W6IWI, Tucson AZ

We moved from Arvada CO to Tucson AZ in 2021. An archive of the Colorado station is here. This page describes the current station in AZ.




Favorite band, image from the cover of a recent CRHS Journal, an old Schlitz magazine ad, Solar-Terrestrial Data showing conditions for HF and VHF bands and the MUF for Boulder CO, something about FT8, the W6IWI QSL card, view of W6IWI Mobile. The Optimal Working Frequency is about 0.85 times the Maximum Usable Frequency.

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The call letters W6IWI were first used by Kauko Hallikainen in the 1930s (1933 license, 1937 ARRL membership). See the 1934, 1936, 1937, and 1938 Amateur Radio Callbook. The 1930s QSL card was similar to that shown above (I may still have one of the originals somewhere). By 1952, the call had been reassigned to Carson Donaldson in Inglewood CA. He held it through 1977. I acquired the call in 2016. Prior to that, I held the call WA6FDN, and prior to that, WN6FDN. The WA6FDN license was first granted in 1969, with WN6FDN in 1968. WA6FDN shows up in the Summer 1969 Callbook. In December 1969, I took the exam for the First Class Radiotelephone License with Radar Endorsement at the FCC office in San Francisco. That license was later replaced by the FCC with the General Radiotelephone Operator's License. NL7XM offers a great service. He has over 100 years of Radio Amateur Callbooks and will find the first appearance of your callsign in the Callbook. For a reasonable cost, he'll provide certified copies of these pages verifying that the callsign was held by the particular person on this date. This is what he sent me for WN6FDN and WA6FDN.

WN6FDN started with a Heathkit DX-60 transmitter and a National NC-300 receiver running CW on HF. WA6FDN used a Viking Ranger transmitter running AM, CW, and RTTY on HF. RTTY used a Teletype model 15 printer (also see a slow motion video of a model 15 in operationg), and a model 14 typing reperf and transmitter distributor. W6IWI now uses an SEA 245 with a Dentron Clipperton-L amplifier running RTTY, CW and SSB into a Zero Five 30 Foot Flagpole Antenna. VHF and UHF FM are covered with a Baofeng UV-5R and a Wouxun KG-UV-6X. The Wouxun KG-UV-6X normally drives a Diamond X50A vertical antenna at home. Mobile info is here.

HF Station Details

Click in a box in the block diagram for more details.

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W6IWI HF Activity

The table below shows recent contacts logged on qrz.com.

RBN Report

The table below is generated by a PHP script that pulls JSON data from the Reverse Beacon Network, parses it, calculates distance and bearing based on latitude and longitude, then shows data for the last 100 spots. Frequency changes greater than 1 kHz or time changes greater than 1 hour are shown in bold. The Rx links link to the QRZ page for the station. The SNR links link to a graph of signal to noise ratio versus time for that receiver, mode (CW or RTTY), and band (data limited to 100 spots from RBN)

The background color is green if the distance is greater than 3,000 miles. The Relative Distance column has a * for every 200 miles.


RBN Data for W6IWI, lat/long 32.233624, -110.870743 as reported by RBN.

TimeRxFreq (kHz)SNRModeSpeedRx LocationDistance and BearingRelative Distance
0416z 02 NovWE9V 14083.8 34 dB RTTY45 bpsBristol, WI2309 km (1435 miles) at 53.7 degrees*******
0415z 02 NovKH6LC 14083.9 22 dB RTTY45 bpsKeaau, HI4652 km (2891 miles) at 264.3 degrees**************
0415z 02 NovVE7CC 14083.9 25 dB RTTY45 bpsMaple Ridge, BC2120 km (1317 miles) at 336.1 degrees******
0415z 02 NovK9LC 14083.9 25 dB RTTY45 bpsRockford, IL2227 km (1384 miles) at 53.7 degrees******
1820z 01 NovN6TV 14083.9 13 dB RTTY45 bpsSan Jose, CA1141 km (708 miles) at 302.1 degrees***
1820z 01 NovKE3BK 14083.9 22 dB RTTY45 bpsMountain House, CA1149 km (714 miles) at 305.3 degrees***
1820z 01 NovAC0C-1 14083.9 24 dB RTTY45 bpsLouisburg, KS1632 km (1014 miles) at 59.6 degrees*****
1820z 01 NovK6FOD 14083.9 19 dB RTTY45 bpsSouth Pasadena, CA706 km (438 miles) at 289.1 degrees**
1820z 01 NovWE9V 14083.8 13 dB RTTY45 bpsBristol, WI2309 km (1435 miles) at 53.7 degrees*******
1820z 01 NovW6YX 14083.9 24 dB RTTY45 bpsStanford, CA1182 km (734 miles) at 302.2 degrees***
2159z 31 OctAC0C-1 14083.9 30 dB RTTY45 bpsLouisburg, KS1632 km (1014 miles) at 59.6 degrees*****
2159z 31 OctKE3BK 14083.9 21 dB RTTY45 bpsMountain House, CA1149 km (714 miles) at 305.3 degrees***
2159z 31 OctW6YX 14083.9 27 dB RTTY45 bpsStanford, CA1182 km (734 miles) at 302.2 degrees***
2159z 31 OctK6FOD 14083.9 30 dB RTTY45 bpsSouth Pasadena, CA706 km (438 miles) at 289.1 degrees**
2159z 31 OctN6TV 14083.9 19 dB RTTY45 bpsSan Jose, CA1141 km (708 miles) at 302.1 degrees***
2156z 31 OctAC0C-1 21083.9 20 dB RTTY45 bpsLouisburg, KS1632 km (1014 miles) at 59.6 degrees*****
2156z 31 OctK9LC 21083.9 14 dB RTTY45 bpsRockford, IL2227 km (1384 miles) at 53.7 degrees******
2156z 31 OctVE3EID 21083.9 21 dB RTTY45 bpsSprucedale, ON3063 km (1903 miles) at 52.2 degrees*********
2156z 31 OctW6YX 21083.9 31 dB RTTY45 bpsStanford, CA1182 km (734 miles) at 302.2 degrees***
2156z 31 OctKO7SS 21083.9 13 dB RTTY45 bpsMt. Lemmon, AZ23 km (14 miles) at 18.1 degrees
2156z 31 OctVE7CC 21083.9 14 dB RTTY45 bpsMaple Ridge, BC2120 km (1317 miles) at 336.1 degrees******
1908z 31 OctW6YX 14083.9 23 dB RTTY45 bpsStanford, CA1182 km (734 miles) at 302.2 degrees***
1908z 31 OctK6FOD 14083.9 24 dB RTTY45 bpsSouth Pasadena, CA706 km (438 miles) at 289.1 degrees**
1908z 31 OctN6TV 14083.9 21 dB RTTY45 bpsSan Jose, CA1141 km (708 miles) at 302.1 degrees***
1908z 31 OctAC0C-1 14083.9 24 dB RTTY45 bpsLouisburg, KS1632 km (1014 miles) at 59.6 degrees*****
1908z 31 OctKE3BK 14083.9 23 dB RTTY45 bpsMountain House, CA1149 km (714 miles) at 305.3 degrees***
1712z 29 OctK9LC 14083.9 12 dB RTTY45 bpsRockford, IL2227 km (1384 miles) at 53.7 degrees******
1711z 29 OctKE3BK 14083.9 33 dB RTTY45 bpsMountain House, CA1149 km (714 miles) at 305.3 degrees***
1711z 29 OctWE9V 14083.8 18 dB RTTY45 bpsBristol, WI2309 km (1435 miles) at 53.7 degrees*******
1711z 29 OctW6YX 14083.9 40 dB RTTY45 bpsStanford, CA1182 km (734 miles) at 302.2 degrees***
1711z 29 OctAC0C-1 14083.9 36 dB RTTY45 bpsLouisburg, KS1632 km (1014 miles) at 59.6 degrees*****
1711z 29 OctN6TV 14083.9 24 dB RTTY45 bpsSan Jose, CA1141 km (708 miles) at 302.1 degrees***
1711z 29 OctK6FOD 14083.9 37 dB RTTY45 bpsSouth Pasadena, CA706 km (438 miles) at 289.1 degrees**
0341z 29 OctWZ7I 7060.0 23 dB CW13 wpmPipersville, PA3304 km (2053 miles) at 63.8 degrees**********
0340z 29 OctKM3T-2 7060.0 18 dB CW13 wpmAmherst, NH3617 km (2248 miles) at 59.6 degrees***********
1724z 28 OctWE9V 14083.8 16 dB RTTY45 bpsBristol, WI2309 km (1435 miles) at 53.7 degrees*******
1724z 28 OctN6TV 14083.9 22 dB RTTY45 bpsSan Jose, CA1141 km (708 miles) at 302.1 degrees***
1724z 28 OctKE3BK 14083.9 28 dB RTTY45 bpsMountain House, CA1149 km (714 miles) at 305.3 degrees***
1724z 28 OctW6YX 14083.9 34 dB RTTY45 bpsStanford, CA1182 km (734 miles) at 302.2 degrees***
1724z 28 OctK6FOD 14083.9 31 dB RTTY45 bpsSouth Pasadena, CA706 km (438 miles) at 289.1 degrees**
1724z 28 OctAC0C-1 14083.9 32 dB RTTY45 bpsLouisburg, KS1632 km (1014 miles) at 59.6 degrees*****
0312z 28 OctVE7CC 21083.9 19 dB RTTY45 bpsMaple Ridge, BC2120 km (1317 miles) at 336.1 degrees******
0425z 27 OctAC0C-1 14083.9 20 dB RTTY45 bpsLouisburg, KS1632 km (1014 miles) at 59.6 degrees*****
0425z 27 OctKH6LC 14083.9 16 dB RTTY45 bpsKeaau, HI4652 km (2891 miles) at 264.3 degrees**************
0425z 27 OctVE7CC 14083.9 19 dB RTTY45 bpsMaple Ridge, BC2120 km (1317 miles) at 336.1 degrees******
0424z 27 OctWE9V 14083.8 29 dB RTTY45 bpsBristol, WI2309 km (1435 miles) at 53.7 degrees*******
0424z 27 OctK9LC 14083.9 19 dB RTTY45 bpsRockford, IL2227 km (1384 miles) at 53.7 degrees******
1625z 25 OctK9LC 14083.9 15 dB RTTY45 bpsRockford, IL2227 km (1384 miles) at 53.7 degrees******
1624z 25 OctN6TV 14083.9 25 dB RTTY45 bpsSan Jose, CA1141 km (708 miles) at 302.1 degrees***
1624z 25 OctWE9V 14083.8 27 dB RTTY45 bpsBristol, WI2309 km (1435 miles) at 53.7 degrees*******
1624z 25 OctW6YX 14083.9 38 dB RTTY45 bpsStanford, CA1182 km (734 miles) at 302.2 degrees***
1624z 25 OctAC0C-1 14083.9 36 dB RTTY45 bpsLouisburg, KS1632 km (1014 miles) at 59.6 degrees*****
1624z 25 OctKE3BK 14083.9 30 dB RTTY45 bpsMountain House, CA1149 km (714 miles) at 305.3 degrees***
1624z 25 OctK6FOD 14083.9 31 dB RTTY45 bpsSouth Pasadena, CA706 km (438 miles) at 289.1 degrees**
2139z 23 OctAC0C-1 14083.9 39 dB RTTY45 bpsLouisburg, KS1632 km (1014 miles) at 59.6 degrees*****
2139z 23 OctWE9V 14083.8 26 dB RTTY45 bpsBristol, WI2309 km (1435 miles) at 53.7 degrees*******
2139z 23 OctK6FOD 14083.9 33 dB RTTY45 bpsSouth Pasadena, CA706 km (438 miles) at 289.1 degrees**
2139z 23 OctN6TV 14083.9 28 dB RTTY45 bpsSan Jose, CA1141 km (708 miles) at 302.1 degrees***
2139z 23 OctK9LC 14083.9 17 dB RTTY45 bpsRockford, IL2227 km (1384 miles) at 53.7 degrees******
2139z 23 OctKE3BK 14083.9 28 dB RTTY45 bpsMountain House, CA1149 km (714 miles) at 305.3 degrees***
2139z 23 OctWA7LNW 14083.9 32 dB RTTY45 bpsWashington, UT595 km (369 miles) at 337.3 degrees*
2139z 23 OctW6YX 14083.9 33 dB RTTY45 bpsStanford, CA1182 km (734 miles) at 302.2 degrees***
1842z 22 OctW6YX 14083.9