Icom IC-7300 Drake R-4B - L-4B - TH3 Mk4 @ 50ft / 15m
The PC display is the RM Noise app. It displays & controls the AI processed audio from the 7300, the R-4B and any WebSDR from "live" audio back to the preceding 275 seconds of HF audio, both CW and SSB with all noise, QRN / QRM removed.
This AI app will forever revolutionize amateur HF operation.
It already has for me since February 2024 to date.
I explain my use of RM Noise in more detail further down this page.
Unless I splurge on an Icom IC-7610, this is likely to be my final setup.
I think I will try the Icom IC-7300 Mk2 when it becomes available.
Embedded Files
The view from the deck of my former home in Pt. Roberts, WA USA
looking north towards Canada.
The tower on the bottom right side marks the USA Canada border.
Greater Vancouver, Canada, VE7 / VA7 is in the far background.
I lived in and operated from Point Roberts, WA as G4DBO/W7 in the mid 90's.
The body of water, Boundary Bay BC & the Strait of Georgia,
forms part of Puget Sound, WA, USA
The trees in the foreground are in BC Canada.
This is the 49th parallel, the border between Canada & the USA east almost to Lake Superior.
See the maps at the very end of this web page.
My primary QTH (VE7CY in Coquitlam, BC) can be seen in the picture top right hand side north of the international border marker tower on the north (Canadian) side of Boundary Bay just below the snow capped mountains of Greater Vancouver BC Canada.
Background music?
Turn up your sound.
Press ll twice.
Canada
is NOT for sale!
Never! Never! Never!
Not just NO but
HELL NO!
Elbows up Canada!
Welcome to
Ray's
Page.
This website is a single page.
The page is long.
It started out short.
It got longer.
Its a little unusual.
It covers my life from age 14 thru 75,
both business & personal, where my
Amateur Radio contacts were always front & center.
_______________
Click on the QRZ logo above or either of the first 2 callsigns below to return to my QRZ page.
___________________
2025 @ age 75.
56 years on the air.
1969 @ age 19.
ZS6YK - Licensed 1969
1964 @ age 14
John Orr
Technical High School
in Hennie Pelser's
Radio - Electronics Workshop.
Up the stairs,
second door on the right.
Empire Road
Johannesburg
South Africa.
1964 - 1968
In the 60 years since I was there, John Orr greatly expanded it's curriculum & eventually dropped the "High School" name to better describe it's focus. The spelling however, still bothers me!
I arrived in Jan 1950,
Brighton, England.
Long before I learned CW.
My current and final station.
Winter!! TH-3 MK4 @ 50ft. 70ft Fir tree behind which supports my 132' EFHW @ 50ft & 40/80 inverted V @ 60ft, is on my property line.
My shack is on the upper floor so coax & rotor cables come off the tower about 16ft from the ground.
The wire underneath the yagi is the 132' EFHW, 10ft below, supported by the Fir tree on my property line.
2 x RG-213 + rotor cable wrapped with 1/8" aircraft steel rope for support & attached at both ends.
I was first licensed a few days after the 1st moon landing in July 1969.
40m & 80m Fan Inverted "V" BN86 current balun with apex at 60ft attached to a 70 ft Fir tree on my property line.
"Helloooooo Radioooo"
1kW - From my L-4B.
65watts drive power.
More than enough!
Peak reading mod.
That beautiful glow from a pair of 3-500's
Drake L-4B - fully refurbished courtesy Peter VE7PS in 2023 with Harbach PSU, bias, soft start, soft key, parasitic chokes, grids grounded, RCA PTT & new, matched pair 3-500ZG from Penta Labs.
Grid current, loading control on the L-4B for linearity (trapezoidal) + 2-tone test & modulation. All visible simultaneously - I'm happy!
Here is a small, self-powered device that reads voltage, current, power etc connected to my
Drake L-4B amplifier.
Simple external hookup.
Not bad for $25 on Amazon!
Before
After
Before
After
After acquiring an "as new" 50+ year old Drake R-4B serial # in the 15,000 range, in mint condition in early 2025 from Robert, K7CY, I added a rear panel mounted BNC antenna connector in the spare hole next to the RCA antenna connector on the rear panel and added a fixed, line level AF feed across the AF volume control to feed RM Noise, AI noise elimination explained later on this page.
This allows me to listen to AI processed audio from the R-4B or the 7300 at the flip of a switch.
I replaced the two panel lamps with 2 "magic" LED's and "viola!"
All electrolytic caps had already been replaced.
This newly acquired R-4B is as mint & pristine as the R-4B in a "factory sealed" box that I opened way back in 1972, 53 years ago.
See below - my brand new Drake 4 line way back when I was 22.
My brand new Drake R-4B + T-4XB twins way back in 1972.
The Collins KWM-2A was also front & center.
The Johnson Messenger, top right had a single xtal in the 10m band used exclusively to chat with a local buddy while chasing DX etc
I find the QRZ bio and picture pages quite frustrating to navigate, edit and lay out text & pictures.
Since I am retired and no longer use my domain name for business, I decided to use it with a link on my QRZ page.
This way, additions and changes are reflected under all of my QRZ listed callsigns simultaneously.
Listed callsigns - VE7CY - VE8RAY - ZS6YK - G4DBO
Much easier for me to make changes or updates.
My Amateur Radio Story.
My current & very likely my final station is an Icom IC-7300, Drake L-4B Amplifier, HyGain TH-3 Mk4 BN-4000 @ 50ft / 15m.
Why did I limit the tower height to 15m / 50 ft?
Simple. Canadian amateur radio "licenses" (aka Certificate of Proficiency in Amateur Radio ) are issued by the Federal Govt of Canada. There is no annual license fee.
The federal regulations with respect to amateur radio antennas state that antennas under 15m / 50ft are exempt from any public input (neighbors) or land use authority (city hall, local government) & many Canadian amateur operators choose this route.
The L-4B recently received some major surgery including the Harbach PSU PCB, Soft Start, Soft Key, Bias board, grids grounded, new parasitic chokes, RCA in place of the 2 pin PTT line and a brand new matched pair of 3-500-ZG finals.
An extraction fan on top of the L-4B PSU and dual extraction fans on top of the 3-500ZG finals. All 3 fans through a small Variac that keeps the speed low and there is no background noise.
I recently picked up a brand new, matched pair of NOS Eimac 3-500-Z - not easy to find & hopefully I will never need them!
Both 50k heat generating resistors in the L-4PS previously used for the bias have been disconnected.
All L-4B mods done courtesy of Peter Shilton VE7PS. Thank you Peter!
Fan Dipole (inverted V - BN-86) for 80m / 40m with the apex at 60ft, 132ft EFHW at 40ft.
All wire antennas are 12 gauge stranded, insulated.
Amphenol RG-213 used throughout including this web page.
I have 2 x Drake MN-2000 matching networks wired in series.
YES 2, but of course I only use one at a time - when one is in MATCH, the other is in DIRECT.
One MN-2000 is tuned on 20m and the other on 10m or any 2 other HF bands.
This allows me to either change bands fast or check other antennas to compare performance.
Kenwood SM-220 Station Monitor for trapezoidal display of linearity.
Heathkit SB-610 Station Monitor for 2-tone and regular modulation monitoring.
I like to see both trapezoidal as well as my modulated output simultaneously.
This allows me to keep the loading control on the L-4B spot on for both grid current and linearity.
Two station monitors perhaps sounds anal but it makes me happy.
VibroPlex CW paddle - the same one I have used since 1969.
Yes, I know that all analog TV broadcasting has long since moved far away from the VHF spectrum but my 100 watt and 1kW Drake low pass filters are still in use today.
ATSC TV was definitely the way to go but old habits die hard!
These are the same 2 Drake low pass filters that were in every station I have built since 1969.
Single point grounding.
I was recently lucky enough to acquire a Drake R-4B in pristine, factory mint condition as well as an MS-4 speaker.
Serial # in the 15,000 range.
Not only that but get this. The R-4B seller was Robert, K7CY in Anacortes, WA.
My call is VE7CY - go figure!
Needless to say that I jumped into my car and drove the 300+km (Canada - USA - Canada) round trip to pick it up.
For the first time that I can remember, I accepted the asking price without any thought of making a counter offer on a deal.
I arrived back at the Canadian border, declared the R-4B and was told to "have a good day sir"
That was 3 weeks before the 25% tariff on US products was introduced.
I should have bought a lottery ticket!
How happy am I?
Well, I am so happy that I would not sell this R-4B even for 10 x what I paid for it.......
Or, as Charlton Heston once said.... "From my cold, dead hands!"
I have added the R-4B as a second receiver to my Icom IC-7300.
-----------------------------
FOC 1210 back in 1972 - 1976 as ZS6YK - 90% CW 10% SSB.
-----------------------------
Don't be fooled by the D-104 microphone.
The microphone is actually the stock Icom HM-219 hand microphone BUT I built it into a stripped down Astatic D-104.
Only the PTT switch and the empty D-104 shell was used for the transplant.
The rest of the D-104 is in fact the HM-219 PCB with its Heil electret mic element.
The great audio reports made me keep and use the stock microphone but inside the D-104 shell.
I dislike hand-held microphones - I prefer a D-104 and a foot switch.
VOX? - never!!!
See complete D-104 mods below later.
Pictures of some of my previous stations since 1969 follow.
I do not own or operate any TX equipment above 30Mhz.
To quote LBJ back in 1967, "I will not seek, nor will I accept" any RF transmitting equipment above 30Mhz.
Been there, done that back in the 20th century, ain't going back there!
I am QRV on EchoLink as VE7CY on my iPhone.
1969 - 1995 ZS6YK Johannesburg, South Africa. Left SA in 1977 & relinquished the license in 1995 after visiting SA on summer vacation, several times between 1977 and 2003.
1977 - 1983 VE2EWO Montreal, Canada.
1994 - 1998 G4DBO/W7 Point Roberts, WA. USA
I lived in & operated from Point Roberts, WA 98281, a few hundred feet south of the Canada USA border in Washington State from 1994 to 1998.
I often worked local VE7 stations from W7 on my dummy load - that is how close we were.
1998 to 2022 - QRT - Life happened!
1983 to present VE7CY Vancouver, BC, Canada.
2024 > VE8RAY Sailing on The Great Slave Lake, Northwest Territories, Canada.
---------------------------
Back in 1969, at the age of 19, I started out with a Hallicrafters SX-101A and HT-32B with a homebrew dual 813 linear. I then went on to add a National NCX-5, Sideband Engineers SBE-34, Drake R-4B, T-4XB, SB-200, Collins KWM-1, KWM-2A, Collins S Line, 30L-1, 75A-4, Kenwood TS-950SDX & a TL-922.
All of that equipment has long since gone to new homes.
I am currently running an ICOM IC-7300, a fully restored & upgraded Drake L-4B, HyGain TH3 Mk4 at 50ft, fan dipole for 40 and 80 at 60ft and a 132ft EFHW at 40ft.
I will hopefully add a fan dipole for 17m and 12m at some point.
I have been pondering an Icom IC-7610 for the past year but the 7300 does what I need especially when coupled with AI, but more on that largely unknown revolution in HF band noise elimination later down the page.
I love CW and was invited into FOC in 1972 as ZS6YK at the age of 22.
FOC membership is by invitation only, sponsored by current members from around the world.
I won a few single band CQ WW contests from ZS6YK zone 38 in the early & mid 70's - I no longer have any interest in contesting.
Antennas included Moseley TA-33, HyGain TH3 Mk4, and many wire antennas.
I was CW mobile with the SBE-34 and a Hustler antenna in my Volvo 122S manual shift with the paddle strapped to my right leg in a right hand drive automobile, driving on the left hand side of the road in ZS / ZE / CR7 in 1972........ "Oh, did I mention that this 1,500km (932mile) CW mobile trip was on my 1st honeymoon?"
My SBE-34 was installed in the front passenger knee area before I got married and it remained there.
When I left the gas (petrol) station, I had to remember to check the back seat to make sure that my then new wife was actually in the car?
Yes, because after one particular gas fill-up, I took off forgetting that my new wife was still in the washroom!!
That was 53 years ago on honeymoon en route from ZS6 via ZE to visit Leo da Costa, CR7IK in Beira, Mozambique, Portuguese East Africa.
---------------------------
I was first licensed (Advanced) in 1969 while in the Signal Corps of the ZS military.
I was 19 years old and about to start my career in the personal radio communications business.
I initially retired in 2010 at age 60 but I went back to college to get a diploma as a Canadian Immigration Consulting Agent which I practiced for 5 years until 2015 when I really retired.
This coming year, 2025, at age 75, I will have been licensed for 56 years.
Recently (summer 2024) I was lucky enough to snag the additional callsign VE8RAY for when I go sailing on the Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories. Its a 2+ hour flight from Vancouver.
No, that is not a typo, its VE8 - Canada, Northwest Territories.
Too far away to drive but a mere 2,350km flight from Vancouver to enjoy nature at its best.
Yellowknife is 62.45° N and 114.37° W and a mere 400km from the Arctic Circle!
My primary QTH (VE7CY) is just 30km (a 20 minute drive) north of the Canada / USA border at Blaine, WA State @ 49° N and 123° W.
My primary QTH is 2,350km to the south, south west of Yellowknife NWT near Vancouver, BC.
73
Ray
VE7CY - VE8RAY
Friends from 60+ years ago, now, sadly, all SK.
My closest & dearest friends from my early ham years in ZS6 land circa 1965 - 1977.
I was 20 & they ranged from 45 to 70 years old making them all 100+ years old now.
Sadly, they are all now SK.
In Jan 2025, I am now 75. Sadly their callsigns have reassigned to others.
From left to right.
Mike Sherman ZS6IW
who taught me CW
when I was 16 & still in high school
- 1966 / 67.
Mike was my 1st Elmer.
Harry Metz ZS6AMZ
Issy Silberman ZS6QC
Pat Silberman ZS6VC
Dan Mahony ZS6OS FOC 926
Ray Primack ZS6YK FOC 1210
I was 75 in January 2025
Ron Payne ZS6KS
Lou Grusd ZS6IR
(not in picture)
I am the only one still alive.
😇💔👍🙏🌹🇿🇦
"Thanks for all of the wonderful memories"
"RIP my dear friends."
"73 and 88"
Mike Sherman ZS6IW 1971 SK RIP.
My CW Elmer.
My 2nd Elmer back in 1968
Dave Kramer ZS6JF SK RIP
I named my only son,
now 50 years old, after Dave.
"Thanks for all of the wonderful memories"
"RIP my dear friend."
"73"
Ron Payne ZS6KS SK.
He was 79 in 2002 when I last saw him.
"RIP my dear friend"
Nils Eriksson, VE7CYC, SK.
My long time very close friend and business partner.
"RIP my dear friend"
Ted Cook, ZS6BT SK
My daily CW buddy.
He was 95 in 2002 when I last saw him.
He could still answer my questions at 25wpm!
"RIP my dear friend"
FOC membership is earned only on the recommendation of other members.
The original digital mode!
First used May 24th 1844 by Samuel Morse
from Washington DC to Baltimore MD.
Morse & Alfred Vail invented it in 1836.
In 2024 that would have been 188 years ago!
Extract from FOC Membership List 1976.
After I left ZS in 1977 & moved to VE, I inadvertently allowed my membership to lapse.
Hopefully I will earn that honor again in the future.
ZS6YK QSL manager 1972.
Tom WB2JYM FOC 1177
at age 21
now K3TW in Lecanto, FL at age 74
K3TW after 32 years at the US State Dept.
Clearly Tom, K3TW has a chronic shortage of antennas.
At Signal Hill, St Johns, Newfoundland, Canada, on December 12, 1901, Guglielmo Marconi and his assistant, George Kemp, confirmed the reception of the first transatlantic radio signals.
With a telephone receiver and a wire antenna kept aloft by a kite, they heard Morse code for the letter "S" transmitted from Poldhu, Cornwall, England.
In 2024 that was 123 years ago!
Marconi was the first "amateur" radio operator.
Before that experiment, Marconi adapted Heinrich Rudolf Hertz's theory that radio waves existed and constructed a communication system in the 1890s.
Amateurs took to the airwaves in the early 1900s and the first “wireless” club was formed at Columbia University in 1908.
The very first
"amateur radio operator"
In 1901 - 123 years ago
68 years before I was first licensed.
How ham radio shaped my entire life, both business & personal.
Front row, 2nd from left.
1 Base Signal Workshop
SADF - 1969
Midway through my 12 months as a member of the SADF Signal Corps, 1 Base Signal Workshop just south of Pretoria, SA, I wrote my RAE, did my 12wpm CW test & was assigned the callsign ZS6YK @ age 19.
In January 2025, I will be 75 years old.
"I remember it as if it were yesterday."
---------------------------
Amateur radio contacts became very instrumental in my life from my time in the SADF Signal Corps in 1969 at age 19. I immigrated to SA from the UK in 1956. As a British citizen I was not subject to the SA draft (national military service) but I volunteered to serve subject to being posted to the SADF Signal Corps for the full 12 months of national service as opposed to 9 months of continuous service and camps for 2 weeks annually for 10 years.
My CO was ZS6VW & midway through my voluntary 12 months as a member of the SADF Signal Corps, I received my first amateur radio license.
After 4 years at the John Orr Technical High School & 12 months in the SADF Signal Corps, I successfully completed an apprenticeship as a radio technician by early 1971.
I bought a 50% share in TV Audio Visual Service Centre and partnered with Don Rembach, now sadly SK.
TV finally came to South Africa in the mid 70's & it was color TV from day 1.
We had a Blaupunkt Auto Radio, Telefunken TV & JVC TV factory authorized repair depot.
I learned a lot from Don.
Business was very good but the political climate was rapidly changing for the worse.
Don Rembach RIP
In mid 1971 I became a reservist in the SAP.
From 1971 to early 1977, I had a "ringside seat" to many of the riots and social unrest in the Johannesburg area, the largest city in SA with a population in 1975 of just under 2 million people.
Today, in 2025 it has grown to over 6 million mostly fueled by illegal immigration from Africa and Asia.
The total population of SA in the mid 70's was almost 27 million.
The total population today in 2025 has grown to over 62 million.
The SA riots of early 1976 were the last straw and after almost 21 years in SA, sadly, with a wife and 2 very young children, at the age of 27, it was time to leave South Africa.
I had grown tired of constantly having to carry my 9mm automatic with 12 in the clip and one in the chamber.
I bought the Browning brand new in 1970 and sold it in 1977 for 8 times what I originally paid for it 7 years earlier.
A condition of the sale was that the new owner would take possession of the weapon from me at the airport just before I went through passport exit control on my way out of SA.
Unlike Canada and the USA where you leave either country by simply arriving in the other country at a port of entry, in SA you have to go through passport control in order to exit the country.
As an "amper tweetaalige rooinek" it was time to say . . . .
"Tot siens Suid Afrika, baie dankie en alles van die beste"
_________________
In 1973, I had a chance 20m short path QSO with Murray Epstein, VE2AUU, a pioneer in & the father of the automatic radio paging & voicemail industry in Canada.
After several follow-up QSOs, Murray offered me a management position in his organization based in Montreal.
Murray sponsored my immigration (XYL and 2 kids) to Canada in mid 1977 and so began my introduction to the personal communications business in Canada & the USA.
I sold my half of the business in SA back to Don Rembach in early 1977 & immigrated to Canada in mid 1977.
In 1981, Don Rembach sold the business and with his wife Ursula and 3 sons, Allan, Joel and Michael, immigrated to Australia.
Sadly, Don, his 2 sons, Allan and Joel are now SK RIP.
Murray Epstein VE2AUU
Founder & President Scotcomm Radio Inc & ScotPage Inc
The letter that changed the direction of my life.
I managed Scotcomm Radio from mid 1977 until mid 1979.
Scotcomm Radio was the exclusive Canadian distributer of the NEC line of radio pagers to radio paging operators across Canada including sister company, ScotPage Inc which was co-located with Scotcomm.
Apart from the NEC pager line, Scotcomm also carried VHF / UHF mobile radio and a small live voice, low subscriber capacity, automatic paging system from CTI in the USA.
Two of my technicians at Scotcomm, Nils and Shlomo, VE7CYC and VE7SLO prepared and serviced the CTI terminals, made in the USA, that Scotcomm sold and serviced in Canada.
One day, the 3 of us were at lunch when Nils revealed that he had ideas for a revolutionary "state of the art" high capacity, automatic radio paging and voicemail systems resulting from his frustration with the CTI paging equipment.
Long story short, I approached Murray with the idea but for some unknown reason, he showed little interest.
Faced with that response, the 3 of us resigned and started our own business in the basement of my home about 1km away from Scotcomm.
ScotPage Inc was owned by Murray Epstein, VE2AUU & managed by Claude Everton VE2YI
What followed was a 38 year career in the automatic radio paging & RF communications industry.
We parted ways with Murray in mid 1979. Then, with new partners, VE7CYC & VE7SLO (from SM and 4X4) both of whom also worked at Scotcomm Radio, we started a new company, ECI Electronics Inc, initially in the basement of my home in Montreal, (Laval) involved in the design, manufacturing, marketing & installation of core radio paging & voicemail equipment used by many of the largest radio common carriers in Canada to service their paging clients.
The RNS-3000 was designed by my partner, Nils Eriksson, VE7CYC, who originally worked for LM Ericsson in Sweden.
At 12 noon sharp, Monday to Friday, Nils and I would go to our regular local restaurant for lunch.
The general concept of what would become the RNS-3000 automatic paging and voicemail system was laid out on the back of several lunch napkins and listed all of the features that were needed in both hardware & software to make a truly "state of the art" product for the RCC industry.
The RNS-3000 was named after the 3 partners, Ray, Nils & Shlomo.
ECI Electronics Inc, later expanded to 6 people and conducted manufacturing operations in a 4,000 sq ft facility with sales, service and installations coast to coast in Canada from Newfoundland to British Columbia.
In 1983, at the CRCCA annual convention in Edmonton, Alberta, Glenayre Electronics Inc of Vancouver, BC Canada & Quincy, IL, USA walked up to our booth (picture below) and made a surprise, unsolicited offer to acquire ECI Electronics Inc with the objective of expanding & dominating the automatic radio paging & voicemail market worldwide.
The deal with Glenayre closed a matter of hours before the 1983 Telocator RCC convention opened in Las Vegas, NV.
My partner, Nils Eriksson, VE7CYC and I at the 1983 Edmonton CRCCA show. This is the Canadian version of the Telocator Show in the USA shortly before Glenayre executives walked up to our booth & surprised us with an unsolicited offer to acquire ECI Electronics Inc.
The staff at ECI Electronics Inc 1979 - 1983.
L-R Hua - Nils - Shlomo - Ray - Gay - Elaine.
VE7CYC - VE7SLO - VE7CY
Hua from Vietnam.
Nils from Sweden.
Shlomo from Israel.
Ray from UK and South Africa.
Gay Webster & Elaine Frank from Canada.
No, Nils was not asleep but had already finished a bottle of his favorite red wine with dinner. RIP.
Before Glenayre's check hit the bank, I was dispatched with great haste to the Glenayre booth at the Telocator annual convention in Las Vegas, NV where the now renamed GL-3000 was introduced to the USA and world automatic radio paging & voicemail market.
It is my understanding that versions of the GL-3000 are in the White House and the Pentagon in Washington, DC.
That was 1983, 42 years ago in 2025.
Of the many people that I met at that convention at the Glenayre booth, the most notable was Henry M Zachs, president of Message Center Beepers Inc., which was headquartered in Hartford, CT.
That meeting would later again change the direction of my life.
The sale to Glenayre took me, my family & partners to Vancouver BC.
VE7 land.
We worked at Glenayre for a short period after the buyout.
For me it was 8 months and for Nils it was about 2 years.
The 2 years at Scotcomm & 8 months at Glenayre was the only time I had worked for somebody else at that point in my life.
Glenayre expanded to over 2,500 employees in Canada, the USA and Asia. Glenayre went public shortly thereafter while selling hundreds of GL-3000 paging and voicemail systems, paging transmitters & related equipment worldwide.
The GL-3000 was the re-branded RNS-3000, named for the 3 ECI founding partners and designed by Nils Eriksson, VE7CYC in the basement of my Montreal home in 1979/80.
After Nils retired, he spent a lot of time in Thailand where he had a house on the beach in Pattaya.
After a long illness in Thailand, Nils returned to Vancouver in April 2007 for urgent medical attention. He went from the Vancouver airport directly to hospital where sadly he died a few hours later at just 58 years old. RIP.
Shortly thereafter I applied for & received nationwide 900Mhz spectrum assignments in Canada in my personal name, I incorporated Prime Communications Inc and received 929.4125Mhz & 929.4875Mhz, both nationwide in Canada.
After that, I entered into a cross-border partnership between Prime Communications Inc and a major US nationwide paging operator, Henry M. Zachs, president of Message Center Beepers Inc in Hartford, CT where he operated the same two 929Mhz nationwide radio paging channels that I operated in Canada.
Canada set aside only 3 common USA / Canada 900Mhz paging channels.
Those three common channels were allocated to the "Big 3" nationwide Canadian paging operators.
The amalgamation of Prime Communications Inc and Message Center Beepers Inc effectively increased the number of common USA / Canadian nationwide paging channels from 3 to 5.
The combined Canadian and USA nationwide operations were sold to AirTouch Inc (Northstar Paging Inc in Canada) which later became Verizon which now operates USA / Canada wide paging on 929.4125Mhz & 929.4875Mhz my original two Canadian nationwide paging frequencies.
It was during the sale to AirTouch that I moved to WA State about 300ft south of the Canadian border.
A green card was part of the deal to integrate the 2 systems.
I did not renew the green card since I had already returned to Canada prior to its expiration.
The view from the deck of my home in WA State, facing north, was Vancouver, BC Canada - see picture at the top and bottom of this page.
Although I had held VE7CY since 1983, I lived in and operated from Point Roberts WA as G4DBO/W7 for several years in the mid 90's.
My Canadian vehicle tag was and still is VE7CY.
My WA State vehicle tag was also VE7CY which really confused CBP and CBSA at the USA Canada border.
Henry M. Zachs
A real "mench" and a man who really changed my life for the better.
These 2 license plates (tags) really confused both USCBP and CBSA at the US / Canada border even in the NEXUS lane.
At almost every turn, my amateur radio contacts played a major role in my business life & direction.
Then, in 1998, I returned to Canada permanently, which was only 300 feet to the north.
I, with one of my former ECI partners, Nils Eriksson, VE7CYC, purchased a local paging operation, TeleLink Paging Inc which we later merged with Dial Direct Radio Paging Ltd. The combined operations were eventually sold to PageNet Canada in 2003 together with TeleLink's 931.8375Mhz nationwide channel & subscribers.
By 2002 it became evident to me that the advent of smart cell phones was likely going to decimate the radio paging industry and that is why I sold all of our remaining paging assets including subscribers to PageNet Canada Inc in early 2003 before the bottom fell out.
"The bottom falling out" was an understatement.
The late Kenny Rogers .....
"Know when to hold them"
"Know when to fold them"
I will be forever grateful for the numerous opportunities afforded me resulting from my 56+ year involvement with so many amateur radio operators.
Both Murray Epstein of Montreal, Quebec and Henry M. Zachs of Hartford, CT were instrumental in guiding my life in the right direction in 1977 and 1992 respectively.
I will be forever grateful to both of them.
I finally retired in 2015 at age 65 & now in 2025 I am enjoying my 5th HF sunspot cycle.
An excerpt from a Government of Canada document from 1992 listing all successful Canadian applicants for Nation-Wide 900Mhz Radio Paging Frequency Assignments.
Of all of these spectrum assignments, some to multi-million dollar Canadian corporate entities, two nationwide frequencies, 929.4125Mhz and 929.4875Mhz were assigned to one individual as listed at the bottom of the page above.
TeleLink's nationwide assignment on 931.8375Mhz was included in the sale to PageNet.
ScotPage's assignment was owned by Murray Epstein, VE2AUU.
FCC - Industry Canada Agreement.
in favor of AirTouch Paging Inc
(now Verizon Inc.)
& Northstar Paging Inc.
Northstar was wholly owned by Airtouch.
Resulting from the acquisition of Message Center Beepers Inc & Prime Communications Inc
Message Center Beepers Inc was sold to Airtouch Paging Inc
Prime Communications Inc was sold to Northstar Paging Inc
Northstar Paging (Canada) Inc was wholly owned by Airtouch Inc.
FCC - Industry Canada Agreement.
in favor of AirTouch Paging Inc
& Northstar Paging Inc.
(now Verizon Inc)
Resulting from the acquisition of Prime Communications Inc & Message Center Beepers Inc
HF Band Noise
If you are reading this, you operate HF.
Eliminate ALL of your HF band noise - CW & SSB!
You will be in a whole new world of "noise free HF"
thanks to Artificial Intelligence.
Above: This is the main screen of RM Noise with AI Filters for SSB & CW.
Follow the filter instructions - SSB: 2.8Khz DSP Filter sharp, NB off NR off.
You can click anywhere on the above audio (CW & SSB) and hear previously received, processed audio up to approx 270 seconds and go back to live audio and miss nothing.
Like all HF radio operators, we have to deal with band noise, QRN and QRM that varies from band to band, season and time of day.
Signal to noise ratio is key to hearing the other station.
If you can't hear them, you can't work them!
Early in February 2024, I came across a fantastic app.
It is AI (Artificial Intelligence) remote audio processing and filtering that removes ALL band noise and leaves you with beautiful, clear, noise free audio whether you are on 80m with an S-9 noise level or 20m with heavy QRN or adjacent station QRM.
This applies to both CW and SSB signals.
You think you are listening to the output of a local FM repeater.
You can even hear signals that are BELOW your band noise floor that you would normally NEVER have heard without this AI app.
Hookup is simple.
Line level audio out from my 7300 ACC socket pin 12 to the LINE input of your Windows PC.
Line level audio can also be taken from the USB line but I preferred not to go that route.
Audio out of your PC to a mixer / headphones / speaker of your choice etc.
Your received audio is sent to one of 3 servers, one in Switzerland and 2 in TX, USA.
These servers are trained to eliminate ALL band noise and return the clean audio to you.
Latency is around 200 - 250 milliseconds from my QTH.
Because of the inherent latency, I use a mixer and feed raw AND filtered audio (L and R channel) with the ability to lower the raw audio once the SSB was tuned properly.
See my article for full details.
You can also upload your own band noise in a 30 minute file void of any audio other than your band noise, that will be used to train the AI.
I found that my noise vanishes on all HF bands with the existing filters on the servers.
My band noise level can be as high as S-9 + on 80m - a little lower on 40m.
I feed raw unfiltered audio AND filtered audio from the remote server, to my audio mixer.
It REALLY works.
The app's name is "RM Noise"
Search YouTube for many videos.
See a few YouTube videos below.
The website and forum is at https://ournetplace.com/rm-noise/
Download the .exe, install it, activate it and you are entering a whole new world of HF amateur radio.
This app can be used with ANY receiver / transceiver WITHOUT any internal additions or modifications.
After you hear it for the first time, you will wonder how you ever managed with band noise / QRN etc all these years.
See my article here.....
https://forum.rmnoise.radio/viewtopic.php?t=69
This app is the best thing since sliced bread!!
It makes barely audible signals into almost FM quality audio.
You think that you are listening to a local FM repeater output!
It took me less that 15 minutes from download, hookup, installation and validation to listening!
Its all explained on the website under Documentation
Watch the many YouTube videos - search "RM Noise"
The irony is that the author / developer, Randy Williams is apparently not a ham radio operator.
Sadly, Randy's father, Marshall Williams K5QE in TX, became SK in July 2024.
The software and service is currently FREE!!
Did I mention that it really works?
Did I mention that it really works?
Did I mention that it really works?
Did I mention that it really works?
OK OK OK -YES - it really works!!!
You will have the most fun you have ever had with your clothes on!
Try it, you will love it - guaranteed!!
73 - Enjoy!
BTW, I am currently working on passing audio received from WebSDR (Northern Utah WebSDR) and KiwiSDR systems through RM Noise.
P.S. My thoughts and pet peeve.
The ability to hear the other station is determined by many factors.
These factors include but are not limited to, your local noise floor which varies by band and time of day or night.
By using RM Noise, you eliminate your local noise issue.
That works very well for me.
After being QRT for several years, I discovered remote SDRs etc
The Northern Utah SDR system looked very impressive.
I am now preparing my station to receive audio from a remote SDR, feeding it into RM Noise and experiencing the same kind of band noise elimination.
As they say in the TV adds "But wait, there's more."
I am also now looking at an app called CatSync which would allow my Icom IC-7300 and the remote SDR to track each other in real time.
The 7300 can control the band and frequency of the remote SDR and the remote SDR can control the band and frequency of the 7300.
Bi-directional control but while 80m and 40m might not be an issue whereas from 20m through 10m there is the issue of skip to consider. Stay tuned!
Plenty more
YouTube videos
search "RM Noise"
The mixer that I use with RM Noise to combine raw audio, filtered audio with RM Noise AI noise elimination. It also boosts mid-range SSB RX audio at 2500Hz.
Behringer 802 mixer.
Filtered CW / SSB audio on the left channel and TV audio on the right channel with the ability to hear raw HF audio as needed.
Pet Peeve!!
There is no such thing as an "antenna tuner" or "auto tuner"
Not inside or outside your transceiver.
Despite what is written in your radio's manual.
This is a most basic explanation.
Just because it is called an ATU does not change the fact that it is NOT an ATU i.e. it does NOT "tune your antenna"
The output of your transceiver is nominally 50 ohms.
It feeds the coax that connects to your antenna.
It is an unbalanced output.
Simply put, there is NOTHING you can do at the shack end of your coax that will change the SWR of the antenna!
NOTHING!
Originally, in the pre World War II era, it was called a "Transmatch"
From that name you can infer that it was an abbreviation for "Transmitter Matching Network"
It "matched" the output of your radio to the impedance of your antenna at the point it connects to your radio and when properly adjusted, presents a purely resistive load to your radio.
The 1:1 SWR read on your meter is NOT the SWR of your antenna.
It is the SWR between the output of the radio (or amplifier) and the INPUT to the transmatch.
Nothing more!
It does NOT change the SWR of the antenna.
Period, end of story.
Below is an example of a transmatch or transmitter matching network from the late 1960's and still in use today, the "Drake MN-2000 Matching Network"
It takes full legal power for the amateur service.
In my station configuration, I use two of them in series but only one is in circuit at a time.
My first MN-2000 was installed 55 years ago and in every station since.
It has never "tuned" any of my antennas.
There are many other "matching networks" or so called ATUs.
Some are T networks, some are L networks and some are Pi networks.
The MN-2000 is a Pi network.
The MN-4 is a smaller, lower power unit
This is the simplest explanation without getting into too much detail.
Drake MN-2000 Matching Network
Bill Clinton "Its a matching network stupid!"
Built like a tank.
It does the job it is meant to do which is to "match" your transmitter / amplifier to the load as presented but it does NOT "tune" your antenna nor does it or can it change the SWR of the antenna!
OK OK, QSL
I got your email.
"Those were the days my friend!"
Mary Hopkin - 1969
My QTH was immediately below the 275m 900ft J.G. Strijdom Post Office Tower in Hillbrow, Johannesburg ZS6YK - 1972
My QTH was immediately below the 275m 900ft Post Office Tower in Hillbrow, Johannesburg ZS6YK - 1972
The view of the tower from my apartment side window.
A street level view. 900ft / 275m
900ft.... hmm 4 of these strategically placed, with a Rhombic properly terminated and fed, strategically pointed, would work just fine!
Imagine 25db forward gain!
Heck, even an apex up, vertically polarized Delta Loop at 900 ft.
MLK - "I had a dream"
I can dream too!
1969 - Hallicrafters SX-101A + HT-32-B - NCX-5 - Homebrew pair of 813's - TA-33
My first station setup.
Collins KWM-2A, Drake 4B Twins, SB-200, TA-33 below the Post Office Tower in 1972.
G4DBO/W7
TS-950-SDX TL-922
TH-3 @ 40ft
Point Roberts WA USA
1993 - 1997
G4DBO/W7
TH-3 @ 40'
1993 - 1997
Storm coming.
Time to lower the tower.
G4DBO/W7
TH-3 lowered to 20ft
1993 - 1997
G4DBO/W7
1993 - 1997
G4DBO/W7
US Tower MA-40
1993 - 1997
G4DBO/W7
1993 - 1997
Walking on the beach in Point Roberts, WA. The tower above my head is the USA / Canada border marker. Vancouver, Canada in the background. G4DBO/W7
Point Roberts, WA USA.
The USA / Canada border is at the tower 200ft to the north.
The mountains in the far background are the mountains of Vancouver, Canada.
Yes, the water is frozen.
It was winter!
These 2 license plates (tags) really confused both USCBP and CBSA at the US / Canada border even in the NEXUS lane.
1969 - ZS6YK
TA-33Jr @ 35'
Sunny day,
hardtop off,
top down -
Simon & Garfunkel's
"Mrs. Robinson"
or The Eagles
"Hotel California"
up really loud!
1970
Collins S Line 30L-1
1972
Collins S Line 30L-1
My daughter 1972.
She is 52 now in 2024
Operating CR7IK 1972 Beira, Mozambique
Drake twins with a KWM2-A & SB-200
As VE2EWO when I lived in Montreal
DMX-67 TH-3 @ 70'
1977- 1983
1973 ZS6YK
Drake Twins SBE-34
SB-200
Like your D-104?
Have an Icom
7300-9700-7610?
Make your D-104
sound like your Icom
HM-219 hand mike.
ICOM HM-219 hand mike for my Icom 7300 BUT I transplanted it into the D-104 shell added 4 selectable memories for CW & SSB
It uses the original Heil mike element, PC board & Icom coiled mic cable / plug assembly.
Only the plastic shell below was left unused.
All that is left of my HM-219 hand mike - an empty shell.
The D-104 base has a round hole for the mike cord. Remove everything in the base except the PTT lines and the 2 wires going to the mike element.
Make the round hole into a "U" shape. The width of the hole is the same as the width of the Icom coiled cord strain relief slot.
It slides in perfectly.
Slide the strain relief into the new "U" slot.
Old "O" slot turned into the new "U" slot.
Slides in perfectly.
Add 4 push buttons and a few resistors to activate the 7300 pre-recorded CW and SSB memories.
Wire this to pins 3 and 6 both present on the Icom PC board.
D-104 base wiring.
Use PTT and mike lines.
Remove the rest.
The transplanted Icom HM-219 PC board. Hook up the electret mike element and the PTT to the D-104. Mount the Icom (Heil) mike element into the D-104 "lollipop"
Look at the GND.
See the red and black twisted pair disappearing into the hole at the top?
This pair goes to the Heil element in the "lollipop" of the D-104.
This PCB comes out by removing the 2 black screws marked 1 & 2 above.
Icom HM-219 mike pin out.
No need to spend a lot of money on a Heil ICM etc.
The audio reports you get with this "D-104" will be great!
Certification.
Since 2000, a Certificate of Proficiency in Amateur Radio listing the class of license & (all) assigned call sign(s) replaced an annual "license" in Canada.
There is no longer an annual license fee in Canada.
Sorry America!!
1994 - G4DBO
1977
1969 - ZS6YK
1969 - ZS6YK
ZS6YK - 1990
G4DBO/W7 - 1993
VE2EWO 1977
Contests Etc.
QRP 1971?
Between myself and WB2JYM.
Been there, done that!
Life is too short for QRP!
CQ-WW - 1972
CQ-WW 1975
CQ WW Summary.
Funnies!
Hey Jack, can you cut the power for me?
On the advice of counsel,
I decline to comment.
I exert my 5th amendment right not to incriminate myself.
No comment required.
The last one is now SK!
IMG_2439.MOV
Wanted.
Wanted:
Simpson model 2006.🙏
Please let me know!
Contact info at end of this web page.
PIWR0254.MP4IMG_2377 (2).MOVWhen you watch this, its very easy to come to the conclusion that some of us are getting really old!!!
IMG_8654.MOVAfter I hooked up my new amplifier, my neighbor sent me this video!
lightening.MP4I knew that my new homebrew linear HF amplifier was working well.
Friends told me that an amplifier with 6 x 4CX1500 finals and 10kV on the plates should work well.
Heck, plate current was only 8 amps! WTF?
However, when I tune up and key down I think I made a mistake.
I ordered a 240 volt 200 amp service.
Should have ordered a 400 amp service!!
Aw shucks!!
Then I woke up from my bad dream!!
And finally, family!!
My son David
@ 48
David 1977 @ 2 years old with his great grandmother.
CQ DX de David
@ 1 year old 1976
My daughter Mandy
@ 50
Mandy 1972
Now 52
Mandy @ 17 David @ 14 summer 1989
My US QTH overlooked Maple Beach, Point Roberts, WA where the "P" is on the map.
My current QTH is at the top of the map near Lougheed Highway.
The horizontal line from Point Roberts WA to Blaine WA is the USA / Canada border.
From Lougheed Hwy to Blaine WA is a short 20 minute drive down Hwy 15.
My QTH overlooked Maple Beach, Point Roberts, WA
& Boundary Bay, BC looking north to Vancouver, BC Canada.
Point Roberts, WA on the left & Blaine, WA on the right.
Blaine, WA is the beginning of US Interstate 5 which extends down from the Canadian border to the Mexican border at San Ysidro, CA
My primary QTH is in BC, Canada, 20 minutes north of the USA border at Blaine WA, US Interstate 5 goes all the way down through WA, Oregon to San Ysidro, California & the Mexican border.
The horizontal line just above Blaine that cuts through Point Roberts is the USA Canada border, the 49th parallel.
Point Roberts, WA is immediately below the border on the left where I used to live & operated as G4DBO/W7 in the mid 90's. Point Roberts WA is totally surrounded by water on 3 sides and by Canada to the north. The only way to drive from Point Roberts WA to the lower 48 is via Canada.
My Canadian QTH is near Lougheed Highway, Coquitlam BC.
From my QTH to Blaine WA is 30km 20 minutes.
From my QTH to Point Roberts WA is 33km 20 minutes as the speed limit on Highway 17 is higher than Highway 15.
Ignore the 2 hours roundtrip label.
At the time of day that I drive, the traffic is very light - 20 - 30 minutes tops to either Point Roberts or Blaine.
Having a Nexus card in the Nexus lane for border crossing in either direction takes less time than it takes for a traffic light to change from red to green.
My QTH was just above the "P" in "Point" on the map.
My rig there was a Kenwood TS-950SDX feeding a Kenwood TL-922 amplifier to a TH-3 at 40ft.
The only way to get a Starbucks latte when you live in Point Roberts WA is to drive 2km into Canada.
I did this 15 minute round trip daily USA / Canada / USA and returned to the USA with my Starbucks latte & worked some DX for a few hours sipping my morning latte.
Despite a regular explanation to the same handful of border guards, the US and Canadian border officials could never understand why I was driving a car with a WA State registered vehicle with tag (plate #) VE7CY that day and on the previous day I made the same cross border trip in a (different) BC registered vehicle with tag (plate #) VE7CY.
This interaction continued daily for 3 years despite the fact that I carried a USA CBP issued Nexus card!
Our tax dollars at work!
I returned to Canada to live in 1998 and the WA State plate vehicle became a BC plate vehicle again.
Since I left Point Roberts, WA in 1998, I continued crossing the border for gas (petrol) for the past 26 years since the price is one third cheaper in the USA. For years the same border confusion continued. Finally, after US CBP & Canada's CBSA updated their cross border interconnected computer systems, the problem stopped.
From my new Canadian QTH I now go down BC highway 15 to Blaine WA and Interstate 5 into Blaine, WA for gas and to pickup my latest USA purchase at the UPS Store in Blaine.
Blaine, WA is the beginning of the lower 48.
A 60km (37 mile) round trip and I can be back home in one hour with a gas fill up and parcel pickup.
Another toy!!!
A regular visit to Harbor Freight or Tractor Supply is always fun.
Red Lobster or Ruth's Chris is always a special treat.
Being retired is great!
My kid brother. Moved from BC to Alberta then back to BC Hmmmm!!!
The view from the deck of my former home in Pt. Roberts, WA USA looking to Canada.
The tower on the bottom right side marks the USA Canada border.
Greater Vancouver, Canada, VE7 / VA7 is in the far background.
I lived in and operated from Point Roberts, WA as G4DBO/W7 in the mid 90's.
The body of water, Boundary Bay, BC / Strait of Georgia, WA forms part of Puget Sound, WA
The trees in the foreground are in BC Canada.
This is the 49th parallel - the USA / Canada border.
My current QTH (VE7CY in Coquitlam, BC) is in the picture top right hand side north of the international border marker tower on the north (Canadian) side of Boundary Bay just below the snow capped mountains of Greater Vancouver BC Canada.
Swimming in Boundary Bay, Point Roberts, WA USA.
See the USA Canada border marker at the tower on the right.
Look at the date on the right of the picture.
"27" is in the USA.
"7" is in Canada.
Often enjoyed swimming when the tide was in.
Floating with my head on "27" & my legs on "7"
Although frowned on by US CBP, it was easy to swim or walk along the beach from the USA into Canada and vice versa.
My USA QTH was just out of site above the trees on the left.
All coax used
on this page is
Amphenol
RG-213 &
PL-259's
--... ...--
- ..- . .
73 Thank you
for visiting.
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