Greetings,

Thanks for stopping by.  I'm active mostly on 20m, 40m, sometimes on 80m or 15m and on 2m/440 bands.  I work SSB, RTTY, PSK31, VHF/UHF Packet, ECHOLINK and sometimes a little bit of rusty CW.  I'm not a vivid contester but love the challenge and fun of contesting.  I have printed QSL cards and will try to QSL 100%, however I like the efficiency and speed of LOTW and EQSL which I update every week.

First licensed in 1976, in school, studies and ham radio supplemented each other, it was a great combination. Got re-licensed in 2007.  I am also a big fan of Field Day and actively support my local clubs South Bay Amateur Radio Association (www.sbara.org), Palo Alto Amateur Radio Association (www.paara.org) and Foothill Amateur Radio Society (fars.k6ya.org).  I am also one of the startup members of the local 25-25 net club founded for encouraging VHF SSB activity (www.25-25.net).

I love this hobby but the best thing was when I discovered I could offer my technical and communication skills to organisations like Emergency Response Teams (CERT/ARES/RACES), Red Cross and local sports clubs in the San Francisco Bay Area. Trained and certified by CERT, ARRL/ARES and Red Cross, I enjoy volunteering with them including helping out in local events, races, marathons, fairs etc.

Base Station: IC-7000, KPC3+, DM-330MV, Rigblaster P&P;  IC-T90A Handheld; FRS/GMRS Radios; MFJ Dual Clocks, Laptop, docking station, 19in LCD monitor, external backup hard drive and PC headphones.  ARES, CERT, ARRL certificates, band plan, maps and charts on the walls.
Base Antennas: Low profile home brew multiband HF vertical antenna with a LDG AT200 tuner at the base.  Diamond X-500 antenna for VHF/UHF.
Mobile Station: The car has a fully equiped mobile VHF/UHF voice and packet communications capability and emergency supplies kit.

Compact & Portable Base Station Packaging Design

Hope to hear you more often on the bands!
Have a great day.

73s,

Umesh
(aka Gene in SSB contests)