Member Bio

OMISS #15417

YL International Single Side-band System: 19178

DMR ID: 3203205

I am a retired Criminal Investigator with a local Sheriff’s Office and have lived in the Cookeville, Tennessee area all but a handful years. I hired on at the Putnam Co. Sheriff’s Office as a communications deputy (dispatcher). I moved into corrections and then onto patrol before becoming a criminal investigator where I ultimately headed the criminal investigations division as the Major over the division. During my tenure at the PCSO, six of those years I was assigned as a Task Force Officer to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. I am now spending my time enjoying retirement from the law enforcement career.

I believe my law enforcement career is what sparked my interest with Amateur Radio, and I became licensed as a technician approximately 24 years ago.  I was active on and off but mostly inactive (work always seemed to get in the way) until the end of 2023 after I retired. Picking up the hobby again I upgraded my license to General January 2024 and enjoy working DMR, SSB, HF, OMISS, and POTA. I’m currently studying to take the Amateur Extra exam soon. I started POTA as a hunter in January 2024 (Stats below). I have planned this spring to load up my travel trailer and head off to start doing some activations.

Currently my shack is limited since I just returned to the hobby…oh, the money I have spent over the years buying and selling radios and accessories. For my HF/VHF/UHF I have a Yaesu FT-991A coupled with a JPC-12 vertical stabbed in my back yard as well as a homemade EFHW antenna. I have a Baofeng UV -17r and a Alinco DJ-MD5XLT that I use for various tasks.