Ham radio website: www.n4kc.com

Ham radio blog: www.n4kc.blogspot.com (dedicated to discussion of rapidly changing technology on life, society and ham radio)

(Visit the ham website or the blog to see info on the N9N special events station operation, held August 2 and 3, 2008, from the Submarine Force Museum and Historic Ship Nautilus in Groton, CT. And thanks to all who worked or attempted to work N9N. We ended up with over 2,000 QSOs. QSL with SASE go to N4KC's address above.)

Professional website: www.donkeith.com

I was first licensed in 1962 at the age of 13 as WN4BDW...later WA4BDW. I changed to N4KC in the 1970s when I got my Extra Class license. I enjoyed a 22-year career in broadcasting and was twice named BILLBOARD magazine's "Broadcast Personality of the Year." I later worked for a company that developed software for radio, TV and ad agencies, then spent 4 years with Arbitron, the company that provides audience rating information for radio broadcasters. I'm currently vice-president of advertising and communications for Education Corporation of America (www.ecacolleges.com).  We own Virginia College and Golf Academy of America.

I'm also an author with 17 books in print. My second novel, WIZARD OF THE WIND, was set in radio broadcasting and had a ham as a key character. My national-bestselling thriller, FINAL BEARING, co-written with former nuclear-submarine skipper George Wallace, takes place in the jungles of South America, in Seattle, and beneath the surface of the Pacific Ocean. We are near a movie deal with a major sutdio on that book's sequel.  I also co-wrote an 8-book series of young adult novels set in NASCAR stockcar racing called THE ROLLING THUNDER STOCKCAR RACING SERIES.

Three of my latest books are true stories of WWII submarines: GALLANT LADY is the "biography" of the USS Archerfish, which sank the largest vessel ever sunk by a sub, the Japanese aircraft carrier Shinano, and IN THE COURSE OF DUTY, which tells the fascinating story of the USS Batfish, which sank three enemy subs in three days and today rests in a bean field in Muskogee, Oklahoma (The Batfish is also the location for a ham station, WW2SUB, that conducts special operating events on occasion from the submarine's radio room). FINAL PATROL was published by Penguin/NAL in October 2006.  It tells the human stories surrounding the 17 World War II submarines that are open to the public as museum ships around the country (many of which also have ham stations aboard and are on the air for special events).

In 2007, I published a biography of legendary college football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant, THE BEAR, released by Cumberland House.

My latest book, THE ICE DIARIES, written with the late Captain William Anderson, details the dramatic story of USS Nautilus (SSN-571), the first nuclear-powered vessel in the world, and her amazing voyage beneath the polar ice pack from the Pacific to the Atlantic...through the North Pole...in 1958. Captain Anderson was skipper of Nautilus for that historic transit. (That's the reason for the N9N special events operation mentioned above and detailed at www.n4kc.com.) All my books are available wherever books are sold, including the online bookstores like amazon.com, and are listed and linked at www.donkeith.com.

My Straight Key Night setup, including a Lionel J-38 key.

My QTH is Indian Springs Village, Alabama, 20 miles south of Birmingham--grid square EM63, Shelby County. I enjoy working SSB and CW on HF as well as two-meter FM and SSB. The rig is a Kenwood TS-2000 in the shack for 160 through 440 and a Yaesu FT-1802 on 2M FM in the car. I sometimes use an Ameritron AL-811 amp to add a few db to the transmitted signal. I like fooling around with antennas. Typically I use one of five HF antennas, depending on which one gives me the best signal for conditions and distance. 1) a G5RV, the shortened ZS6BKW version, up at about 35 feet, which works surprisingly well on 40 and 20M; 2) a Hustler 4BTV ground-mounted vertical with 85 radials strung out beneath it, each about 40 feet long, which replaced a WWII-era telescoping vertical I had been using, 3) a 460-foot skywire horizontal loop, fed with 450-ohm window line and hung in a rough circle, ranging from 15 feet to 35 feet above ground, and tuned with an MFJ-998 automatic memory tuner, 4) a 130-foot-long doublet at 40 feet, fed with window line, and also tuned on all bands with the 998, and 5) a recently-constructed homebrewed broad-band hexagonal 5-band wire beam at about 45 feet...an addition to the arsenal that I really am proud of. It is based on the G3TXQ/K4KIO design (see photos below). Click their callsigns for info. On VHF/UHF I use a B-Square Engineering j-pole for 144/440 mHz.

My homebrew broadband, 5-band hexagonal wire beam.

I maintain a ham radio website with what I hope are articles of interest and links for newcomers to our great hobby. It is: www.n4kc.com. I appreciate comments from those who visit and read them.

73,

Don N4KC