UPDATE: On a happy personal note, I have been fortunate to reconnect with Doug, KY4F - an old Navy buddy from USNSGA Sabana Seca, PR. Doug and I really enjoy contesting with each other and are planning to become more active in CW and RTTY contesting in the multi-op category. Doug is a great friend, an excellent operator, and he keeps me laughing my head off when we aren’t behind the rigs… :-)

ORIGINAL: I became a ham in 1969 at the age of 12. From 1969 till 1979 I was extremely active in traffic handling, contesting and DXing. From 1980 till 2002 I was pretty much inactive due to reasons that included family, work and living in CCR neighborhoods. I was able to return to active participation in amateur radio in 2002 but was still impacted by living in a CCR neighborhood. In 2003 I made up my mind that I was going to move out of the city and far, far away from places that had CCRs. My dream was to find a mountain-top location within reasonable commute to my job. While I was never able to find a suitable mountain top, in 2004 I finally found a beautiful location that includes 11 acres of land. I moved into my new QTH in September of 2004. Soon thereafter, I contacted Jay (WX0B) at Array Solutions, about assisting me in putting together a plan for a good antenna system. Jay put together an excellent plan for the antennas, provided the necessary hardware, and introduced me to Paul Nyland (K7PN) of Custom Metal Works who is my integration contractor. Due to recent impacts caused by my job, I have had to restrict my activities to mainly contesting and occasional DXing.

My antenna system consists of two towers: a 195 foot rotating tower (main) and a 70 foot free standing tower (multiplier) both made by AN/Wireless. The main tower is 190 feet of 55N on a 5 foot high base so the overall height is 195 feet. The main tower is turned by a PRO.SIS.TEL PST71D rotator. At the top is an OptiBeam OB2-80 two element 75/80M yagi at 185 feet. Below that is an OptiBeam OB4-40 four element 40 meter yagi at 140 feet. I use OptiBeam OB16-3 20/15/10 tribanders in a three antenna stack. The OB16-3 tribanders are at 125ft/85ft/45ft. The configuration is 4/4/4 for 20M & 15M and 8/8/8 on 10M. I have a WX0B stackmatch to switch them. There is an OptiBeam OB2-30 2 element 30M yagi at 105 feet, a C3I 7 element 6M yagi at 90 feet, and an OptiBeam9-2WARC 17/12M dual-bander at about 65 feet. The multiplier tower is an AN/Wireless HHD-70 (rated for an 85 sq. ft. load at 70 MPH). On top of this tower is an OptiBeam OB17-4 four band yagi turned by another PRO.SIS.TEL PST71D rotator. The OB17-4 requires only one feedline and has the following configuration: 3/4/4/6 elements on 40/20/15/10 meters

In the shack, I have three Orion transceivers, two Alpha 87a amps, a Henry 3KD Premier and two Palstar AT-AUTO tuners. The rigs (Orions/Alphas/AT-AUTOs) are equipped with in-line Array Solutions FM-6 Filter Masters, and I have WX0B automatic band switching units that control the Array Solutions Six-Pak/Rat-Paks out at the towers. I have two of the rigs set up in a SO2R configuration and use a microHam MK2R+ with them. I am a CW guy almost exclusively, but I have added RTTY and PSK31 capability. I have started using the station for RTTY contesting and find that I like that mode very much.

I have also added two DX Engineering RX Four Square arrays to the station. One is optimized for 160 meters, and the other is optimized for 80 meters. The 80M array is nested inside the 160M array. The arrays are about 900 feet away from the shack and at least a quarter-wavelength away from any transmit antenna. My only comment is “WOW!” I am constantly impressed with how these little arrays perform. In my opinion they are definitely worth the investment.

I am very happy with how my system performs, and I really enjoy using it on frequent basis. If you have any questions about the system or one of its components, please feel free to drop me a note.

73,

Rick K4TD

Previous Callsigns:

WN5DLW – 1969 to 1970 WB5DLW – 1970 to 1977 K5PM – 1977 to 2002 K4TD – 2002 to Present