I was an 'instant' General Class ham as of Feb 27th, 2006; having sat and passed my Technician, code test, and the General class exams in a single day (and all on the first try). Just a little over three years into the hobby/obsession, it seems that there is still an endless variety of new things for me to try or experiment on!

 *** I upgraded to Amateur Extra in September 2006, and applied for and was granted a vanity call sign! All of the 1x2 and 2x1 calls were taken in the fourth call area, so I opted for KI3N. My old call sign being KI4NVN; its almost the same with just a few of the suffix letters lopped off and the call area changed from '4' to '3'. I'm still in four-land, though.   I have moved recently to a new QTH. Almost all the antennas are up, and I am back in full operation.  I can still get mail at either location, so if you mailed out a QSL card....no worries, I will get it.   ***

So far, I love working the various state QSO parties, doing some light contesting, working the digital modes all hours of the morning and night, and the occasional ragchew on SSB. If you hear any slow CW, thats probably me...my send and receive are going to need some practice, so any CW operators I work -- thanks for your patience in advance. I'm proud of passing the code test and plan to work more CW as time allows. I'm also very active with PSK, MFSK 16, Feld-Hell, and RTTY, with the addition of a Tigertronics SL1+ to my equipment 'arsenal'. Oh, by the way, Ham Radio Deluxe and Digital Master 780 ROCKS! If it only had a real QSL card or label printing feature, it'd be perfect.  I know, there is sort of a program as an addon, but it doesn't meet my needs. 

'My *fun* rig is a Kenwood TS-120S, a Heil Pro headset, Hi-Mound HK-706 keyer, and a Hustler 5BTV antenna w/o radials as well as an 80 meter dipole...a good basic setup, and one that I keep going back to for the fun of it. My main rig is an Icom 756 Pro, which sees the lion's share of use for contesting, working the digital modes, and for 'serious' amateur radio. The 756 Pro is a awesome rig for anyone that wants to dabble in contesting and experimenting in the digital modes.  I don't know how many times those adjustable filters have helped me pull out a weak one from the herd on psk31, or how many times my voice has been saved by the speech recording features of the Icom.  That being said, for a good ragchew I love the classic sytle and simplicity of my old Kenwood TS-120s.  I also have an IC-706 (original model) that I use as a secondary rig, and regularly operate mobile HF from a Yaesu FT-857D with an ATAS 100 for 6m-40m, and a set of hamsticks tuned for 75m and 80m. 

I do a fair amount of 'mountain-topping' ... theres a nice scenic overlook that does wonders for a mobile antenna! When your mobile antenna is only 8' tall, it helps to get it up to about 1500' asl. Mainly for checkins into the 3905CC on 75m & 40m or to test out my emergency field operations gear, but I've done some DX from up 'on high' as well. One of these days I plan to try my hand at VHF contesting from up there with a portable yagi or moxon antenna.  I also just added the ability to go mobile PSK, so thats something new for me to play with! 

I also work some local 2m on my Yaesu VX-2R or my Icom 2200H (with the UT-118 D-Star Digital Module installed). I have d-Chat set up and can have it running at a moment's notice. I also have EchoLink up and running as well but I rarely use that mode nless theres a compelling reason. 

I'm also involved in ARES/RACES and disaster assistance, which ties nicely into my primary occupation as a police dispatcher. I currenty hold the positions or Calhoun County RACES Assistant Commander, and Calhoun County ARES Assistant Coordinator, and serve as one of the net control stations on the weekly training net.

I'm fully NIMS compliant, and have so far taken the ARECC level 1 and level 2.  I'm also an active member of the CCARA (Calhoun County Area Repeater Assoc), home of the first U S D-star net! Time allowing, I really enjoy providing communications support for many local events as an amateur volunteer, such as the the Cheaha Ultra Marathon, the Woodstock 5k, and the Cheaha Challenge, and all have been a blast!

As far as amateur radio clubs go, I'm a member of the following:
EPC # 5530. PODXS 070 # 849, DMC # 0824, Feld-Hell Club # FH-1519, SK-cc # 4918, and

I'd like to also mention my 'long-distance' Elmer....John Oscar, AE9DX. Not only was he one of the very first people in my logbook, but he has been extremely helpful in answering all of those new ham questions and has been a plathora of knowledge and assistance. Thanks, John....I appreciate it.

Also, I'd like to mention Randall Landers, KG4EUD as sort of an 'inspirational' Elmer of sorts. His unswerving dedication to amateur radio and disaster communications have been a driving force in this area.

I will 100% return any received QSL cards direct - it may take some time but I will get it done!  I'm also good on eQSL, and am "Authenticity Guaranteed".  I'm having problems with lotW (still) but hope to have this resolved soon.  I try and send out cards to every station that I work, but with so many stateside stations requiring SASE the cost is becoming prohibitive.  So, I will mail out cards to all stations NOT REQUIRING SASE, and answer all cards sent direct no SASE required. 

I like to create new QSL cards and have several different designs handy, and I'm updating or making new designs all the time. Currently, I have two 'regular' designs, two post card designs, a special event design, as a mobile operation design.  I am in the process of designing a website, and when I have it complete I will add photos of the cards that I am sending out now as well as a database of older cards that I have sent in the past.

In addition, I've started trying to check into the 3905 Century Club Net on at least an infrequent basis, and I have submitted cards to the 40m and 75m buro managers and plan to start working the PSK/RTTY net as well if I can ever get free time when the net is in session!  

If anyone did *not* recieve a card from me for any reason, please drop me an e-mail and I'll try to get one out asap. I had a computer crash last year, and my electronic log suffered a minor hit. Learned my lesson: my logs get backed up on mirrored RAID drives, get backed up to a USB memory stick and a server, AND get printed out in paper form.

Here's hoping to see you all on the bands.....

Ken