Hello from Kingwood, Texas..

My dad was a ham before I was born so I have always been around ham radio. I used to talk to my dad on the auto patch from home when I was a kid. I worked as an electronics assembler for my dad's company for a few years attaching and soldering parts, including those tiny surface mount parts on circuit boards. I like the tedious job of soldering so I usually get that task when some needs done.

I became more interested in ham radio when I moved to Missouri. I got my technician license in 1997. I now have my General License and hopefully will be working towards my Extra Class License . I was involved in C.E.R.T., A.R.E.S., R.A.C.E.S., Weather Spotting, and Emergency Management when I lived in Missouri. I have to admit I didn't really talk on the radio very much except to check into local nets and when working events like Field Day. I helped out with the MS Bike Tour for about 10 years as communication for one of the rest stops for the bicyclists.

In the summer of 2007 I was  part of a group that formed called OMAR(Ozark Mountain Amateur Radio Group). We put up a 2m DStar Repeater in Ozark, Missouri. The callsign for the repeater was W0OMD. It is sad to say, but they took that repeater down a couple of years ago. Some stations enjoyed using that repeater when traveling or staying in that area. I keyed up on DStar for the first time at a Hamfest in Springfield, Missouri and made my first two contacts with 2 stations over in California, WA6YTD and WW6USA. I was then hooked on DStar after that and became a regular talker on the radio. I have enjoyed making great friends all over the world. It definitely has made our World seem alot smaller. I am the net control station for a DStar Net that is held on Sunday evenings on Reflector 1C at 7:00 p.m. central time.  It is called the International DStar Net. We get checkins from several countries around the world and several USA states...Hope you will link in and say hi to us. We would be glad to hear from you. I really enjoy doing the net.

I am a member of a radio group up here in Kingwood, Texas where I live...The group is called the TEXAS EMERGENCY AMATEUR COMMUNICATORS (TEAC) Radio Group.  They meet once a month up here in Kingwood...They are a good group of people and want to help our community and surrounding area.  I am also part of a Digital Radio Support Group which is Great... We meet once a month down in the Houston area ...Good group of people that are willing to help others learn about Digital Communication...It is nice to be a part of a group that enjoys DStar along with other Digital Modes of Communication. They are always willing to help set up radios and help people understand about digital modes...Thank you for that.

My radio equipment includes an IC2820H, IC80AD with GPS Mic, Icom Anniversary 51A handheld, and an Icom 51A plus handheld.  I also have a Raspberry Pi using  the dstar commander image along with a 440 devap..I use a verizon mifi internet device to get my internet connection for my raspberry pi.  I also use a RAVpower bank to power up the raspberry pi and my internet device.  The raspberry pi and dvap are enclosed in a clear pelican case which makes it very handy to transporting and taking mobile with me along with my handheld dstar radio.  Then I can connect and talk to people around the world mobile or at home.  I also have a blue dv dongle which is great to use to connect to dstar.. As you can tell I love DSTAR...I enjoy being the American Representative to the group over on GB7SF in Sheffield, England. They sent me a shirt with their logo and my name and callsign embroidered on it. I would have to say DStar is my favorite mode of communication, but after being a frequent user of DStar, I feel like I could talk on any radio band now. Thank you to all my friends out there in the DStar Community who have helped me in learning about DStar and Ham Radio in general.  It is Great having friends around the world... It is like an extended family.

Thanks for looking me up and if you hear me on the radio, dv dongle, or echolink please push that button and say hi.

My echolink node # is 391464

73 from Connie, KB0ZSG