I hope everyone enjoyed the 2013 IDXC - the 64th Annual International DX Convention April 19 - 21, 2013 in Visalia, California http://www.dxconvention.com/ This year the team from the NCDXC put together a great and memorable conference at the new Visalia Convention center. Everyone I talked to really enjoyed the Conference Center over the old Holiday Inn as everyone had more room. The staff and facilities were great and hopefully the Los Angeles DX Club will have the Visalia Convention Centter instead of the Holiday Inn.
The U.S. Post Office no longer issues IRC's. Please consider using the LOTW system. Additionally, with higer International postal costs, lost mail, theft and a BURO delay of at least 2 years, using LOTW makes sense.I support the use of LOTW for DX confirmations.
Active member:
NCDXC (Northern California DX Club) (Club Secretary) http://www.ncdxc.org/
NCDXF (Norhtern California DX Foundation) (Supporter) http://www.ncdxf.org
I enjoy volunteering my time as an ARRL VE and ARES/RACES for the Livermore Amature Radio Klub (LARK) http://www.livermoreark.org/
MY STATION:
My tower is 40' at 850 ASL located right between the windmills. The motors are loud enough to be heard inside the house.
(no the tower is not leaning from the wind, but an optical illusion)
My QTH is located inside the Altamont Pass Windfarm in East Livermore, California
(one of the windiest areas of the United States with over 3,500 windmills)
RIG:
Yaesu FT-950
Yaesu MTU for 20-30m
Yaesu DMU-2000 (Data Management Unit) and external LCD monitor
Yaesu G-1000 DXA
SteppIR 3 element beam with the 40m add on
80m full loop
Palstar AT1KP manual tuner
Heathkit SB-220 amp
RigExpert Standard USB interface
Heil Pro-Set PLUS headset
Icom IC-2710 2m/440
ABOUT ME:
I really enjoy the thrill of the confirmation of a new entity. RTTY is my favorite mode for contests but really love CW for DX.
At 8 years old, my parents wouldn't let me have a ham radio, but I did enjoy SWL and my love for DX AM skip turned into a great AM radio career.
Obviously I did become a ham and stayed with radio since then. My love for radio extended into college as I was voted "Station Manager" for the college radio station. I then worked toward obtaining my F.C.C. First Class Radiotelephone License for my career of broadcast engineering.
I worked for 50KW AM radio staions WBZ-AM and WRKO-AM in Boston, MA and KNBR-AM in San Francisco. I left commercial broadcasting to run both an industrial security company and a LMR commuications shop.
I now spend my time working with my XYL to publish her first e-book (a novel)CHOICES by M.A. Smith
Here's a list of what I've earned so far:
IARU HF World Championship First Place Single Operator Phone Only High Power EB Section CQ Zone 6
2011 FIRST PLACE RTTY ROUNDUP Multi-Operator, HIGH POWER - East Bay Section
FIRST PLACE Single Operator Low Power ARRL DX Assisted Phone Contest
FIRST PLACE Multi-Operator High Power East Bay Section
2012 FIRST PLACE RTTY ROUNDUP - LOW POWER - East Bay Section
WAZ: MIXED
WAZ: SSB #5192
WAZ: RTTY #229
DXCC: MIXED MODE #44,028
DXCC: CW #13,406
DXCC: DIGITAL
DXCC: PHONE
DXCC: 20 meters
DXCC: 17 meters
DXCC: 15 meters
DXCC: 10 meters
WAC: MIXED
WAS: BASIC
WAS: 40 meters
WAS: 20 meters
WAS: CW
WAS: PHONE
WAS: DIGITAL
WAS: DIGITAL-JT65
WAS: RTTY
WAS: 20M RTTY
WAS: JT65
Triple Play Award #853 issued 4/26/2013
This is a photo of me working with the N6A team during the California QSO Party(CQP) 2011 from Alpine County
