Amateur Radio Station

KF4HAY

owned and operated by Neal Benham

I was first licensed in 2- 96 as a technician class operator. I upgraded to Extra within a couple of years. In the beginning all I had was a Ranger 2950, Antron 99 and a Moonraker beam on a 40 foot tower. I found out that if you became a 10-10 member and aquired a 10-10 number, you could make a lot more contacts. I became the holder of number 68450. Then began my journey as a paperchaser. I soon learned you could get some nice certificates to hang on the wall by joining different 10-10 chapters. Each chapter has its own distinct certificate.

I come to like and use the cw mode quite a bit and soon became a FISTS cw club member 6204. I made contact with quite a few new countries and worked all states again with cw. Plus I made some interesting contacts that I probably wouldn't have made using phone. I never developed the speed I wanted to, but could copy at 20 - 25 wpm. However my comfort zone would be around 13-15 wpm for a leisurely qso.

My station now consists of my second Yaesu FT 840; MFJ 969 tuner; Astron 20M power supply; Maco 5/8V 10 meter vertical antenna; 80 meter double zepp; MD-100a8x mic with a W2IHY dual band EQ, and a straight key. I use an Icom 2100H and MFJ stacked 5/8 2 meter verticals. I also have a 60 ft tower with the Maco vertical on top and a Cushcraft 13B2 2 meter beam below that.

I am also an ARRL VE and usually assist with testing at the Radcliff, KY site. I have had basic and advanced stormspotter training, plus some training in hazmat and emergency operations.


Club Membership No.

ARRL WAS # 49,907

10-10 # 68450 SB# 1552

FISTS # 6204 CC # 931

SKCC # 378

160M CCN # 316

Ten-Ten Int.

eQSL online

Local News

Local WX radar

R and L Electronics

Area Attractions

Doe Run Inn

Otter Creek Park

Brandenburg, KY

Squire Boone Cavern

 

contact kf4hay

out of order
out of order

updated 2-08

Working all continents on ten meters was easy enough, but working all states was a little harder and would certainly take longer. But with some patience and perserverance could be done. Getting the contacts confirmed by the other stations qsl card was usually easy enough, especially for the stateside contacts. Getting qsl cards for some dx stations was a little harder. Most qsl'ed by the Buro, or direct, if a self addressed envelope with a dollar or sometimes two for postage was included.

I worked over a hundred countries, and about eighty-eight confirmed, before I finally give up. The dollars for qsl's were getting lost somewhere along the line, and I wasn't to anxious about renewing my subscription for the ever increasing price for the ARRL membership.

In the summer of 1999, I aquired a Yaesu FT 840, Astron power supply, MFJ 969 tuner, and a Cushcraft R7 multiband vertical antenna. I then put up a 250 ft. wire centerfed with about 55 ft. of ladderline back to the tuner. This allowed me access to more bands and more contacts, ssb and cw. I liked chasing the special event stations, especially the ones that interested me, such as Disney Land, Churchhill Downs, Queen Mary, Route 66, and a variety of others. Most offered colorful certificates or qsl cards.

Take a look at My Radio Page ,also My Bike Page


Local repeaters and Skywarn info

I have been involved to some extent with Skywarn, which gives amateurs and people in general stormspotter training. When severe wx threatens, repeaters in the area can be used for active stormspotting nets. When severe wx is seen, it can be reported to net control, which will then relay that information to the local National Weather Service.

In the Meade and Breckenridge Co. area of KY, and Harrison Co. in IN., use these repeaters.

146.625 in Payneville,KY pl 151.4 when needed

146.820 in Frenchtown,IN pl 103.5

146.775 in Corydon,IN pl pl 103.5

146.700 in Brooks,KY pl 79.7

also check some simplex frequencies, such as 146.520 and 146.500

Some emergency service frequencies in Meade Co. are

Police dispatch 151.010 , EMS 151.115 , Fire 157.485

There may be more freq. listed in another area of this site.


Some of my favorite links

 

 

 

 

QRZ callsign lookup Red Green Show
Dr. Ace's Antenna's Steve Quayle
AC6V ham links The Watchers
Heil microphones Famous Hams
Bullitt Amateur Radio Society FCC Part 97 Rules
Ham Universe KY Ham
Meade County Messenger Our little 10 meter group
Coast to Coast some insight on Gods word
Out There TV Corner Gas

 

 

 

 


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