Biography

Originally licensed as KF5PX in 1986, l have had a series of calls. After moving from Texas to North Carolina in 2001, I wanted a -4- land callsign and after two false starts, was lucky enough to get assigned NZ4D, which is absolutely great for CW operation - my favorite mode.

My station consists of a set of vintage RL Drake T-4XB/R-4B and a set of T-4XC/R-4C "Twins." The antennas are either a homebrewed, 136 foot long, OCF - 450 ohm ladder line fed dipole for 80, 40, 20, 17, 12 and 10 meters, or an end-fed,half-wave sloper for the 30 meter band, manufactured by RadioWavz.

Both transmitter and receiver sets of Twins have the necessary accessory crystals to add the 30, 17 and 12 meter WARC bands. So if there is a contest going on, unless it is Field Day Weekend, look for me on 30 or 17 meters.

The electronic keyer is a Hallicrafters HA-1 "TO" Keyer, with 6 tubes of its own. Depending on which set of Twins that are operating, that is up to to 27 tubes glowing/heating up the shack. No digital signal processing, digital frequency displays, frequency memory storage, spectrum displays, automatic tuners, etc-just solid American manufactured equipment that is so very well made and can still hold its own even today.

In addition, I run a APRS/CWOP weather station with Davis Vantage Pro2 hardware and Weather Display software. A snapshot of the current conditions are here: http://nz4d.us

Hope to hear you on the air.

-73-

Michael

Equipment

Drake T-4XC/R-4C with 30,17 and 12 Meter WARC Band Crystals
Drake T-4XB/R-4B with 30, 17 and 12 Meter WARC Band Crystals
Drake MN-4 Matching Network
Hallicrafters HA-1 Keyer
Off center 450 ohm ladder line fed dipole at 45 feet
End-Fed 30 Meter 1/2 Wave Sloper manufactured by RadioWavz