Biography

Born in the East Bay area of California. I joined the Air Force less than a year after High School. Stationed at San Antonio for Basic. on to Lowry AFB in Denver Co. for 8 months, then on to first base at Hill AFB in Utah. After 2 1/2 years I was stationed in Okinawa for 3 years.

Back to California, worked a couple years in Silicon Valley, and then on to Sacramento for 10 years working Civil Service. After base closings, I took a job at Wright-Patt AFB in Dayton Ohio where I worked until retirement and then medical disability.

We bought a house in a suburb of Dayton and lived there well over 20 years. Retired then went to Texas for a couple of years to warm up. Things didn't work out there and we came back to our house we had rented out.

I started getting into HAM radio activities and support more after retirement and I am helping out the local VA in Dayton at a HAM shack I helped to set up.

Equipment

IC-7000 as a base station, an IC 2730 in my truck, and a Kenwood TH-D72 HT for outside mobile needs.

Home antenna include 2 dipoles, one cut for 80 M and facing north and south, another for 40/20 etc. facing East and West.

A long Wire that I hope to re-cut for 160M since SWR is too high on that band at this moment.

If all else fails I have a 21 foot vertical that has great SWR properties across almost all bands!

For VHF/UHF I have a J-pole that does amazingly well for something so cheap and simple!

All home antennas are mounted on about 45 feet of Rohn tower, and wire dipoles strung out to trees in the yard, where I have the tension rope going through a pully that is tied to a rope on the tree, and the tension rope is terminated at a PVC tube full of sand for weight. This allows flex in the wind and tree movement.

My Mobile rig just uses a simple mag mount that works well!