Biography

1960s-Present. Did many eclectic things ...
Designed computers + HW/SW for remote controlled comm equip.
Created SW like "BandView" to control Prof Comm Receivers (some awards).
_______ Various milestone, latest first _______
2019-Q4 162 DXCC, WASx4,WACx7,1,300+Cnty,All-EU,11xCdnProvs, etc.
2019-Q2 AH4 coax shorted so using 9:1 balun with 7610's ATU in place of AH4
... 7610 tuner rusty 160m-6m, fix 40m tune issues. All good!
Relearning connectors, strip, crimp, shrinking to fix AH4.
2019-Q1 Getting better at 7610+60' wire has netted me ...
WASx4, DXCCx155, WACx6, PFXx1000, GRIDx1000, All Canada, All Europe
2018-06 Got IC-7610. Superb output. 14 more countries in 10 days (36 total)
2018-06 Erected temporary 60' Inverted L Sloper. 22 counties now logged.
2018-03 Turned 70 so I'm an old newbie scrounging for wire on zero budget.
2017-11 My station 1st on air with ICom IC-756 Pro III, AH-4 & 20' wire.
2017-10 Sat for & passed Tech/Gen/Extra exams. Better late than never.
1990-2000 IT Systems Engineer,National IT Dir,HW-SW retailer,etc
1980-1990 IS,BBS,Social Media platform designer, operator, admin
1970-1990 Commercial, Fashion, Glamour, Magazine photography
1960-2020 Author, reviewer, evaluator, commentarian.
1960-1970 Fondled 1st CPUs 1401,1620,1107,360,etc. Created early AI apps.

Worked DXCCs:

Equipment

=== STATION RIG(s) ===

Current: Icom IC-7610 (100W) with ICom AH-4 Remote Tuner. It's GREAT!!!!
Icom IC-756 PRO III (100W) with ICom AH-4 Remote Antenna Tuner.

=== ANTENNA(e) ===

... Current Wire ...

Antenna #02a - 60' Inverted-L Sloper. Due South (Current Antenna)
Rebuilt previous mini wire antennas. Extended wire to 60' with 1st leg running upwards for 12' then 48' horizontally sloping up to 30' AGL. GREATLY improved signal. Many QSOs that would have been buried in the mud are now 57 to 59 both ways. Now points South. 00-01 variants ran ESE. 20m Ecuador QSL now a solid 59.

... Retired or Failed Experiments ...

Antenna #01a - Straight Inverted-L. ESE. **Retired**
Straight vertical leg was QRM magnet adjacent to AC power lines. Replaced with #02a" with sloped vertical/horizontal legs for more distance to house AC power lines.

Antenna #00c - "Downward Dog" ESE **Retired**
Another minor upgrade to my Mini Inverted L. Raised vertical leg to 12' and extended horizontal leg to 28' for a total run of about 40'. You can laugh!

Antenna #00b - "Slooper". ESE **Retired**
My next "upgrade" (cue guffawing now) was simply a re-tossing of the same wire up about 10' onto a taller adjacent bush. The wire then became what I call my "Micro Inverted L" which rises 10' up from the AH-4 then across 20' to the bush. Yuck!

Antenna #00a - "Sickly Sloucher". ESE **Retired**
Desperate to get on air as 2017-18 Winter slammed my area, I literally tossed up some rusty speaker wire from the AH-4 below my shack's window to the thin branches of a nearby scrub bush that quickly bent under under the small wire's weight so it ended up being about 5' vertical and 18 feet across in a deeply slouching arc that touched the increasing ground snow's height. And thus was born my "Sickly Sloucher" antenna #00a. Still, it logged me 8 countries in a few DX sessions.

==========================================
Phase 2 - To get one of the following up.

Antenna #03A - Vertical (Hustler 6BTV) with a few radials. Q2-2019. ^^PLANNED^^
Possibly for DX despite further increasing existing S9+15 QRM levels.

Antenna #04A - Tree/Pole hung dipole variations ...

(1) G5RV 40m 3/2 wave. 102' wires, 35' apex. Q2-2019 ???
Not sure if I'll bother. Trees here are nightmares with hundreds of convoluted branches at all angles. Getting apex up isn't the problem. Extending elements is next to futile w/o hanging over or bending around many branches at odd angles. That, in turn, could start a forest fire!

(2) 1/2 wave Off Center Fed Dipole (OCFD), instead. It may fit between my many trees without touching so many branches and avoid starting a fire!

(3) Double-Bazooka or standard Inverted-V Dipole if previous thoughts fail -and- I can navigate through the 100's of tree branches.

Antenna #05A - Triband 2E Yagi, Hexbeam, or cobWebb ... all of which require a HUGE turning radius, 40' telescoping tilt mast to clear my roof and a lot of planning for 1-man assembly, erection, operation and maintenance. A 600W amp on a G5RV inverted V seems like the easiest way out. Hopefully better than my 60' sloper wire!

==========================
Phase 3 - Random dreaming.

Win Lotto. Buy mansion on top of hill with 40 acres.
Pay others to move my house then erect 100' towers with
quad stacked 40-20-15-10m Yagis and techies to maintain it.
And a 95' mid-fed vertical for DX
And a multi-looped full-wave rhombic for 80/40/20M .. for fun.

Then sit back and play with my 7610 along side some higher-end SDRs.
Then die a happy HAM. Yeah, right!