Biography

I participate in LoTW and very much appreciate confirmations there. I upload all QSOs to LoTW and to QRZ on a regular basis.

Licensed in 1976 as WN4GNE, Novice, I was introduced to the hobby by Richard Weisshaut, WA4MKN in Miami Beach where I was raised. Living in a highrise apartment building right on the Atlantic Ocean, I had Europe at my fingertips but, alas, a missed opportunity! WN4GNE became WA4GNE and eventually my license lapsed without much activity. Moving and then college and Navy served as a distraction from radio exploits.

In 1989, I was a Nuclear Machinist's Mate in the US Navy, stationed in Charleston, SC. I had recently reported to USS Sam Rayburn(SSBN-635) after 5 years onboard USS Henry M. Jackson(SSBN-730) and we had just completed Sam Rayburn's conversion from a Fleet Ballistic Missle Submarine to the Navy's first Moored Training Ship(MTS-635) at Nuclear Power Training Unit (NPTU) Charleston, SC. We were at our new home at the Naval Weapons Station and I was enjoying a bagged lunch in the breakroom where I heard Danny Groover, W9PW, and Scott Chippendale, WB3EFS, chatting about Ham Radio - soon after that I had my Novice licence as KC4OOQ and upgraded to Technician as N4YJX. Next, I upgraded to Advanced as KO4GS. I finally picked up Extra Class on 8 JAN 2011 after 20 years as an Advanced Class - it's nice not to worry about odd band limits! Received vanity call sign WZ4K on 5 April 2016.

WZ4K Station

Yaesu FTDX3000 powered from an Alinco DM-340MV power supply. An 8-position antenna switch connects an inverted G5RV @ 35' to one of two HF rigs. The FTDX3000 listens and transmits through an LDG AT-100PRO external tuner. The FTDX--3000 is also connected to a SingaLink USB and an ASUS Desktop i7-4790S Quad Core Processor running at 3.2 GHz with 12 GB RAM and running Windows 10 64 bit. I chat through a Heil PR781 station microphone mounted on the Heil Boom. I also have a Yaesu FT-950.

DX Lab Suite - integrates well with Digital modes via FLDIGI and WSJT-X and JTAlertX as-well-as N1MM+ for contecting. the support is outstanding.

On the wall is the DXCC with Phone endorsement, the vast majority worked on 10mtrs, Worked All States with 10 meters and SSB endorsements as-well-as WAS Triple Play Also, hanging is the CQ WPX Mixed w/North America; the IARU Worked All Continents with Phone endorsement and the IARU Region 2 Award - a nice certificate for 20 countries confirmed in - you guessed it - Region 2! I did mixed WAS again exclusively via LoTW - North Dakota was the holdout! 2014 was great fun with the ARRL Centennial QSP - I earned WAS Triple Play thanks to all the dedicated stations participating in the Centennial events.

Also in the Shack is a Yaesu FTM-350 Dualband and the Yaesu FT-7900R, an ICOM ID-5100 and an oldy: a Kenwood TR-7950 VHF radio with a tone board. The 5100 is in the Ford F150.

The Kenwood TH-D74 D-Star Handheld is a lot of fun. D-Star via the W4MT Repeater or the RPi3B running PiStar 3.4.16.

Also through the RPi is a DMR radio - the Anytone AT-D868UV. A very full-feature and front keypad programmable radio for ham-friendly field operations.

A Yaesu VX-8DR Handheld with GPS and a Wouxun KG-UV9D Plus are also available for handheld ops. The UV8D is more friendly to programming - be careful before considering the UV9D.

Last - but certainly not least - the venerable Yaesu FT 857D in the truck connected to the Little Tarheel II antenna for mobile HF operations.

On the short list is a new HF antenna - possibly the DX Engineering 43 ft Vertical or, perhaps, the HEXX - I like the HEXX and that may be the next acquisition.

OPERATIONS:

2011 VA QSO Party stats: 373 contacts, 71 VA counties or Independant cities, 24 states and 3 Canadian Provinces. I used the N1MM contest logging program for just basic logging and it worked quite well. The program correctly IDed Dupes and easily connected to the FT-950 with CAT control correctly pulling mode and frequency data from the rig to the log. Of course, it dated and timed the QSOs and it even tallied the points though I am not 100% sure of its accuracy - it appears to be correct based upon a cursory review of the QSO Party rules built into the program. I was able to easily export the contest log in both CABRILLO and ADIF formats - one for the contest submission and the other imported into my primary logger: HRD. N1MM is free. I will definitely be back next year and will be disappointed in anything less than 600 contacts!

The 2012 Virginia QSO Party, 17-18 March 2012, was exhausting! 614 QSOs operating low power, SOSR - a major improvement over last year's 373 contacts. Here are the stats: 614 contacts, 92 VA counties or independant cities, 28 states and 3 Canadian Provinces. #1 State: PA = 38; #1 county: Loudoun = 23.

I skipped 2013 with only a handful of contacts but returned in 2014 with well over 500 contacts representing the Independant City of Newport News very well!

I pretty much participate in the VA QSP every year - in 2016 the stats were 444 contacts, 11 Bonus stations, 72 counties or independant cities. Conditions were generally poor during the 2016 VA QSP - that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!

For QSO Parties and Contests I use the excellent N1MM+ contest logger program - what an amazing piece of software! The integration of telnet and spots into the various information windows and the color-keying are a tremendous help and convey a lot of information to the operator on where to operate and what to work to maximize operating efficiency! I couldn't imagine operating a contest without N1MM+. For RTTY, the macros and scripts simplify operation, minimize typing and maximize efficiency. If terms like Search & Pounce and Run or if ESM (Enter Sends Message) makes you nervous -- contact me for help setting this up!

United States Navy

I am retired from the US Navy as a Chief Information Systems Technician. I entered Boot Camp on the Navy's birthday, October 13, 1982; Company 303! After completing recruit training I remained in Great Lakes for Machinist's Mate A school and then reported to USS Boulder (LST-1190) in Brooklyn, NY. Then came 6 months of intensive nuclear training in Orlando, FL followed by 6 months in Balston Spa, NY for nuclear prototype training.

I'm a Plankowner onboard the submarine USS Henry M. Jackson (SSBN-730) - one DASO and 6 Strategic Deterrent Patrols later I reported to USS Sam Rayburn (SSBN-635) completing conversion from Fleet Ballistic Missile submarine to the Navy's 1st Moored Training Ship (MTS-635). We moved from Charleston Naval Shipyard to Naval Weapons Station Charleston. July 1, 1989 was MTS-635's "commissioning" day and soon after we were training students. Shortly after, in September 1989, Hurricane Hugo struck Charleston causing significant damage to the city. Nuclear Power Training Unit (NPTU) Charleston was well-prepared. I was on watch when the hurricane struck - a night I will never forget!

I left Active Duty as a Nuclear Machinist's Mate in 1996 and joined the Navy Reserves as a Data Processing Technician(DP). The DP rate was converted to the IT rate along with Radioman(RM) around 1998. After being recalled to Active Duty in 2003, I was allowed to remain on active status until I retired in 2009. I now enjoy civilian Federal employment working for Navy Expeditionary Logistics Support Group (NAVELSG) in Williamsburg, VA managing their communications as the Deputy Director for their Comms Department.

Last, I diligently enter the GigaParts sweepstakes trying to win a new toy, apparently, increasing the odds that someone else will actually win the prize!

73 DE WZ4K

Worked DXCCs:

Equipment

FTDX3000
G5RV
AT-100Pro
SignaLink
DXLAB
LP-PAN 2

BU: FT-950