W8BYA (ex WD8BYA, WN8BYA).

Home is near Ft. Wayne, Indiana, and for the first time in my life I have room for antennas, towers, and a shack.  Prior to moving here I struggled to put up any HF or even VHF antennas while living on various postage-stamp sized lots. Currently, 3 self-supporting towers grace the grounds at the QTH.  I have been blessed with my XYL & best friend (KC9MOM) who supports my every endevor. I also have two older brothers who I can always count on for a fun & spirited QSO on the air (N8AUM & N8CVV).  My current interests center around VHF/UHF weak signal work (EME, MS, Au, Tropo, etc), as well as just working DX on 40M or 15M SSB.  I have been known to mess around with analog SSB SSTV on HF & VHF.

I really enjoy 2M/432 SSB, CW, or WSJT, and welcome skeds with anyone needing EN70 as a new grid or with anyone who would like to have fun making a long distance contact.  My normal range on 2M/432 under flat conditions, and to a good station, is around 500 miles.  My furthest 2M (non-EME) DX is to DN41 in Utah via MS at 1382 miles. Thanks to the willing and able stations at the far end, I have been able to work 42 states in over 240 grids on 2M.  Here is a map showing the grid squares worked on 2M from this QTH:

http://gedas.cc/v/Misc/HAM-1/2m-grids.jpg.html

Other interests, time permitting, include astro-imaging, photography, and goofing around with antennas, and antenna design.  I especially like modeling directional antennas for 40M and then trying them out.

The VHF/UHF station consists of a Flex 5000A, TS-2000, and FT-897.  A Commander-II 2M kW helps out when conditions are rough.  On HF I like to use either the Flex or a FT-1000MP, both with the AL-1200 amplifier, when needed. The current antennas on VHF/UHF are a pair of CC 17B2s at 85', 25-elem 432 yagi at 80', and a CC 5-elem 6M beam at around 75'.  Mast-mounted pre-amps are used on 2M and 432 and are both fed with almost 300' of 7/8" 75-ohm hardline. The HF tribander is on a different tower and is a CC X7 @ 75'. The 3rd picture down is from the 40' level of the 70' X7 tower looking north (tnx N8CVV).   I also use a R8 vertical, a 2-elem 40M rotatable phased array, and an assortment of experimental 40M/75M wire antennas. If you get a minute, do a search on YouTube for my call to see some F/B tests on my home-brew 2-elem rotateable phased array for 40M.  I QSL 100% direct or via EQSL but currently do NOT use the ARRL QSL bureau.

I keep an image gallery with lots of Ham Radio and Astro related pictures at http://gedas.cc/main.php

73, Gedas, W8BYA