EXPEDITION, QSL MANAGER AND IRC INFORMATION AT BOTTOM
Thanks for stopping by. I was first licensed (Novice) as WV2FIJ sometime during 1959. I got on the air using a crystal controlled Heathkit DX40, a homebrew antenna tuner and an army surplus BC342 receiver. Upgraded to WA2FIJ in 1960 at the FCC building in New York City. I got a good deal on a BC610E and used it for a year or two on AM and CW but too many TVI complaints plus the CW tone was really bad when using the internal tuning units for frequency control in its variable frequency mode. Only way not to get an OO report on CW was to get those huge FT-171B crystals.
Went back to the DX40 as an exciter with the Heathkit external VFO (VF-1) which made chasing DX a bit easier. I finally got clean CW and VFO control by hooking up the output of the DX40 to the grid of the 250TH in the BC610E.
Finally upgraded the station with a Heathkit Marauder (HX10) transmitter, homebrew 3-400Z amplifier, Hallicrafter SX99 receiver which was later replaced with a Collins 75A3 receiver. Antennas while living at home before college graduation were various wire antennas, Hornet tribander, a 20-15-10 quad (great antenna but fell apart) and some other odd tribanders.
After my college graduation in 1969 (BSEE, University of Missouri in Columbia) and thru the 1980's I upgraded to a TS520, a Collins 30L1 amplifier and a TH6 at 50 feet.
In 1989 moved from New York to southern California making sure the house I was going to buy was not in a Home Owners Association. When I got established in California, I upgraded to a TS950 in 1992 and, during the mid 1990's, I got my Extra and applied for and received my vanity callsign W2IJ. In 1996 I got my tower permit, put up a Tri-EX LM-354HD tower, slid in a 20 foot mast and put up a Mosley Classic CL33. In 2002, pulled down the CL33, put up a Force-12 C31, WARC beam with a 30M kit (A3WS) at 62 feet and a rotatable dipole (D40) at 70 feet. My WA2FIJ call now held by my son Mark. I retired from the aerospace industry in 2008 after almost 40 years and, as I see it today, every day is Saturday!
Present station is still the TS950, an old one tube ETO PA77 amplifier and the antennas noted above. The only thing changed on the tower has been the rotator (from an old TailTwister to an M2 2800DC). After only 50 years, I finally reached #1 Honor Roll DXCC (355 total worked/conformed).
I have uploaded my personal logs that go back to February 1996 to the LoTW. My latest upload was on February 16, 2012.
Family Stuff
I am married (39 years) to a very understandable wife regarding expeditions and ham radio in general. We have 2 children. Lori is a Registered Dental Assistant in Southern California. Mark is a private pilot (business jet) for a firm in China as of March, 2012.
EXPEDITIONS, QSL MANAGER AND IRC INFORMATION
I have participated in the following expeditions:
-
1980 Kingman Reef (WA2FIJ/KH5K) and Palmyra (K6LPL/KH5, WA2FIJ/KH5) [January]
-
1992 Clipperton Island, FO0CI (March)
-
2011 Central Kiribati, Kanton Island T31A (April)
-
2011 Western Samoa, 5W0JK (April)
QSL manager (use the address above) for the following
-
1980 WA2FIJ/KH5K Kingman Reef Expedition (January), no LoTW
-
2011 T31A Expedition (April) Latest LoTW Upload January 25, 2013
-
2011 5W0JK (April), no LoTW
1. If the QSL card is sent to the address above, the outgoing QSL will be in the mail the next day
2. Please place your callsign on the back of your return envelope or on the inside flap of your return envelope
3. If you send an IRC please make sure it is valid
IRC INFORMATION
IF YOU ARE GOING TO SEND AN IRC MAKE SURE THE IRC IS GOOD THROUGH DECEMBER 2013 AND IS STAMPED ON THE LEFT SIDE. IF NOT, THE IRC IS NOT EXCHANGEABLE FOR RETURN POSTAGE AND THE QSL WILL BE SENT VIA THE BUREAU.
-
IF YOU ARE PURCHASING A NEW IRC, MAKE SURE YOUR POST OFFICE STAMPS IT ON THE LEFT SIDE
-
IF YOU ARE USING AN IRC YOU HAVE RECEIVED, MAKE SURE THE LEFT SIDE OF THE IRC IS STAMPED.
