Thanks everyone for making my two years (on Dec 20, 2012) and five months as a licensed Ham Operator so much fun!!! This is the greatest hobby! I am having so much fun learning and exploring the world and renewing my interest in technology and electronics while making so many great friends. My first QSO was on December 26, 2010 with a station in Hawaii and I haven't looked back since. I have made just 2857 QSOs in two years and five month so about 100 QSOs a month on average (aka ~25 per weekend). LOTW confirmation rate is 990 confirmed out of 2857 QSOs or 34.6%. LOTW for DXCC, VUCC, and WAS is a fantastic offering from the ARRL. I love traditional QSL cards without a doubt but LOTW provides a cost effective way for people to confirm QSOs.
So far in 2013, I am averaging about 17 QSOs a week (354 QSOs since beginning of year to June 1st). This is due to more focus on work and family rather than ham radio. I have also started another cycle of P90X to get back into shape. Since I started ham radio I have gained some weight and neglected my fitness level which was at one time very high. This will impact time spent on radio as well. Need to get back to extreme condition for next snowboarding season.
CURRENT DXCC NUMBERS ARE 277 TOTAL AND 270 CONFIRMED. SO BASICALLY EVERY 10TH CONTACT IS A NEW DXCC MIXED ENTITY FOR ME. THIRTEEN NEW ENTITIES SINCE BEGINNING OF YEAR AND EIGHT FROM THIRD YEAR TARGET.
MY GOAL FOR YEAR THREE IS 285 TOTAL WITH 270 CONFIRMED (REALIZE THINGS WILL SLOW DOWN EVEN MORE FOR YEAR 3). PLAN IS TO ATTEND VISALIA IN APRIL 2014 WITH AS CLOSE TO 300 ENTITIES AS POSSIBLE.
RECEIVED MY WAS BASIC AND VUCC 6M AWARDS RECENTLY. RECEIVED MY DXCC 250 STICKER ENDORSEMENT. I AM REALLY PUSHING TO GET THE 275 MIXED DXCC ENDORSEMENT THROUGH DIRECT EMAIL CONTACT OF DX ONCE QSOs ARE COMPLETED TO OBTAIN QSL CARDS.
MY BEAUTIFUL WIFE, SUSANNA, GAVE BIRTH ON AUGUST 6, 2012 AT 10:00Z, TO OUR SON, MAXIMILIANO! AS SOON AS HE IS OLD ENOUGH I WILL INTRODUCE HIM TO HAM RADIO AND DXing. I AM SO THRILLED! WOW! I AM A DAD!!
Keith & Bentley a magic pair of operators (early station photo - Jan 2011)
THANKS TO ALL MY HAM CONTACTS FOR BEING PATIENT AND COOL WITH MY NEWNESS (2 YEARS FOUR MONTHS) IN THE HOBBY.
PLEASE VERIFY ON LOTW OR THROUGH QSL CARDS DIRECT OR BUREAU. MANY THANKS!
GREAT DXING AND 73!!!
BIOGRAPHY
I am a licensed extra class and ham operator that began setting up my station in late December 2010. I was an enthusiastic Shortwave radio listener and radio collector for 30 years and started out in the 80's building antennas for SWLing and got back into the hobby about the same time I started my own consulting business. I am really stoked with the hobby as it was a childhood dream that is now realized.
Just received my 250 endorsement sticker at a few days less than 27 months total since getting licensed (the certificate still has my old callsign AG6AZ). I owe it to my great elmers who have helped me all the way.
New objective and goal for the station is full remote capabilities of both towers. The shack is now a partnership with Bruce, K6JU, who has partnered on both a financial and intellectual level to get this shack operating without issue remotely. We will be using remoterig products and our TS480HX as our baseline infrastructure for this to happen. it is an exciting partnership and will allow both Bruce and I to operate this station even when our business travel takes us anywhere on the globe.
Tower 1:
- TOWER 1 TRIEX WT51. TOOK DOWN STEPPIR 3 ELEMENT AND REPLACED IT WITH A MOSLEY SUPER 33 ANTENNA. IT IS AN AMAZING ANTENNA AT 44' ABOVE MY BACKYARD AND RESONANCE HAS IMPROVED SIGNIFICANTLY. I AM EXTREMELY PLEASED WITH ITS PERFORMANCE ESPECIALLY ON 40m.
LOADED ALPHA DELTA DXCC DIPOLE ANTENNA FOR 80 TO 10 WILL REPLACE MFJ 80/40 WHICH I PLAN TO USE TO CREATE A WIRE BEAM FOR 80M. W8AMZ 160M HALF SLOPER TO BE INSTALLED TOO. ALL BANDS WILL BE ON TRIEX.
PICTURE BELOW OF THE SUPER 33 BEING BUILT AND IN THE BACKYARD.BELOW THAT THE SUPER 33 INSTALLED ON A BEAUTIFUL BLUE SKY DAY IN SAN DIEGO,AND BELOW THAT PHOTO IS THE INNOVANTENNA OP DES SIX ELEMENT ANTENNA ABOVE THE SUPER 33.
Tower 2:
- Sold all antennas on the second tower. I decided to clean up the look of the house. I will put up some small antenna like a cobweb or hex beam for 15,12&10 in the future.
EQUIPMENT:
MAIN RIG HOME USE: K3 SERIAL 1526 WITH DUAL RECEIVER AND MANY FILTERS AND FEATURES. SPE 1K FA AMPLIFIER,MICROHAM MICROKEYER 2 FOR DIGITAL AND CW MODES, AND LP PANADAPTER.
REMOTE SETUP: REMOTERIG WITH TS480HX INTEGRATED WITH SPE 1K, AND SUPER 33, W8AMZ 160m SLOPER, 80m to 10m DX-CC MULTIBAND DIPOLE, AND INNOVANTENNA SIX ELEMENT 6M OP DES. DEDICATED INTERNET ROUTER AND SERVICE TO MINIMIZE PACKET LOSS.
SOLAR POWER INSTALLATION IS PLANNED FOR LATE SUMMER 2013. TWO PHOTOVOLTAIC LARGE 15 AMP 12 VDC PANELS BY KYOCERA WILL BE INSTALLED ON MY ROOF WHICH IS SOUTH FACING. DEEP CYCLE BATTERY SYSTEM WITH 1000 AMP HOURS FOR EMERGENCY USE INVERTER TO SUPPLY SHACK AND ESSENTIAL PARTS OF HOUSE DURING POWER FAILURES OR OTHER EMERGENCIES.
Another exciting aspect of my SteppIR antenna project was to finally clean up the "rats nest" that was behind my shack window. My great friend and contractor, Chris, built me a conduit system that is amazing. Underneath that box lies a dual MFJ connector set up with plenty of coax connectors along with other wiring options. It is super awesome!
The above picture is in a nice spot in Malibu off Piuma Rd and I realize that there are power lines above but that is pretty much the case for most of the higher spots in Malibu where multi million dollar homes are located. I am hoping that I can do better with this set up then previously when we had an opening like last year's, October 17, 2011 opening, where I was able to get contacts with Argentina and Chile but missed on French Polynesia and T32C. That was an amazing opening for me and showed that 50W and a screwdriver antenna on a truck can work DX on 6m. But makes me wonder what i could have done with my current setup.
Personal Information
My wife, Susanna, and I have been working on my consulting business together and she teaches Spanish part-time at a private Catholic school in beautiful Coronado. I have 15 years of Global Marketing, Business Development, Strategic Planning, and Program Management experience. Until recently, I traveled the world in the corporate sector (over 40 countries on five continents) and the US Navy. I now travel domestically for my own business every week and enjoy the freedom of having my own business. I also love snowboarding and fitness. I live in beautiful San Diego with my beautiful wife, Susanna, my new son Maxilimiano, and two cavalier king charles puppies, Roxy and Bentley.
I love mi esposa Susanna (XYL) and my son, Maximiliano Keith, and my puppies Roxy and Bentley!
Keith, AK6ZZ
I update my logs for AK6ZZ on clublog which is an amazing tool for DXing and tracking DXCC. It only contains log checking for AK6ZZ at the moment as I am not sure it will also access my larger QSO base for AG6AZ. It does have my entity totals for the past 29 months.
