Dan's QSL card
Me at the radio
Some of the gear
One of the hobbies I enjoy is Amateur Radio. I have been involved in amateur radio for about 2 years. I am an Extra class and really enjoy the hobby.
My home station is not very large but I have talked around the world. The heart of my station is a Kenwood TS 570D (G). The rig supports 160m - 10m. It is attached to a Gap Titan DX and a homebrew G5RV antenna. In addition, I run an Ameritron AL811 600 watt linear amp and MFJ 1.5KW antenna tuner. The HF rig is running off an Astron RS-35M power supply. I also use a Radio Shack HTX-242 radio for 2m operation attached to a Mirage B-3016 160 watt amp. It was my first mobile rig. For packet operation I use a MFJ 1270C TNC.
The Computer for packet is a 1.6GHz P-4 Dell with 512MB Ram and 80GB of drive space. Using 2 Sound Blaster Sound cards I also work several digital modes including PSK and MFSK. The computer also monitors APRS activity in the Slidell, LA area.
The mobile station is a dual band Kenwood TM-V7A. Although it supports 440MHz operation, I mainly use the 2nd band for APRS. It has a Pico Packet TNC and an old Delorme Tripmate for GPS positioning. If I am mobile in the car you can locate me at http://map.findu.com/ad5dp-14.
I continue to learn from the Ozone Amateur Radio Club. I enjoy the community service that the club is involved in. I also have an "elmer" who takes time to teach me. His call is AG5AT and he has been very helpful in my license upgrades. He not only teaches the rules but shows the fun of amateur radio. To him I am very thankful.
If you are interested in Amateur radio, I would suggest contacting the local radio club in your community. Other information is available at the ARRL web site. Getting your license has never been easier. The Technician license test takes about 10 minutes. Have fun and I will be listening!
Favorite Links
Amateur Radio SoundBlaster Software Collection
Satellite Tracking - Liftoff Home Page
Univ of Ark Amateur Callsign Server
