About Me:
I’ve been licensed since 1998 and
have enjoyed many aspects of the hobby from 2M FM/Repeaters to HF SSB/CW. I enjoy participating in Field Day and a
couple of other contests each year (November Sweeps is my next favorite). I attend area radio club meetings whenever
possible. For nets I check into the MN
Section Net (3.860MHz @ 12:00/5:30PM each day), and occasionally the SD Section
Net (3.860MHz @ 12:30/6PM each day). The
PicoNet, on at various times during the day at 3.925MHz is also very enjoyable
to participate in if I happen to be around.
Also, the 3900club Trader Net (3.898MHz @ 8AM on Sundays) is a good
group of guys as well. Really, I’m
nothing special when it comes to the hobby.
I just enjoy spending time with the radio whenever life lets me.
What is Amateur (HAM)
Radio?
(Just in
case you’re new and just happened to stumble upon my site)
Contrary to popular belief, Ham Radio is not just a bunch of old
geezers pounding out Morse Code on vintage radios from the WWII era (although
we do have some of those :). Ham Radio is a hobby with lots of very different,
very exciting things to do. Because ham radio is such a diverse hobby, you can
make it whatever you want it to be for you. Check these great links for more
information! I'd love to answer any questions you may have, too.
· W5YI
Amateur Radio Description Page
· eMail me with
any question's
My Equipment:
· Kenwood TS-480SAT HF-6M base radio, hooked to
home-brew 75/40/20/15M fan dipole
· Yaesu FT-857D HF-440 mobile radio, currently
using Hustler mobile resonators
· Kenwood TM-V71A 2M/440 base radio, hooked to
Diamond X-510N 2M/440 vertical
· Icom IC-2200H 2M D-Star base radio, hooked to
M2 2M4 4-element 2M beam
· Yaesu VX-3R 2M/440 handie-talkie, great for
in-town stuff & cross-banding
· Alinco DJ-175T 2M handie-talkie, 5W of
talk-power for far-out repeaters
· Astron RS-35M linear power supply, as main
base-station power source
· A&A Engineering 5A linear charger, hooked
to Die-hard deep cycle for back-up power
· Elk Antennas 2M/440 log periodic antenna (for
portable/camping)
· Byonics MicroTrak AIO 10W GPS tracker (for the
bike)
· Daiwa CN-103M 2M/440 SWR meter (works quite
well)
· Glen Martin RT-936 9’ Rooftop Quad-pod
Please email me
with any questions you may have about the equipment I own.
I've left reviews for most of this equipment at eHam.net. You can punch in my callsign in the SEARCH
box to see all my reviews.
My base station:
I have a Glen Martin RT-936
Quad-pod as my antenna support. I used 1
7/8” mast from Michael’s Fence company as it is very stout. A Yaesu thrust bearing supports the weight of
the mast and lets me get by with a TV rotor for now. The
Diamond X-510N 2M/440 vertical is at the top of the mast with the M2 2M4
4-element 2M beam just below it. A
home-brew multi-band dipole is supported off the side of the quad-pod with a
piece of Uni-Strut as the stand-off. The
HF antenna was made using Alpha Delta’s center & end insulators and CPEX
(plumbing) tubing as the spreaders. The
top wire is for 75/80M, the next wire is for 40/15M, and the lower wire is for
20M. The antenna works well and any VSWR
is low enough to be handled by the internal tuner of my TS-480SAT. I use DavisRF BuryFlex for all my feedlines
and have a piece of PVC that feeds from the outside wall into my radio room to
get the feedlines outside.
My mobile station:
Currently I am running a
Yaesu FT-857D in the mobile, mainly for 2M FM while traveling. I have a Lakeview Antennas Quad Mag-Mount
(four 5” magnets) and Hustler resonators for 75, 40, and 20M. I have a NMO hole-mount on the center of the
roof and one on the trunk lid for when I have my bikes on the roof-top bike
carrier (cycling is my other hobby… the rooftop antenna doesn’t like the bikes
up there). I’d like to come up with a
better mount for the HF antennas, perhaps a nice ballmount from Breedlove when
the budget and time allows. I have #4
wire that goes to a distribution block in the trunk. The block powers my FT-857D which is mounted
to the inner right-hand quarter panel and my Infinity 12” sub (yet another
hobby :-).
Marshall-area Frequencies
(in no particular order):
|
146.520 (No PL) |
2M Calling Frequency (PUT THIS IN YOUR RADIO
& MONITOR IT!) |
|
146.580 SIMPLEX |
Local Simplex Frequency – Give me a holler here! |
|
147.150+ (141.3PL) |
Marshall Wide-Area repeater (COMING SOON!) |
|
147.075+ (141.3PL) |
Pipestone repeater (COMING SOON!) |
|
146.790- (141.3PL) |
Slayton repeater (GREAT coverage) *** 8PM Net on Wednesdays *** |
|
146.865- (141.3PL) |
Redwood Falls repeater *** 6:30PM Net on Wednesdays *** |
|
444.525+ (141.3PL) |
Wabasso repeater (linked to Redwood, above) |
|
147.255+ (141.3PL) |
Windom repeater – on low power TX effective
5/2009. |
|
146.730- (No PL) |
Madison repeater *** 8:30PM Net on Sundays *** |
|
146.910- (114.8PL) |
Willmar VHF repeater – best coverage of the
Willmar machines |
|
147.030- (114.8PL) |
Willmar VHF repeater (note the negative offset) |
|
444.800+ (146.2PL) |
Willmar UHF repeater |
|
145.230- (91.5PL) |
Willmar VHF repeater – Part of the
SuperLink(?) |
|
147.315+ (136.5PL) |
Clearlake VHF Machine *** 8:00PM Net on Sundays (usually) *** |
|
444.300+ (136.5PL) |
Clearlake UHF Machine – linked to Clearlake
VHF repeater, above. |
|
145.390- (146.2PL) |
Gary SD VHF repeater – can hit easily from
Marshall. |
|
146.670- (141.3PL) |
Worthington repeater (kind-of a stretch from
Marshall) |
|
444.675+ (136.5PL) |
KBØNLY / Tyler, MN UHF repeater |
|
147.195+ (No PL) |
Marshall repeater (rarely used) |
Coooool Links:
·
The QUAGI Antenna –
Featured in my birth-month’s QST! Make
one!!
·
WX-Proofing PL-259’s
– The method I use!
·
Coax
Calculator – Figure out how much power you’re losing in your coax.
·
MN
Repeater Council – Self-explanatory
·
Murray County ARES – Great
group of ACTIVE hams!!
·
AD5X’s page
– lots of cool projects and modifications.
·
KØBG’s page
– MUST read info for the mobile operator.
·
M2’s website
– GREAT VHF/UHF antennas!
·
HRO, AES, R&L,
Gigaparts, Radio City, Universal, Texas Towers, WBØW – All good ham vendors
Thanks for stopping by my little
corner of the web!!
And if you've made it this far, you certainly have way too much time on your
hands.
73!