Biography

Ham operator since 1971. Active in the NTS and NTSD. Currently Section Traffic Manager for the Western Washington Section. Holder of the Brass Pounders Medallion and a member of the A-1 Operator Club. Past District Emergency Coordinator for Western Washington District One which included everything East of Puget Sound North of Seattle, King County to the Canadian Border and East to the Cascade Mountains. Also RACES Coordinator for this same FEMA Region. Member of various Amateur Radio groups including the ARRL and the WRRL(The World Radio Relay League). I'm also a VE with the ARRL and W5YI and a Mentor/Instructor for ARRL's Emergency Communications Courses.

As I live in an "antenna restricted" community, I have had to rely on various "stealth" type antennas in stealth locations. Most of the wire antennas are made of #26 wire, hidden in the trees, and almost invisible unless you know what you are looking for.

The VHF/UHF antennas, save for the large multi-db gain 144/440 MHz co-linear antenna, are mobile antennas on magnetic mounts mounted on sheets of metal inside and outside the shack. These work well for the local repeaters and some simplex work with stations close as I am at a 600' elevation - one the highest points in the area.

Have had great fun in "chasing DX" in years past and doing some contesting but I spend the majority of my time these days working with NTS/NTSD traffic as I am one of the Region 7 Digital Relay Stations, a Pacific Area NTS Digital Station and a Target Station for the new "email by radio" stations.

I have been involved in communications in one way or another since I was a teenager and spent 20+ years with the American Red Cross on their National Disaster Team helping people across the country in time of disaster. My last operation was the 9/11 Disaster in New York City. Although communications was not one of my specialties for the Red Cross was highly instrumental in setting up and maintaining a radio station for a local chapter in Southern Oregon.

I've also been a US Army MARS station. I was involved with that organization for over 10 years but had to resign do to commitments to my family.

Today I enjoy helping others learn about Amateur Radio and especially formal message traffic and I help with emergency communications when needed. I am also a current member of the State of Washington EOC RACES Team at W7EMD.

I've been told that I have more communications capabilities than most Emergency Operation Centers (EOCs)because of the "extra" equipment that I have at my disposal - mainly several Public Service Monitors (Scanners for the lay person) on which I can monitor all the police, fire, aircraft and other emergency services in and around the Puget Sound area.

I enjoy talking to people over the air, over the phone or in person so the "ARC - Always Ready to Chat" was appropriate as my call sign.

Worked DXCCs:

Equipment

HF:
Yaesu FT-2000D with Heil PR-41 microphone
Yaesu FT-840

UHF/VHF:
Yaesu FT-8900R
Yaesu FT-7800R
Yaesu FT-2800M
Alinco DR-235

Handhelds:
Yaesu VX-7R
ADI-201H

Antennas:
1929-style Windom for 75 meters @ 30'
40 meter dipole @ 15'
G5RV 40-6 meters @ 15'
150' longwire @ 20'
Various VHF/UHF antennas at various heights.

Other:
AEA PK-232MBX for PACTOR Operation
Kantronics KPC3+ for PACKET Operation
LDG AT-200Pro Autotuner
MFJ-949E Deluxe Versa Tuner II
MFJ-748B tunable DSP filter
JPS ANC-4 Noise Canceler
Timewave ANC-4 Nose Canceler
RIGblaster plus

Various power supplies including:
Astron 35-M
Astron 25-M

Mobile:
Yaesu FT-857D with ATAS-125 Antenna and a ProAm Valor PHF-75 for 75 meter operation.
Yaesu FT-8900R with Diamond CR627BNMO - Tri-band antenna

Also:
Radio Shack PRO-2046 Public Service Monitor (Scanner)
Radio Shack PRO-34 Public Service Monitor (Scanner)
Uniden-Bearcat BC898T Public Service Monitor (Scanner)
Uniden-Bearcat BCT-8 Public Service Monitor (Scanner)
Uniden FRS Radios