Episode 006 - Eric Nichols - KL7AJ
Eric Nichols, KL7AJ, has Plasma dreams and charges up the ionosphere using high power transmitters as a result of his years in ham and broadcast radio. Starting in 1972, as a high school senior in Southern California, Eric first earned his Novice Class Amateur Radio license, WN6TEE. Upgrading to General Class, two years later, and adding a First Class Radio Telephone license, Eric relocated to North Pole, Alaska, where he spent the next 20 years as a radio station broadcast engineer. Eric went on to share his ham radio journey through his contribution of over 150 published articles in QST, QEX, eHam and other publications, and even a ham radio novel, Plasma Dreams. Join Eric, 4Z1UG, in his QSO Today, with Eric Nichols, KL7AJ.
| As a young man, Alaska's frontier beakoned Eric to make his home in North Pole, not far from Fairbanks, Alaska. It is there that he became a broadcast engineer for the fifty-thousand watt AM radio station, KJNP, where he worked for over twenty-years. Becoming Alaska's high power transmitter guru, doors opened for Eric to become involved in ionospheric and aurora research using the very high powered transmitters at HIPAS Observatory, a facility operated by UCLA, Northeast of Fairbanks. Plasma, as it is discussed in our QSO Today, is the conduction of electrons through a gas. In the HIPAS experiments, high powered transmitters were used to turn the ionosphere above Alaska into a floating plasma chamber. These experiments caught Eric's imagination and was the source of inspiration of much of Eric's latest work. First licensed: 1972 Previous Call signs: WN6TEE, KL7JDC Elmers: Mike Aust, WB6DJI, and Tim Aust, WB6ZUF First Rig: ARC 5 Receivers on two bands, Johnson Adventurer on transmit Current Rig: TenTec Jupiter, "and a whole lot of boat anchors" including a Central Electronics 100V Favorite Operating Modes: CW, SSB, AM Favorite ham radio pastimes: Rag chew, work DX, home brew and build equipment, contests, antenna design, computers and radio, vintage radio, amateur radio education, authoring articles and books, Navy/Marine MARS, and Volunteer Examiner (VE) Clubs:
Links: QRZ Ham radio needs to sizzle crackel and bang! HIPAS - High Power Auroral Stimulation Observatory Invention is the mother of necessity Plasma Physics for the Radio Amateur, II SWR Meters Make You Stupid Don't Blame the Sun (you may need a QST subscription to read this link) Books: Plasma Dreams - fiction The Opus of Amateur Radio - an essay on ham radio Radio Science for the Radio Amateur - build a plasma chamber in your home - why not! |  ARC 5 Single Band Receivers  Johnson Viking Adventurer Transmitter  Central Electronics 100V Receiver  TenTec Jupiter Transceiver |
RSS Feed
