Biography

I've been licensed since 1974 originally as WB0NRW. Most of my on-air time up to about 2001 was spent in Air Force MARS. Now I spend all my on-air time on the HF amateur bands. I'm a retired Boeing Company engineer. I worked 20 years at the Boeing facility in Wichita, Kansas. During that time I spent 14 years with the Kansas Air National Guard flying both the KC-135 "A" and "E" model Stratotanker.

The photo of the mountain scene is Mt. Charleston located just to the east of Pahrump (35 miles northwest of Las Vegas) in the Spring Mountains. The snow capped peak shown in the photo is referred to as Charleston Peak. At 11,916 feet (3,632 m), it is the highest mountain in the Spring Mountain Range which is also a part of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. The name “Charleston” was given to the peak by John C. Fremont, the first ascender, while he was exploring this portion of Southern Nevada. The name comes from Charleston, South Carolina, which was Fremont's wife's hometown.

Pahrump is located in the Mojave Desert of southern Nevada about 60 highway miles west of Las Vegas. We moved to the region in 2001 and lived here for about 17 years. The name "Pahrump" is a derivative of the original Southern Paiute Indian name "Pah-Rimpi" meaning "WaterRock". There are artesian formations below the surface that likely prompted the name.

For the current, local weather copy and paste the URL below into your favorite browser:
www.w7las.com

From October 2015 to October 2016 we were living in Andover, Kansas but now have relocated back to Pahrump, Nevada. There were some family matters to attend to that now are complete so we will once again become permanent residents in southern Nevada.

Equipment

Station Info:

The station here includes an ICOM 7300, LDG-1000Pro Autotuner and Ameritron AL-80B Amplifier. Antenna is a 5-element Hexagonal Beam by K4KIO at about 20 feet.