The intro photo at the top with my XYL Carmelina (ex: TI5CMA) was the first picture I put on QRZ over 15 years ago and have never changed it. There are more recent photos below.
QSL
For K3LU: DX Stations QSL via Buro 100%. All direct QSLs (US & DX) no return postage required other than if you send me a card please put it in an envelope. About 90% of the cards that are sent with postcard postage arrived damaged, torn or completely destroyed. I am a member of FISTS and you can send your QSL via the FISTS Bureau. If you need a card for WB3LUI, TI5/WB3LUI, KP4/WB3LUI & YS4/WB3LUI send them. I still have some cards left.
I QSL the old school way. This means no eQSL and no LOTW. While I am sure each have their benefits I do not use them. Why? eQSL is a business and to do it 100% the right way you have to pay. But more importantly unless you download the virtual fantasyland eQSLs on to your HD you are risking that if eQSL ever goes out of business you will have lost your collection. LOTW is a nice idea but I frankly don't want every QSO I have logged uploaded to a website to be later mined by someone. I still believe in what little rights of privacy are left and yes I am a Life Member of the ARRL (since age 16 - TKS Mom) and support the legislative work they do on our behalf.
I support ES1TU's PAPER QSL STATISTICS Page. It's an excellent resource for anyone who QSLs.
Since I am also a SWL (broadcast), QSL cards from SWLs are welcome and appreciated via BURO or Direct. I return all bureau SWL QSLs by direct mail!!
For TI5/K3LU, TI5NW & YS4/TI5NW: Return postage SASE PLEASE!
Bio
Licensed in 1978 at age 14 and elmered by K3PI, I am proud to be a member of the global amateur radio fraternity. Amateur radio, along with shortwave listening, sparked my interest in international relations which I majored in college and has rewarded me many lifelong friendships throughout the globe over the years that are more than just another ham on the bands. I suppose this includes my wife of 23 years Carmelina (ex: TI5CMA) who puts up with my radio insanity. I prefer CW though I do operate phone and digital from time to time. I like to DX but also enjoy taking the time to enjoy a good conversation. This is how friendships are made. So far it's been a good ride and I hope there's plenty more to come. See you on the bands!
Antennas-n-Gear
Aerials
- Bencher Skyhawk (20m, 15m, 10m) up 75 feet (23 meters) on 25g.
- Alpha Delta Twin Sloper DX-A (160m, 80m, 40m) up 70 feet (21 meters)
- Ground Mounted 30m Vertical 69 radials (homebrew) - Thanks to K3RA and Cycle-24.com for their help.
- Cushcraft R5 (20m, 17m, 15m, 12m & 10m)
Radios
I run 100w to 1.5 kw with a few different radios. I don't have anything as sweet as a IC7800 and nothing as crappy as a Swan 500C (my first novice rig). Most guys could care less what radio you have unless you putting out a crappy signal chirps, bad audio, a drifty signal, etc. I do like to talk about radios though. Especially table top SW rx and vintage gear.
QRP - 95% of the time if I am QRP it means electricity has been lost at my QTH (usually from bad WX) and I am runing off battery power.
Webpages
My Current QSL
No this isn't my house. It is the Thomas Point Shoal Light
Misc
Stuff I photoshopped & edited throughout the years (I don't know if it's worth mentioning but the photos are not pulling from QRZ.com but the bandwidth is coming from my flickr account)
At this point you are probably wondering who is Dick WA3EUI? Dick was one of the first ham’s I ever met when I was 13. Dick would host the Bowie Amateur Radio Club meetings at his house since probably he was a bachelor and had the room. I didn’t actually realize it was his home and thought it was a clubhouse until after a few meetings. His living room had metal folding chairs, no paintings or photos on the wall but stacks of radio magazines and boxes tubes as well as other obsolete radio parts free for the taking if you needed them. Dick’s radio room was the kitchen where I suppose a dining room table would go. He had a long table stacked with classic radio gear. Dick definitely was a no frills OM who always could be found drinking his tea mix out of old Lipton tea jars. Dick made his living at what was even a dying trade in the late 70s of repairing typewriters. What I remember most about Dick was how he never looked down at what few teenage hams there were in the club. Sadly the OM died while I was in college in the mid-80s. Some how I can’t imagine that old typewriter repairman operating today’s modern gear. Dick was definitely an analog man. RIP OM.
Here I am in 1981
This pic is about a year later at age 17 or so.
In 2007 I got a chance to meet Nobel Laureate (Peace 1987) and the President of Costa Rica, Oscar Arias while in TI-land.
This was taken Thanksgiving Weekend 2008 on the Chesapeake Bay. I'm the guy on the right.
The photo below is the most recent photo of me. I took this between Christmas 09 and New Years at around 8AM in the morning. We had lost power at the house during an ice storm and I decided to fire up the QRP S&S Engineering 20 meter radio with battery power. I was working a station in Ukraine who had a hard time believing that I was using only 4 watts so I took a photo and emailed it to him.
A few notes about the photo and the stuff around me. First, that isn't a halo around my head as I'm certainly no angel. Those are magnetic loop antennas for LW, SW and MW. Notice the gurkha knife hanging on the wall? The knife was given to me by my childhood friend Tony a few years ago that had attended Father Moran's (9N1MM) school and was adopted by an American before coming to the states. When I got my amateur radio license, Tony's mother, who had been a Red Cross nurse in Nepal, said to me, "maybe you know my friend Father Moran"? Father Moran was a much in demand ham at the time because he was the ONLY ham in Nepal and known to virtualy every DXer in the world. I just explained to her that I had a better chance of getting a message to god with my station than to 9N1MM and explained the whole insanity of DXing. Sadly 9N1MM is now gone but he is very fondly remembered by many people having left the world a little better than the way he found it. The QRP rig I was using is next to my shoulder.
This photo was taken in February 2010 after we had two big snow storms - about 85cm plus of snow in a week.
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