Grid: EN66     County: Marquette

IRLP NODE#: 8993     Echolink Node#: 2052

History

Former calls, KA8VKX 1984-1994, and AA8RC 1994-1998. Born and raised in Ishpeming, Michigan, which is in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan near Marquette, Michigan. As KA8VKX, I have lived in Ishpeming, Houghton, Sault Ste Marie, Rapid River, and Escanaba, between 1988 and 1994. In 1998 I moved to Aurora, Minnesota for 5 years, where I obtained the callsign KB0P. Aurora is located next to Virginia, MN, which is 60 miles north of Duluth on the Minnesota Iron Range. In 2003, I moved back to Ishpeming, Michigan, where I currently reside.

HF Activity

I enjoy QRP, CW, and homebrewing. I enjoy operating vintage radio gear using AM on 75, 40, and 10 Meters. I also enjoy experimenting with crystal radio receivers, and I won 2nd place in the Second Annual Crystal Radio contest, which was held in March, 2000. Also, I enjoy playing with PIC's, building controllers, CW ID'ers, and other related projects. Lately, I don't get on HF very often (busy), but you may find me on 1912 KHz, 3906 KHz, 3921 KHz, or 7258 KHz (phone). Currently, I do not have an AM station set up, but I hope to get back into 75 Meter AM, soon.

I am a member of the "Mighty Midwest Glow Worms", using a homebrew 1929 Hartley oscillator with a #27 Cunningham tube. You may find me on 3563 KHz (CW).

Repeater Activity

I am very active with Repeater Linking. I set up the very first Internet Linked repeater in Minnesota (WD8RFS/R) in January 2000, using Vocaltec IPhone, then switching to ILink in 2001, and later switching to Echolink in 2002. Also, we had the very first Internet Linked repeater in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in 2002, the N8PUM Repeater on 444.200, using Echolink. I maintain two linked repeater systems, one system (the KB0P system) consists of 3 repeaters, and the other system (The HARA system) consists of 5 repeaters spread across 150 miles. Most of my linking involves UHF linking.

My repeater system is an IRLP and EchoLink repeater (443.500, 146.820, and 146.460).  You can find me hanging out on this repeater.

Other Misc. Interests

Micro-Broadcasting is another of my childhood interests (89.1 MHz, Whippoorwill Community Radio, WCR). I broadcast WWII tunes (Big Band music) as well as WWII news and radio programs to the local neighborhood. My station is an official broadcaster of the Yesterday USA Network.

I am a member of the first-ever Upper Peninsula Bagpipe Band, Superior Pipes and Drums. As a drummer, I play the bass drum. I have been drumming with SP&D since 2005, along with my son who plays bagpipes and my daughter who is a Scottish Dancer.

I am just starting to get back into satellites in 2009 (last 1991). I am slowly building my satellite station in 2009.

For more details and photos, visit my website: http://www.kb0p.com