My nickname is Rex. I have used it all my life. It seems that no one is able to pronounce my real name correctly. Most of the time people confuse it with "Elvis." No problem, I answer to most anything.

I spent most of my life serving in and supporting the U.S. Navy. I have served on Destroyers, River Boats (both in Vietnam) and later Submarines. Often my license would expire while I was at sea or overseas, this required me to take the exams repeatedly and sometimes, getting a new call sign, that explains why I had WA5RMI, followed by KD5KJI, and now I have W5EAK.

My dear wife Vicki K5VLK and I sold our home back in 1999 and now enjoy our lives as full time RVers. We love traveling and living in our Motorcoach.

My Sweetheart calls home our "Condo on Wheels" it is a 40 foot Monaco Windsor Motorcoach with two slide outs. In the Coach, we have a YAESU FT-2000 for HF using a Heil Quiet Phone Pro Headset with the HC5 Microphone, along with a Yaesu FTM-350AR with FGPS-1for APRS. Our HF Antenna is a 80-10 meter GAP Titan DX mounted on a 10' steel pole with a GAP Break over mount. This allows us to mount the antenna on the Motorcoach Ladder, or in the ground. When we "break camp" to move, we can lower the GAP Titan DX down on the roof of the coach. Ordering my GAP from Rich at Gap Antennas was very helpful and wanted to make sure I purchased the antenna that would give me the best performance and still be something I could put up and take down easily. Rich suggested the GAP Titan DX and it has turned out to be the best vertical HF antenna I have ever owned or heard of. Check them out at http://www.gapantenna.com/ or call them at: (772) 571-9922. I also want to thank Robert Tuck AB4RT and Tim Hardy AF1G, who helped me assemble and raise the GAP Titan DX.

Our tow vehicle is a Chevy Tahoe 4X4 with a Kenwood TM-D710A, also with an AvMap G5 GPS for APRS, for HF we have a Kenwood TX-480 HX 200 watt. We use a High-Sierra HS-1800/Pro, for HF and a Larson dual band for VHF/UHF. Note the controller for the High Sierra was installed in the dash where the OnStar buttons use to be. In order to allow access to our rear hatch, a custom mount was made that slips into the 2" receiver hitch. The RJ-11Xs located below the control heads allows us to change from stock microphones to our Heil Head Sets easily. I have been using Heil Microphones for many years with awesome success. The Heil Sound folks are super to work with, you tell them what you have and what your microphone needs are, and Bob Heil's staff will find you the right equipment. Their service department called the "Heil Hospital" is great too. Check them out at http://www.heilsound.com or call them at 618-257-3000. Our custom install in the Tahoe was done by Dave at thesoundofnoize@yahoo.com. If you are interested in your own custom install, send him an email, as you can see below, he does great work. All our gear was purchased at the Ham Station in Evansville Indiana, from Dan Mitchell N9APA not only did he give us a good price, his Customer Service is second to none. Give Dan a call at 800-729-4373, or http://www.hamstation.com and see for yourself.

Vicki and I also have a YAESU VX-8R HT with GPS for APRS. Vicki loves our VX-8!

We changed our "Home Port" or QTH from Wichita Falls Texas to Georgia, for an extended visit. We have six kids and ten grandkids. Some of our family lives in Texas, and the rest live in Georgia. We decided to spend some time with our Georgia family for a while.

I am a Navy/Marine Corps MARS member NNN0IKP, this gives me a great deal of satisfaction supporting our troops. To me there is no more noble a profession than the defense of liberty in a democracy.

I am a member of ARRL, QCWA, ARES,Skywarn, Central Georgia Amateur Radio Club, Georgia Single Side Band Association, South Coast Amateur Radio Service, Navy Amateur Radio Club, Tin Can Sailors Radio Net, Knights of Columbus Amateur Radio Net, and Middle Georgia Radio Association, and we are still members of WARS (Wichita Amateur Radio Society), back in Wichita Falls, Texas.

I am 100% Disabled due to exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam. Vicki also has health issues and we could not make it without the help of our awesome family, both in Georgia and Texas.

We are Blessed with a great family and many good Friends who have been very supportive, both here in Georgia, as well as many dear friends and family back in Texas. God Willing, the VA will approve my claim and we will be able to go back to Texas someday soon.

There are over 390 Vietnam Veterans dying everyday with no benefits for their exposure to Agent Orange. Please ask your Senators and Congressmen/women to support Agent Orange Benefits to all Vietnam Veterans.

If you wish to learn more about Agent Orange and what we are doing to encourage the Congress to give us the Benefits we earned and deserve, please visit: http://www.vasvw.org/Index.htm. The Government figures, by December 31, 2020, all Vietnam Veterans will be dead. Check our Vietnam Veterans of America Magazine article about Agent Orange at: http://digitaledition.qwinc.com/publication/?i=64802

Fair Winds and Following Seas, Shipmates!