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This site was last updated 4/13/2002.

There have been visitors to my site since it began on August 25, 2000.

  

About Me

This page is mainly about my ham radio activities. However, I do other things (although not as many as some would like)! My parents are great, and both tolerant of my interests. My Dad is my main motivation, he is an RF engineer and helps me with all of my projects. The strange thing is, he isn't a ham (yet!). However, he is interested in Amateur Radio. His excuse is that 10 hours a day and 30 years is enough of radio and electronics. The main facet of ham radio he is interested in is CW and QRP. He thinks it is neat to use such highly efficient methods of comunication. I can hardly disagree! However, he doesn't have time to learn code. My mom often drives me places, much to my surprise! I have three sisters and no brothers. Although they are often annoying, I get along with my sisters well.

I am an evangelical/Protestant Christian. Our family attends Northern Hills Bible Chapel in the Finneytown area of Cincinnati. It is a great group to fellowship with. I am taking over much of the recording there (from my Dad). I like to run the equipment, which provides some degree of distraction from the occasionally boring messages. I have many older friends from church, as well as a few my own age.

I go to school at St. Xavier High School, and I'm currently a junior. It is a great school all around, and excels in academics and sports. During the years I have attended the sports teams have won a couple (Basketball and Swimming (last years National Champions), at least) Division 1 state championships. The football team was undefeated in their regular season this year and my freshman year. We also have many students who do well in academic competitions. I participate in Radio Club, Math Club, JETS (Junior Engineering Technical Society), and Computer Society. The Radio Club is fairly well equipped. We have a TS430S for HF, a KAM+ for HF packet, and a Yaesu FT736R for VHF/UHF. Our attenna farm consists of a 2m/70cm satellite array (with a Yaesu Az/El rotator), and an HF beam (with half of the reflector element in the shack!). We also have applied for state funds for a new computer (a nice one), an IC756PRO, and a new tower/antenna system, and we have heard that our request will be granted at the end of this school year. I do fairly well in school, but this year has been much harder. My pre-calc course has been the most demanding in terms of homework, it moves fast and I have learned a lot in only two quarters so far. I am also taking AP Computer Science (C++) which after the Intro to Programming class, is fairly easy.

My favorite activity is riding dirt bikes. I am getting better, but slowly. You can read more about it on my MX page.

And of course, I also like Ham Radio and electronics. I like building things more than I like to operate them, so most of my radios do not get used much (including the K2!). I like to build all kinds of things, and design things that are within my reach. Another related interest I have is in micro-controllers. I have had a couple Basic Stamps. One doesn't work right, and my Dad lost the other one. These are great except for the price. The most involved project I did with the Stamp was a timer controller for a timing system. This was started and stopped using IR break-beam detection to trigger a modified stop-watch. I was having problems with the IR part, so my dad said that if I got the firmware programmed, he would help me get the IR part working. So I got the firmware running fine, but the promised help has not yet arrived... Another thing I am interested in is PIC processors. I like these because of their low cost and flexibility and the direct interaction with the hardware.

Another thing I like to do is run construction equipment. We used to own some large machines, an OLD John Deere bulldozer and a Drott 40 wheeled excavator. I ran the excavator some, and really loved it. I have also had the chance to run a newer excavator, and it was really smooth compared to the one we owned! Last year, I ran a Bobcat at a community service project for school. I did some backfilling around a new house we were working on.


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This page last updated 4/13/2002.
© 2002 N8MX.