QSOs to Date (starting 5/31/12) : 2605

• DXCC SSB: 111 worked, 97 confirmed
• WAS Phone: 47 worked, 45 confirmed
• CQ WPX SSB: 354 confirmed

@@ Late breaking news -- I just upgraded to Extra class. @@

Thank you for visiting my page. I'm still carrying my original California callsign but I now live in Colorado since mid 2006. I received my Novice license back in 1971 and upgraded to a General class soon thereafter. Most of my radio experience was in the 1970's. I've recently revived my interest in the HF and VHF bands after being off the air for quite a few years.

I'm currently running an Icom 718 transceiver, Heil Proset IC headset, and I have an Ameritron AL-80B amplifier. I usually run between 100-400 watts depending on conditions. An extra s-unit definately helps when my signal is close to the DX station's noise level!

My antenna is an Alpha Delta DX-EE fan dipole. The antenna is mounted in my upper story attic about 25-30ft up from the ground and runs north to south (HOA restrictions!).

Here's a picture of my antenna. It seems to work quite well on 10, 12, 15, 17, and 20 meters. I use an antenna tuner for 12 and 17 meters. It also works ok for 40 meters, although the bandwidth @ <2:1 VSWR is really narrow -- around 50KHz or so. I've tuned it for the lower CW portion of the 40 meter band and use a tuner for the upper phone section. I've also added 14 clamp-on ferrites to the coax near the feedpoint to reduce any potential common mode currents on the feedline.

I live at 6250 ft up against the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. The foothills rise immediately west behind my house to about 7900 ft. The Rockies reach 14,242 ft (Mt Evans) 25 miles to the west. I was initially a bit worried about radiation angles to the west with my attic dipole since I'm so close to the mountains. However, I've managed to work Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and Guam so far. Going the other direction, I've worked Europe, Africa, South America, Russia and a host of other countries. Overall, I'm quite pleased with it's performance.

Working the DX pileups is another story altogether. I refuse to resort to poor operating practices just to make a contact. It appears many operators need to study the DX Code of Conduct. So, it will just take longer to make certain DX contacts. I'm in no hurry!

Here's what our area looks like in winter.

73 and I hope to hear you on the air!