The
links on the first part of this page are designed to give you
access to U.S. and DX Callbooks, QSL Managers, and routes
for thousands of DX operators worldwide. You'll find Ham URL's,
lots of hard to find Callbooks all in one place, On-Line DX Logs,
Ham Search, an E-mail QSL Server, Gray Line Maps, and much, much
more!
At the
bottom of the page is some personal information about me---if
you're interested. I hope you'll bookmark my page to use as your
one-stop source of ham related and QSL search information. If
you're looking for it---and it's QSL related---it's here!
My name is Steve Lake. I attended
college at Northeast Missouri State College (now Truman
State University). After leaving college
I joined the United States Navy during the Vietnam war. I served
a four year tour as a communications technician at various locations
including a 13 month tour in Morocco. I have been employed for
the past 24 years by Ford
Motor Company at it's St.
Louis Assembly Plant facility. I'm a
member of U.A.W.
Local 325 in Hazelwood, Missouri and
work as a skilled tradesman.
On the air I'm KBØOYA, a
General class operator from Winfield,
Missouri. Some of my true passions in
life are hunting, fishing, and investing in the stock market and
playing with my newest toy--a 1939 Plymouth Coupe that's been
tricked out into one sharp streetrod! There's a more info about
my ride and a link to some pictures of it at the bottom of this
page.
--Nice to meet you--
TWO METERS
In 1994, I became a ham radio
operator. My first license was a Technician class license, so
my introduction to the airwaves was via six meters SSB and two
meter FM. Near the greater St. Louis, Missouri area we have a
terrific repeater system that links 220, 440, 2 meter, 6 meter
FM and even some of the HF bands. Through this repeater I've contacted
48 states and 4 foreign countries on two meter FM. I have an extensive
log of simplex contacts in many states as well and several awards.
I operate both base and mobile stations on two meters.
I earned my Technician Plus
class license back in 1996, and I have been an active paper chaser
and DX'er on the ten meter band since. I 'm a member of the ARRL and
many 10-10 clubs, and hold a charter member number of 68C
in the Egyptian Radio Club of Granite City, Illinois. I've earned 10-10's
"International
500 of the World" award and hold
VP #2981. I have worked
all states (WAS) and worked
all continents (WAC) on ten meters and
have earned DXCC using 10 SSB only. I'm also trying to get my
feet wet with PSK
31.
--I operate both base and mobile
stations on ten meters--
HF
Recently I upgraded my license
to General class operator. In addition to 2 meter FM/SSB, 6 meter
AM/FM/SSB, and of course 10 meter SSB, I am now active on 12 meters
through 80 meters. My base station is an Icom
IC-746. I hope to soon have a mobile
rig that can handle the WARC and lower bands as well. My antenna
choices are a ground mounted GAP
Titan DX vertical and a Mosley 6 band yagi sitting atop a 65 foot tower.
--I love working the world and
maybe someday....YOU on the lower bands--
HUNTING
I've hunted for moose, caribou
and bear in Alaska five times (30 day hunts). I've been to Newfoundland numerous times for black bear, moose and caribou.
I have hunted elk and mule deer in most of the western states,
wild boar in Tennessee, antelope in Wyoming. I use black powder,
archery and rifle to pursue whitetail deer, wild turkey and all
species of migratory and upland game birds and small game in my
home state of Missouri. When hunting seasons end----out comes the fishing
rods.
--Want to talk hunting?? E-mail
me--
FISHING
"Women Love Me----Fish
Fear Me". Surely a motto designed for me (well, the second
part anyway). My favorite fish to catch is anything with fins
that tugs on my line. We love our stays at Gene's
Trout Lodge float fishing for trout
on the beautiful North
Fork and White rivers in Arkansas every
spring. Or combining evening country music shows while in Branson, Missouri
with day trips for big Rainbows and German Browns on Lake Taneycomo.
Twenty pound plus stripers, hybrids, bass, and some really big
walleye from Norfolk Lake near Mountain Home, Arkansas. And of
course crappie and catfish wherever they're found. Walleye, northern
pike, and lake trout every June while at Black Bear Lodge on Red Lake
in Ontario. Grayling, char and steelhead in Alaska. Brookies
and land-locked salmon in Newfoundland. Redfish, speckled trout,
shark, tuna, mackeral---Lord knows which of a possible 280+ species
of fish in these waters will bite---near the oil rigs in the Gulf
of Mexico when we charter fish out of Grand
Isle, Louisana.
--I like 'em all--
INVESTING
Though I deal with a few individual
stocks, the bulk of my investment portfolio is with mutual funds.
I prefer the do-it-yourself approach, and do all of my own research.
We've been lucky in that we haven't lost one thin dime since 'Dubya'
got elected and his fiscal policies started the market slide.
About 18 months ago the market trends signalled it was time to
get defensive. Taking that cue just in time put us in a position
of being well insulated from even the September 11th aftermath
as a result. We've even managed to beat the average market investor's
returns since the beginning of 2000. Must be doin' sumthin' right,
huh? When things begin to improve and I like the idea of jumping
back into the market again with both feet, I'll be looking to
Fidelity
Investments and Vanguard as my favorite mutual fund families again.
--To paraphrase Sammy Sosa,
"the market has been berry, berry good to me"--
1939 PLYMOUTH STREETROD
I've had custom cars in my blood
for a long time. I started out back in the customized vans days
of the 70's with a '73 Chevy delivery van that had been wrecked.
After I had spend about million man hours and almost all the loose
cash I ever had puttering around on it, it began to trophy at
local shows. Finally the effort and $$$ spent was worth it. The
comments of those that saw and judged it and the trophies it earned
hooked me. After that came a 1974 Ford Ranchero that sat low,
ran fast and turned heads. More shows and more trophies. Then
along came marriages and mortgages and other practical pursuits
that took the cash away from buying or building another car---but
not the desire to have one. Thanks to a wife that spoils me (and
E-Bay) I've acquired my (our) new toy. It's a 1939 Plymouth Businessman's
Coupe. It was built on a '75 Olds Cutlass frame. Under the hood
sits a 455 ci Buick with a 400 turbo automatic transmission. (I
know it should be Mopar guys, but man does this thing run!!) She's
had all the chrome and door and trunk handles shaved and has a
keyless entry system instead. The glass has been replaced with
bronze tinted all around. The rubber is Goodyear and the rims
are by American Racing. The gray leather and billet steering wheel
sits on a vintage GM tilt column. The dash is painted to match
the exterior of the car and has an oak panel mounted on it to
hold the VDO guages. Other goodies include a JVC stereo system
with disc changer, six Bose speakers, power steering, power brakes,
the high-backed lumbar seats are from a 2000 Ford Windstar van.
Almost everything that can be chromed under the hood is. The wife
says she looks great the way it is, but it doesn't have "my"
touches on it yet and there are things judges would frown at,
so there's still more to do. As I type this the car is being re-squirted
with basecoat/clearcoat PPG in the same yellow. New tu-tone gray
tweed carpeting and sculptured door panels will be going in the
interior (and trunk) after. I've posted some pics on the web of
the car and will be adding more from time to time until she's
done and show ready.