QSL image: Vintage Vermont Postcard,"Mt. Mansfield"

Please call me Nick. I was a longtime SWL, having discovered shortwave stations on my grandparents "tuning eye" radio as a kid. I became hooked and started saving up my paper-route money until I could buy a Hammarlund HQ-100C, which still casts it's warm glow in the shack once in awhile.

Recently retired, I fulfilled a long time goal of getting a ham license. I have been having a blast. A fortunate, thrilling QSO with Charles Simonyi on board the I.S.S. in early April 2009, hooked me again and sparked my interest in working the OSCAR satellites. Also, thank you to Commander Wheelock for activating ham radio on the I.S.S. in 2010!

My portable FM satellite set-up consists of an IC-W32A downlink, and IC-V82 uplink. The antenna is a homebrew 2M/70cm yagi (2 up, 5 down), based on the WA5VJB design. It's mounted on a camera tripod and can be flipped into a vertical position. Sometimes, I used a WA2ODO built 436 Mhz preamp to help me work into Europe on very low elevation transatlantic passes, when AO-51, AO-27 and HO-68 were operational.

My satellite base station, used primarily for SSB on the linear transponder sats, consists of a FT-847, MD-100 mic and ARROW II yagi set-up for indoor operation.

My HF/6M station is an IC-706MKIIG, Heil HM-IC mic, and AT-7000 tuner with various wire antennas and a 6M KU4AB loop. This combo is being used to chase HF DXCC & VUCC~6M. Recently, I've added a Signalink USB interface. I am active on PSK31/RTTY using cocoaModem 2.0 and Fldigi software, and JT65-HF.

QSLing:

I enjoy the exchange of traditional paper QSLs and continue to do so.

On HF/6M, I routinely upload all of my logs to LoTW.

On Satellites, I only upload to LoTW on a case by case or by request basis.

Awards:

ARRL VUCC~Satellite #184, Issued Oct. 12, 2009 (current totals: 1108 grids worked in 55 fields with 947 confirmed)

AMSAT Century Award #40, Issued Nov. 9, 2010 (current totals: 128 entities worked with 126 confirmed)

DXCC #40741, issued May 5, 2012.

Affiliations:

ARRL

AMSAT Member #37087 Listen for me on the birds!

RANV -Radio Amateurs of Northern Vermont

European PSK Club EPC #18483

Satellite Grid Map* (as of 14 October 2012): RED=CONFIRMED, BLUE=WORKED *GcmWIN software by SM3GSJ

Photo Below: A summer "gridpedition" to Corea, ME in FN64.

The shack with FT-847 for sats and TR-7950 for local repeaters: