Member Bio

I am a new CW operator, thank you for your patience with me as I learn to send and receive!

LICW # 1745
SKCC # 22607C (Hey now! I earned Centurion March 8, 2023.)

Yet another iteration of the shack as of February 2023. I still haven’t rebuilt the SB-221 so I found a used Ten-Tec Hercules II amp to press into service. The TS-520 is (pretty much) dedicated to CW. The IC-7100 serves as a digital platform; you can see JS8Call running in the photo below. The TS-450S is primarily a SSB radio; however, keen eyes will note there is no mic shown in the photo. My mic switch broke and I’m waiting for a replacement.

UPDATE: The SB-221 let out the magic smoke December 3, 2021. Until I diagnose the problem, I’m switching to CW and digital modes with 100W and a wire. 

Robert here, living in a small town in south central Iowa. Technician class license in August of 2018, earned my General license in January of 2019. Working UHF, VHF, HF, and DMR.

My equipment includes a Kenwood TS-520, Icom IC-7100, Kenwood TS-450S, Kenwood TM-281A for VHF, a BTech DMR-6X2 for DMR and mobile VHF/UHF. I occasionally fire up a Heathkit SB-221 to bring some heat to the antennas.

I have three HF antennas up at the moment (but I’m always experimenting). For general coverage I have a long wire (114′) at 40′ with a 44′ counterpoise at 10′ in an inverted L configuration. The long wire tunes up well on 75M and 160M. For 20M and 40M I have separate double bazooka dipoles which I absolutely love.

QSO uploaded to QRZ only. Unless I forget, which sometimes happens. 

NOTE: I no longer upload to LOTW.

Email me with questions or concerns. 

Thanks for stopping by!