Welcome my fellow Amateur Radio Operators!!
Bienvenidos a mi companero Amateur Radio Operadores!!
Note to readers: ALL images are linked to their full size photographs. Simply click on a picture to make it large.
My First day as a Ham:
October 17th 2013 at 07:52 Central USA time I keyed my brand new VHF Icom 2300H and gave my call sign on one of the popular simplex frequencies. Quite a few Hams welcomed me into the hobby that morning. My hands were sweaty from the excitement.
What got me interested in Amateur Radio:
I orginally contacted a ham (did not know he was a ham) about building a .64 wave antenna but quickly found out I just didn't have the equipment or training to build that type of antenna. He guided me through a sharp learning curve about all aspects of radio. I even tweaked a Galaxy CB to make it sound very good in AM as well as SSB mode. I was striving for a clear, natural sounding radio without any surgery to the unit. I also did not want to be an overmodulating menace. I was very careful when adjusting it so I would sound the best I could acheive.
On the night of September 26th, 2013 I called my Elmer on his telephone and told him I passed my technician class exam with a good score. I could basically hear that gentleman leaning back in his chair smiling with a big sense of accomplishment and pride. Hahaha. Thank you, K3DAV, you sure have helped me learn a lot about radio. Dave, your website articles (http://www.k3dav.com/articles.htm) have helped me greatly too.
My second Elmer I would like to mention is K0HWE. He has been very helpful and encouraging. I always enjoy catching him on simplex.
Rigs:
Icom IC-718, 160 meter - 10 meter, SSB, AM, CW, RTTY, 100 watts.
Icom IC-2300H, 2 meter, FM only, 65 watts.
Base Antennas (fed with Times Microwave LMR-400):
Solarcon I-MAX 2000. 15 meter - 10 meter, SWR < 1.5
Comet CHA250bx. 80 meter - 10 meter, SWR < 1.6
Homemade ground planes for 2 meter in the house attic.
Mobile:
My mobile station (below).
Note, this is not my cell phone tower.
Comet SBB-25, 2 meter Band, 4.1 dB gain, using a Diamond K702M magnetic mount.
A 102" stainless steel whip, 10 meter Band SWR < 1.2, mounted using a gumdrop mount, directly to the truck's box.
VIEW MY QTH HERE: http://no.nonsense.ee/qth/map.html?qth=EN41
Friends A-Z:
Thank you for looking me up, catch me On-Air or on my Echolink node 909159.
73,
KD0WTE (General Class Operator)
More items, links, and useful info below. >>>
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Kayaking (Left), Photographing Trains (Right)
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I love photographing storms.
Below is a LARGE 87MP Panorama of a storm June - 22 - 2014 around 15:00 Central time. Click image to make large.
Comet vs A Large Bird Landing on it:
My Comet CHA250Bx was attacked by a bird!
As you can see my antenna seems incredibly 'bent out of shape' about the bird perching on it.
Click the pictures to enlarge them.
Time lapse photos of the antenna being destroyed by the bird.
These were long exposures (shutter was held open for long periods of time, at set intervals).
Photo courtesy Benjamin Root Photography, thanks to his star trail photo collection I know what happened to my antenna overnight!
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