Hello - Thanks for dropping by!

If I'm on the air this will update with my current frequency:

I will QSL 100% all direct incoming QSLs that include an SASE, of course. I also participate in LoTW and very much appreciate confirmations there. I upload all QSOs to LoTW and to QRZ on a regular basis.

Licensed in 1976 as WN4GNE, Novice, I was introduced to the hobby by Richard Weisshaut, WA4MKN in Miami Beach where I was raised. Living in a highrise apartment building right on the Atlantic Ocean, I had Europe at my fingertips but, alas, a missed opportunity! WN4GNE became WA4GNE and eventually my license lapsed without much activity. Moving and then college and Navy served as a distraction from radio exploits.

In 1989, I was a Nuclear Machinist's Mate in the US Navy, stationed in Charleston, SC. I had recently reported to USS Sam Rayburn(SSBN-635) after 5 years onboard USS Henry M. Jackson(SSBN-730) and we had just completed its conversion from a Fleet Ballistic Missle Submarine to the Navy's first Moored Training Ship(MTS-635) at Nuclear Power Training Unit (NPTU) Charleston, SC. We were at our new home at the Naval Weapons Station and I was enjoying a bagged lunch in the breakroom where I heard Danny Groover and Scott Chippendale chatting about Ham Radio - soon after that I had my Novice licence as KC4OOQ and upgraded to Technician as N4YJX. Next, I upgraded to Advanced as KO4GS. One of these years I will have to upgrade to Extra. - Well, I finally did on 8 JAN 2011! Now what?

KO4GS Station

Yaesu FT-950 powered from an Alinco DM-340MV power supply. An 8-position antenna switch connects an inverted G5RV @ 35' to one of two HF rigs. The FT-950 listens and transmits through an LDG AT-100PRO external tuner. The FT-950 is connected to a SingaLink USB and an AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 6400+ Processor running at 3.21 GHz with 4 GB RAM and running Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit. I chat through a Heil PR781 station microphone mounted on the Heil Boom. I also have a Kenwood TS440SAT with a matching PS-50 20 Amp power supply - still works extremely well after over 20 years in service, both mobile and fixed station!

Ham Radio Deluxe 5.0 suite including the logging and DM-780 modules provide integrated rig CAT control and digital mode support as well as contact logging and awards tracking. Additionally, HRD serves as the DX Spotting tool by connecting to one of many DX Clusters.

On the wall is the DXCC with Phone endorsement, the vast majority worked on 10mtrs, Worked All States with 10 meters and SSB endorsements. Also, hanging is the IARU Worked All Continents with Phone endorsement. I recently received my IARU Region 2 Award - a nice certificate for 20 countries confirmed in - you guessed it - Region 2!

Also in the Shack is a Yaesu FT-7900R and an oldy: a Kenwood TR-7950 VHF radio with a tone board. The 7900R is connected to a Cushcraft Ringo Ranger II or to a Diamond X-300 Dualband antenna. A Yaesu FT-470 handheld dualbander and a Yaesu VX-8DR Handheld with GPS are available for handheld ops. I'm trying to get the TR-7950 on line for packet via a PK-232 MBX - worked 20 years ago on a MAC but no joy on my WIN7 Machine - yet - stand by!

A Yaesu FTM-350R multiband radio is mounted in the F150 SVT Raptor listening and transmitting through a Diamond SG7900 dualbander. Just acquired is the FT-857D for the truck with a Little Tarheel II screwdriver antenna - can't wait to radiate some RF with the 857 - Mobile!!

On the short list is a new HF antenna - possibly the DX Engineering 43 ft Vertical or, perhaps, the HEXX - I like the HEXX and that may be the next acquisition.

Here's the Raptor!

2011 VA QSO Party stats: 373 contacts, 71 VA counties or Independant cities, 24 states and 3 Canadian Provinces. I used the N1MM contest logging program for just basic logging and it worked quite well. The program correctly IDed Dupes and easily connected to the FT-950 with CAT control correctly pulling mode and frequency data from the rig to the log. Of course, it dated and timed the QSOs and it even tallied the points though I am not 100% sure of its accuracy - it appears to be correct based upon a cursory review of the QSO Party rules built into the program. I was able to easily export the contest log in both CABRILLO and ADIF formats - one for the contest submission and the other imported into my primary logger: HRD. N1MM is free. I will definitely be back next year and will be disappointed in anything less than 600 contacts!

The 2012 Virginia QSO Party, 17-18 March 2012, was exhausting! 614 QSOs operating low power, SOSR - a major improvement over last year's 373 contacts. Here are the stats: 614 contacts, 92 VA counties or independant cities, 28 states and 3 Canadian Provinces. #1 State: PA = 38; #1 county: Loudoun = 23.

Enjoyed the 2011 13 Colonies Special Event working all 13 colonies and Independence Hall SES station WM3PEN - here are 3 of my favorite QSL cards from the event:

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2012

Route 66 On the Air

Also in 2011 I worked W9IMS for the Indy 500 over Memorial Day,the Brickyard 400 in July and finally the triad with the Red Bull Indy GP in August. The QSL cards and certificate are superb! This is another annual Special Event not to be missed!

2012

Museum Ships! Military, Commercial and Civil Service ships with amateur radio onboard is also a fun event led by NJ2BB in New Jersey. Occurs the 1st weekend in June, I believe. The 2012 list had 99 ships participating from all over the world. Here are a few nice cards from the Museum Ships Weekend event. (W6RO was obviously worked on another occasion but they were a participant for the weekend event!)

For QSO Parties and Contests I use the excellent N1MM contest logger program - what an amazing piece of software! The integration of telnet and spots into the various information windows and the color-keying are a tremendous help and convey a lot of information to the operator on where to operate and what to work to maximize operating efficiency! Still much to learn but - WOW!

United States Navy

30Years of Service - I continue to serve

I am retired from the US Navy as a Chief Information Systems Technician. I left Active Duty as a Nuclear Machinist's Mate in 1996 and joined the Navy Reserves as a Data Processing Technician(DP). The DP rate was converted to the IT rate along with Radioman(RM) around 1998. After being recalled to Active Duty in 2003, I was allowed to remain on active status until I retired in 2009. I now enjoy civilian Federal employment working for Navy Expeditionary Logistics Support Group (NAVELSG) in Williamsburg, VA managing their communications as the Deputy Director for their Comms Department.

Last, I diligently enter the GigaParts sweepstakes trying to win a new toy, apparently, increasing the odds that someone else will actually win the prize!

73 DE KO4GS,