Hi! I am an anaesthesiologist in private practice. My hobbies include computing (with special interest in Linux, and PIC microcontrollers), sailing, snow skiing, snowboarding, wakeboarding, classical guitar, and of course, amateur radio. My rigs are ICOM IC7000 and IC718. My antenna is a Butternut HF6V 6-band vertical mounted at ground level with 12 radials of various lengths, as seen in the picture.

I have built several Linear Amplifiers using RF MOSFETs (MRF151G, MRF150,MRF154), as described in Motorola AR305, EB104 and AR347.

I have also constructed a J-pole antenna for my 2 meter access to the local repeater.

Currently I am experimenting with Software Defined Radios (SDR). I have a Softrock RxTx v6.2 for 20/30m which is externally clocked with an Si570 controlled with a USB Bit Whacker (UBW). I also have a Softrock Lite v8.3 all band receiver, controlled also by a UBW. Band switching is by manually swapping 4 Rx BPF modules.

In Nov 2008, I finally built my dream SDR. It is an all band transceiver based on the Softrock v6.3 designed and kitted by Tony. Band switching is done automatically with the "motherboard", designed by me. I added a 20W PA to the box. The PA is based on the SDR 5W amp kit from Virgil, K5OOR. I increased the drain voltage to 24V (using the 12-24V switching converter from Dave Brainerd). I replaced the Rx/Tx switch with my own relay driver and SDS RF relays. I also added an SWR protection circuitry. A UBW uController controls the Si570 frequency setting, BPF/LPF switching, and Rx/Tx switching. All functions are remotely controlled by the PC with a single USB connection to the UBW.

The "motherboard" is being made into a kit and is currently in Beta Testing by a number of Hams around the world.