaesu FT-991 with a 43-foot DXE vertical antenna and an autotuner at its base. I have two keys on the desk (though many others elsewhere) which are a Begali Magnetic Classic and a J-38 used in WWII in Japan to contact Korea (there is a Korean coin glued to the knob). I use N3JFP's Amateur Contact Log for my logging program. I have a homebrew key switch to change from the different keys. I also have a fully functioning Heathkit SB-101, mostly to help me learn about tube radios and a Kenwood TS-440 as a backup. I have a Yaesu FT-857D as go-box radio with a N3ZN qrp key (see Homebrew/Photos tabs). Please see the SOTA tab for equipment used on activations.

I generally run 100 watts barefoot unless I'm specifically using a qrp rig made from a kit. I operate almost exclusively on CW, it's just SO enjoyable, after having done a lot of SSB and more digital than I would like (I did spend many months on digital to help those who needed North Dakota on certain modes--but I'm not a fan and no longer try and keep the software up and running--sorry). Contact me at michaelcartmill(at)hotmail.com.

Besides radio, I have my family; I like to travel a lot (and will be using those trips for mini DXpeditions); I hunt, garden and preserve what I grow, am very active in my church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) and teach Spanish as a profession (which leaves weekends and summers for some of my other activities). I'm out of the Army (9 years served), but my time in is a big part of who I am. My wife, Joan, is now KDØSSQ and my Dad is KC7EC, and my brother, Bob, is W7UFC.
Have the need to read something? Here's a write-up of my first year's experience operating.