Biography

When I was 9, I met a YL ham at an event who was using a Motorola HT 220 (FM) and was amazed with the clarity and distance of the radio communications. I was first licensed as KC6TYF in 1991 and then successfully completed my General and Amateur Extra tests in 2009 at the Sunnyvale VEC. Over the years, I have met many interesting and inspiring fellow hams with a wide range of backgrounds in science and astronomy that have expanded my own interests.

When I was 11, I started opening and sometimes disassemble electronics (things my Dad found) to understand how they were built. Over the years, I was starting to understand the diverse set of component characteristics and had some ability to start to repair or upgrade them to perform better than the original design.

One of the first receivers I used as a child was a Hallicrafters S-120 that someone had put in the trash bin in Fort Lauderdale. It was in perfect physical condition but had two bad tubes. I replaced the tubes and had a wonderful HF receiver. I used a Realisitc mult-band portable radio to listen to the local HF and VHF frequencies. My first experience with transmitting was on a Motorola Mocat 40 CB using a Shakespeare fiberglass whip mounted on one of those telescoping masts. I remember my Mom commenting on how her 12 year old was talking to girls almost twice his age all over Broward county. That created many great memories of talking into the evening with all of those interesting people.

When I moved to California in the 80s it was like a world of possibilities opened up with electronics and computers. The San Francisco Bay area has such a high concentration of amateur radio and electronics enthusiasts that I was in geek heaven. Getting my license and using an Icom W2A for the first time was very memorable. I met Rob KC6TYD and Desmond KC6VHG on the Stanford 2 meter repeater 145.230 (W6APZ now N6NFI) and W6PIY repeaters.

West Valley College - Saturday April to October Electronics Radio Flea Matket at https://www.electronicsfleamarket.com/

I installed a Diamond X-50 2M/440 antenna at my apartment in Los Altos, CA and was able to hit repeaters as far as Sacramento and the Guerneville Chicken Net on 145.190. I also met Michael, KC6SPC "The Rocket Scientist", KC6TYD Rob, KC6VHG Desmond, Gary N6MMM and a wide host of new and interesting hams from the 1990s and on.

For VHF / UHF I currenlty have a Yaesu FTM-400XDR and FT-2980 mobiles on a Diamond X-510 dual band antenna and have been happy with the coverage I can get. The farthest repeater I regularly use is W6SF on 2 meters (107 miles, straight path). https://www.diamondantenna.net/products/X510

My HF rig is a Yaesu FT-710 connected to an external HD monitor with an ALS-600 500 watt Linear Amplifier. I use a Yaesu FT-911A as my mobile for HF / VHF. My home QTH HF antenna is a 1/8" diameter stainless steel cable antenna in an OCF inverted V configuration for 80, 40 and 20 meters and getting many good signal reports. I wanted to try using stainless steel this time as my older copper wire antenna had broken and had been reading how the military uses it and also an article about antenna wire testing by https://sz1a.org/en/featured-articles/whats-the-best-wire-for-a-dipole-video/ that shows stainless steel cable can be very effective. I am test a DX Engineering Hex Antenna configuration I am working on that is more of a 6 radial (flower petals) omnidirectional radiation pattern HF antenna for 80, 40 and 20 meters.

For digitial modes I have been using DMR on the Anytone, CF4M on a Yaesu FTM-400 and P25 on the Motorola XTL1500 / XTS5000 and EF Johnson ES 5300 HTs. I also have Motorola XPR4580 / 6580 series for 902 / 927 Mhz band FM and MotoTRBO/DMR.

The most distant 2 meter and 70 cm repeater I can consistently reach, is W6SF in Fiddletown, CA (107 miles away)

QSL to QRZ, email or USPS. Thank you for your valuable time to read my bio.

ND6V previous grantee was the silent key: Thomas E Thielecke (3-5-97 to 3-5-07) 429 Page Bacon Rd #106, Mary Esther FL 32569

QTH Locator: https://k7fry.com/grid/?qth=CM97AH50FJ

HF Rig: Yaesu FT-710 amplified by an Ameritron ALS-600 into a 5kw 1:1 balun that connects to the ladder line to my 1/8" stainless steel OCF inverted V dipole.