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.

Search W6IWI:

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.

Your browser does not support the HTML5 canvas tag. ;

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
1822z 06 FebW3RGA 14083.9 10 dB RTTY45 bpsSunbury, PA3176 km (1973 miles) at 62.6 degrees*********
1821z 06 FebK9LC 14083.9 19 dB RTTY45 bpsRockford, IL2227 km (1384 miles) at 53.7 degrees******
1821z 06 FebAC0C-1 14083.9 32 dB RTTY45 bpsLouisburg, KS1632 km (1014 miles) at 59.6 degrees*****
1821z 06 FebK6FOD 14083.9 28 dB RTTY45 bpsSouth Pasadena, CA706 km (438 miles) at 289.1 degrees**
1821z 06 FebW6YX 14083.8 39 dB RTTY45 bpsStanford, CA1182 km (734 miles) at 302.2 degrees***
1821z 06 FebWE9V 14083.8 23 dB RTTY45 bpsBristol, WI2309 km (1435 miles) at 53.7 degrees*******
0357z 05 FebNT6Q 7062.0 21 dB CW16 wpmEscondido, CA585 km (363 miles) at 281.2 degrees*
0355z 05 FebW4KAZ 7062.0 26 dB CW15 wpmCary, NC2969 km (1845 miles) at 73.5 degrees*********
0347z 05 FebK2PO/7 7062.0 32 dB CW14 wpmPortland, OR1795 km (1115 miles) at 327.8 degrees*****
0346z 05 FebN2QT 7062.0 25 dB CW14 wpmForest, VA2924 km (1817 miles) at 69.9 degrees*********
0346z 05 FebKV4TT 7062.0 25 dB CW14 wpmNorth Myrtle Beach, SC2991 km (1858 miles) at 77.8 degrees*********
0346z 05 FebK5EM 7062.0 21 dB CW14 wpmSeattle, WA1969 km (1224 miles) at 334 degrees******
0346z 05 FebKM3T-5 7062.0 19 dB CW14 wpmAmherst, NH3617 km (2248 miles) at 59.6 degrees***********
0346z 05 FebN6TV 7062.0 32 dB CW14 wpmSan Jose, CA1141 km (708 miles) at 302.1 degrees***
0346z 05 FebCT1EYQ 7062.0 14 dB CW14 wpmVila Nova Santo Andre, Portugal8792 km (5463 miles) at 51.6 degrees***************************
0346z 05 FebW6YX 7062.0 37 dB CW14 wpmStanford, CA1182 km (734 miles) at 302.2 degrees***
0346z 05 FebW4KAZ 7062.0 31 dB CW14 wpmCary, NC2969 km (1845 miles) at 73.5 degrees*********
0344z 05 FebKM3T-3 7062.0 10 dB CW15 wpmAmherst, NH3617 km (2248 miles) at 59.6 degrees***********
2004z 04 FebWE9V 14083.8 20 dB RTTY45 bpsBristol, WI2309 km (1435 miles) at 53.7 degrees*******
2004z 04 FebW6YX 14083.9 39 dB RTTY45 bpsStanford, CA1182 km (734 miles) at 302.2 degrees***
2004z 04 FebAC0C-1 14083.9 34 dB RTTY45 bpsLouisburg, KS1632 km (1014 miles) at 59.6 degrees*****
2004z 04 FebK6FOD 14083.9 32 dB RTTY45 bpsSouth Pasadena, CA706 km (438 miles) at 289.1 degrees**
2259z 03 FebWZ7I 14083.8 12 dB RTTY45 bpsPipersville, PA3304 km (2053 miles) at 63.8 degrees**********
2259z 03 FebWV4P 14083.9 17 dB RTTY45 bpsSavannah, TN2109 km (1310 miles) at 74.6 degrees******
2258z 03 FebW3RGA 14083.9 20 dB RTTY45 bpsSunbury, PA3176 km (1973 miles) at 62.6 degrees*********
2258z 03 FebK9LC 14083.9 21 dB RTTY45 bpsRockford, IL2227 km (1384 miles) at 53.7 degrees******
2258z 03 FebAC0C-1 14083.9 38 dB RTTY45 bpsLouisburg, KS1632 km (1014 miles) at 59.6 degrees*****
2258z 03 FebK6FOD 14083.9 40 dB RTTY45 bpsSouth Pasadena, CA706 km (438 miles) at 289.1 degrees**
2257z 03 FebWE9V 14083.8 24 dB RTTY45 bpsBristol, WI2309 km (1435 miles) at 53.7 degrees*******
2257z 03 FebW6YX 14083.9 39 dB RTTY45 bpsStanford, CA1182 km (734 miles) at 302.2 degrees***
2201z 31 JanWV4P 14083.9 16 dB RTTY45 bpsSavannah, TN2109 km (1310 miles) at 74.6 degrees******
2201z 31 JanWZ7I 14083.8 23 dB RTTY45 bpsPipersville, PA3304 km (2053 miles) at 63.8 degrees**********
2201z 31 JanAC0C-1 14083.9 32 dB RTTY45 bpsLouisburg, KS1632 km (1014 miles) at 59.6 degrees*****
2201z 31 JanW3RGA 14083.9 17 dB RTTY45 bpsSunbury, PA3176 km (1973 miles) at 62.6 degrees*********
2201z 31 JanKE3BK 14083.9 31 dB RTTY45 bpsMountain House, CA1149 km (714 miles) at 305.3 degrees***
2201z 31 JanK9LC 14083.9 17 dB RTTY45 bpsRockford, IL2227 km (1384 miles) at 53.7 degrees******
2201z 31 JanWE9V 14083.8 30 dB RTTY45 bpsBristol, WI2309 km (1435 miles) at 53.7 degrees*******
2201z 31 JanW6YX 14083.8 41 dB RTTY45 bpsStanford, CA1182 km (734 miles) at 302.2 degrees***
1824z 31 JanWZ7I 14083.8 12 dB RTTY45 bpsPipersville, PA3304 km (2053 miles) at 63.8 degrees**********
1824z 31 JanAC0C-1 14083.9 35 dB RTTY45 bpsLouisburg, KS1632 km (1014 miles) at 59.6 degrees*****
1824z 31 JanW6YX 14083.8 41 dB RTTY45 bpsStanford, CA1182 km (734 miles) at 302.2 degrees***
1824z 31 JanWE9V 14083.8 24 dB RTTY45 bpsBristol, WI2309 km (1435 miles) at 53.7 degrees*******
1824z 31 JanK9LC 14083.9 25 dB RTTY45 bpsRockford, IL2227 km (1384 miles) at 53.7 degrees******
1824z 31 JanK6FOD 14083.9 34 dB RTTY45 bpsSouth Pasadena, CA706 km (438 miles) at 289.1 degrees**
1824z 31 JanKE3BK 14083.9 37 dB RTTY45 bpsMountain House, CA1149 km (714 miles) at 305.3 degrees***
2131z 30 JanWV4P 14083.9 14 dB RTTY45 bpsSavannah, TN2109 km (1310 miles) at 74.6 degrees******
2131z 30 JanWE9V 14083.8 25 dB RTTY45 bpsBristol, WI2309 km (1435 miles) at 53.7 degrees*******
2131z 30 JanKE3BK 14083.9 27 dB RTTY45 bpsMountain House, CA1149 km (714 miles) at 305.3 degrees***
2131z 30 JanW6YX 14083.9 38 dB RTTY45 bpsStanford, CA1182 km (734 miles) at 302.2 degrees***
2131z 30 JanK6FOD 14083.9 29 dB RTTY45 bpsSouth Pasadena, CA706 km (438 miles) at 289.1 degrees**
2131z 30 JanAC0C-1 14083.9 35 dB RTTY45 bpsLouisburg, KS1632 km (1014 miles) at 59.6 degrees*****
2000z 30 JanWE9V 14083.8 25 dB RTTY45 bpsBristol, WI2309 km (1435 miles) at 53.7 degrees*******
2000z 30 JanAC0C-1 14083.9 42 dB RTTY45 bpsLouisburg, KS1632 km (1014 miles) at 59.6 degrees*****
2000z 30 JanW6YX 14083.8 38 dB RTTY45 bpsStanford, CA1182 km (734 miles) at 302.2 degrees***
1959z 30 JanKE3BK 14083.9 31 dB RTTY45 bpsMountain House, CA1149 km (714 miles) at 305.3 degrees***
1959z 30 JanK6FOD 14083.9 25 dB RTTY45 bpsSouth Pasadena, CA706 km (438 miles) at 289.1 degrees**
1722z 30 JanW6YX 14083.8 46 dB RTTY45 bpsStanford, CA1182 km (734 miles) at 302.2 degrees***
1721z 30 JanAC0C-1 14083.9 39 dB RTTY45 bpsLouisburg, KS1632 km (1014 miles) at 59.6 degrees*****
1721z 30 JanK6FOD 14083.9 32 dB RTTY45 bpsSouth Pasadena, CA706 km (438 miles) at 289.1 degrees**
2310z 28 JanW3RGA 14083.8 25 dB RTTY45 bpsSunbury, PA3176 km (1973 miles) at 62.6 degrees*********
2310z 28 JanWZ7I 14083.8 17 dB RTTY45 bpsPipersville, PA3304 km (2053 miles) at 63.8 degrees**********
2310z 28 JanK9LC 14083.9 23 dB RTTY45 bpsRockford, IL2227 km (1384 miles) at 53.7 degrees******
2310z 28 JanAC0C-1 14083.9 37 dB RTTY45 bpsLouisburg, KS1632 km (1014 miles) at 59.6 degrees*****
2310z 28 Jan