ARRL Life Member

Southeastern DX Club

CW Ops Member # 1657

Georgia Contest Group

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My name is Christopher "Chris" Wynn.  I was first licensed in 1989 at the age of twelve years old.  I originally got hooked on this hobby while on a Boy Scout retreat/ campout.  Once I saw what could be done with Ham Radio, I was obsessed!  My original callsign was KC4MAY, and I upgraded to Technician Class two months after getting my first license, and then I received the callsign N4XFA.  At the same time, my father, Larry Wynn, also received his license one week after me.  His license was KC4MEI and he also upgraded to technician with N4YDV awarded to him.  After years of procrastanation and encouragement by my mentor, K4PI, I finally set aside enough time to study and upgraded to Extra Class in the Fall of 2015.  After passing, I received the vanity call sign of N4YA. 

I operate using Vibroplex keys and I have quite an extensive collection of early keys from Fulton Street, NY.  My main workhorse is a Gold Iambic that runs as smooth as glass.  I have recently moved to a single lever vibrokeyer that seems to work very well.  While at a recent hamfest, I managed to get my hands on a Brown Brothers BTL-A, which is a nice feeling key.  I also like to pull out the semi-auto bugs and run those from time-to-time. 

Quite interestingly enough, when I originally learned to operate CW, Santa Claus brought me a Bencher BY-2.  When I wired it for use with my Yaesu FT-107, which I still own, I wired it backwards--where I send dashes with my thumb and dits with my finger.  I only discoverd this issue years later when my elmer, Mike Greenway, K4PI, sat down to test some antennas, and discovered that my key was wired backwards!  After this discovery, we determined that it should not affect my speed or accuracy and I continued using this method today!  However, if I ever sit down at someone elses radio, I usually have to turn their key around backwards in order to use it!  When I operate using bugs, I usually will use a left handed model, which works perfectly for me.

By trade, I am a trial lawyer and practice mostly criminal, domestic, and civil cases.  I am married to Erin, a graduate of Mississippi State University in Starkville, Mississippi, the home of MFJ Enterprises.  We have two sons, Jackson (10) and Cooper (8).  From their early beginnings, I operated a Yaesu FT-857D from their nursery and would rock them to sleep at night as I operated CW with the headphones on.  I also would play Moby Dick in Morse Code to them as they fell asleep at night.  As they get older, I cannot wait to see if they take up morse code more easily since they have heard so much of it in their early years.....either that, or everytime they hear morse code, they will fall asleep! 

We also have a Jack Russell Terrier named "Fletcher," which is shortened to "Fletch" after the Chevy Chase movie, "Fletch." As a puppy, he has spent many nights asleep in the chair next to me as I operated DX all night long.

 

Above: My oldest son, "Jackson," learning how to say, "QRZed Contest"!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Above: My "selfie stick" made out of a part of an A3WS modified for 30 meters (This was taken two days after ankle surgery for degenrative arthritis.  The nerve block had not worn off yet, so I felt NO PAIN until Monday morning about 2:00 PM and then it was horrible).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My tranceiver is a Yaesu FT-5000MP (The xyl does not know that I bought the new FT-5k at this point (8/1/2016), so I am sure that I will be moving back out into the doghouse soon) (Ok, she discovered the new FT-5k that I bought and she was not happy!!!! Needless to say, I slept down in the shack for a few nights, but have since been allowed to move back in.... only after I promised to buy her the new horse that she wants {We already own a grandson of "Secretariat," Triple Crown winner and son of "Java Gold," who won more money over his lifetime than his father, Secretariet.  My wife's horse's registered name is "Dugdemona," born 1995, and son of "Java Gold;"  a/k/a: Money Pit/ could have bigger antenna farm, but.....).  However, as any married man knows, you gotta keep mama happy!

I have an Alpha 9500 amplifer that creates its own propagation during these dismal solar flux times.  I also have an Alpha 76A, with three 8874s, that I use as a back-up amp.  I have had Dick Byrd, N4UQ, go through it and install some of his trademark protection circuitry that adds a little protection to it.  If you have an alpha, I would highly recommend contacting him to discuss making your amp bullet proof.  I know of nobody else that is better with an Alpha Amplifier than Dick Byrd, N4UQ  www.n4uq.com  ​​Dick is an absolute genious with RF and Alpha Amplifiers and does not take short cuts.  It's also nice that he literally lives two miles up the road from me! 

I also would urge anyone with an Alpha 9500 to check out my friend's, Dave Mulvey's website, www.mulveyware.com.  He wrote a great program that makes the Alpha 9500 follow band changes of your radio while running either ham Radio Deluxe or N1MM's contest logging program.  Dave, KD6BZN, originally wrote the program for ICOM radios, but we discovered that it would work rather seemlessly with a Yaesu FTDX-5000.  I would highly suggest anyone using either of these logging programs that also use an Alpha 9500, to download Dave's program.  Likewise, please understand, this program was not created by UNICEF, so donate, and donate often, so that Dave can continue to improve his program!

The antenna farm consists of two towers:

The first tower is a U.S. Tower TX-472 that cranks up to 72 feet.  The antenna is a Hy-Gain TH-7, seven element triband yagi on a 20 foot mast.    My wife decided that she did not want to have to look at "ugly" guy wires, so I had to go with a crank up tower.  With the exception of the truck that brought the tower to me and the truck that brought the 32 tons of concrete, I installed every piece on my own.  I had a few set backs through the learning curve, and the only major problem was a broken rear rib! I also have a Hy-Gain A3WS mounted above the Hy-Gain TH-7 on the crank up tower.  This has been a great improvement for the WARC bands. 

The second tower consists of 100 feet of Rohn 25 that I use to support a Cushcraft XM-240 two element Yagi for 40 meters. The XYL did not know that I had dug the hole, poured concrete, and stacked about thirty feet before she discovered what I was doing.  I decided it would be easier to ask for forgivness than for permission!  Therefore, I stacked the 1st half while she was out-of-town on business, but I knew that if I had asked first, she would have said no!  Needless to say, I was sleeping in the doghouse for a few nights after she discovered me stacking the new tower!

I recently put up a "TEE" antenna designed by Mike Greenway, K4PI, for 80 meters.  While originally designed to be cut for 160 meters, I scaled it down for 80 meters, which has worked pretty well. I have an untold number of radial wires laid on the ground, and everytime I cut the grass, I usually end up cutting a few of them shorter.  Unfortunatly, I know all too well the sound guy wires make when you hit them with three blades of a zero turn lawn mower! I cannot imagine a much worse sounding noise, at least for a DX'er!

 

For low band receive, I have two main arrays.  The first is a K9AY Loop System designed by Array Solutions.  I had to compramise as to its location, but am hoping that it helps with the 80/160 receiving, which I find is very tough and elusive.  I also have a HI-Z 4-square receive array for low band receiving.  So far, it really makes a big difference for low band receive.  Only time will tell, as we are going into the noisy part of the year here in the Southeast United States, but I expect to have all of the bugs worked out of the system by fall.  I am going to have to replace two sets of steel guy wires with Phillystran, as both North East (EU) and North West (JAs) are shadowed by those sets of guy wires. 

73 and see y'all in the pile ups!

Below: Fletch!

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Tower number one, with Hy-Gain TH-7 & Cushcraft A3WS on top.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Erecting the 100 foot Rohn 25 tower for the Cushcraft XM-240.