SKCC: 923  Feld Hell: FH734  NCCC Member  NorCal QRP Member

Thanks for looking me up. Please QSL direct with SASE or via bureau. I appreciate and keep every card.

Pictured is the most recent incarnation of my shack which is, well, quite literally a shack near my house. My station is powered entirely by the sun and everything runs on 12VDC. I use a small sine wave inverter to provide AC to turn the yagi. My home is solar powered as well and between the absence of grid noise and using TenTec rigs, I enjoy excellent receive conditions.

HF-wise, I’m primarily a TenTec guy. I have an Omni V that I use for chasing DX. I also have an Omni C and an Argo V that I use for casual CW operation. The Argo is the rig I seem to use most. Heck, when conditions are good, 20W is plenty, right? Outside I have a Force 12 C-3S yagi at 40 ft. and a set of dipoles for 40/80M. Nothing for 160M yet, but I threaten every summer to put something up for the upcoming winter.

I’m a DXer at heart, but I also enjoy getting out of the shack and operating from the field. I have a KX-1 and an 817 that I use when on sailing trips or from mountaintops etc. I have a 40M Rockmite that I built and a 40M Backpacker II  I recently picked up, both provide a pretty good chuckle everytime I make a contact with them. Great fun. I have an 857 in the mobile that has provided a lot of fun as well.

I enjoy using bugs and have restored several. The three that I use most are a Les Logan 515 Speed-X (great feel – solid, not restored but rather a gift from K7TP), a 1930 Lightning Bug (speedy bugger, used in pile ups) and an Oz Bug (No. 06) that is only a few years old and is FB. I also have a Kent paddle and an old Ham Keyer but I reserve those for the 30+ WPM DXpedition ops. Over time I’ve learned to really appreciate and enjoy CW and like many, hope to improve my skill as I go.

I was originally licensed in 1987 as a Novice. I held the call KB6UKO for 4 whole weeks until I upgraded the following month to Technician and became N6QYS. I spent the early part of my "ham career" noodling with linked UHF repeaters in northern California with N6IRF, N6QOO, N6QOP and later Mr. N6MVT. Back in the day, OO & OP and I studied together to get our tickets, complete with sending CW back and forth via "various means" to practice. The local AFB put the kabosh on most of the UHF activity around my place, so it has become difficult to participate in that area of the hobby regularly.

I have held each of the license classes over the years and changed my call a while back when my initials came available. The combo of a 1x2 and my initials was too good to pass up – hi!

Listen for me on and around the SKCC, SOTA and QRP frequencies.

73 ES GUD DX