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My name is Dwight Stewart. My radio callsign is W5NET. I'm a Technician Class (General pending) Amateur Radio Operator licensed by the United States Federal Communications Commission.

For those not familiar with Amateur Radio, my license allows me to build, modify, and operate radio equipment capable of transmitting with up to several hundred watts of power in the High Frequency (HF), Very High Frequency (VHF), Ultra High Frequency (UHF), and higher Amateur Radio frequency bands using various radio operating modes (AM, FM, SSB, CW, and Digital) and technologies (simplex, duplex repeaters, satellites, moon-bounce, and others).

In addition to the personal use of radio, Amateur Radio Operators (often called "Ham" operators) have a long history of providing emergency communications during natural disasters or man-made calamities, and complimentary communications during public events in their community.

There are more than nine hundred thousand Amateur Radio Operators throughout the world, each with different interests, skills, knowledge, and commitment to Amateur Radio. I'm very proud to be part of that great community.

My Location (QTH)

I currently reside in the outskirts of Heidelberg, a town of roughly 140,000 residents in southwestern Germany surrounded by the scenic hills and valleys of the nearby Odenwald forest. A Gothic Renaissance-style castle overlooks the downtown area from the nearby Königstuhl hillside, while the Neckar river with several public parks runs through the heart of downtown. The Old Town (German: Altstadt) is located at the southern side of the Neckar, with the Old Bridge, erected in the 17th century, crossing the river. The mile-long pedestrian shopping street (German: Hauptstraße), hosting festivals and street markets throughout the year, is very popular with both tourists and locals alike.

The Protestant/Catholic Church of the Holy Ghost and the Church of the Jesuit's are located adjacent to the Hauptstraße. The Philosophers' Walk (German: Philosophenweg) on the northern side of the river opposite the castle highlights that Heidelberg was once the center of the epoch of Romanticism (German: Romantik) in Germany. The remains of an ancient Celtic fortress can be found near the Philosophenweg.

Heidelberg also hosts one of the oldest universities in Europe, founded in 1386. The University of Heidelberg (Ruprecht Karls University) employs roughly 15,000 academic staff and maintains a student population of approximately 27,000 students. The University offers advanced degrees in Biosciences, Chemistry, Mathematics, Computer Science, Law, Medicine, Philosophy, History, Modern Languages, Physics, Astronomy, Theology, and more. Study at German universities is heavily subsidized in order to keep higher education affordable.

Finally, several important military installations are located within Heidelberg, including Campbell Barracks (the former Wehrmacht Großdeutschland-Kaserne) hosting Headquarters United States Army Europe (USAREUR) and Component Command-Land Headquarters NATO. Nearby Tompkins Barracks hosts United States Army Installation Management Command Europe Region.

My Radio Equipment

My primary radio is the classic Yaesu FT-767GX solid-state all-mode synthesized transceiver (pictured above). The transmitter offers 100-watts RF power output on all HF amateur bands in USB, LSB, CW, FM, and AFSK modes. AM is rendered with 25-watts AM carrier power. The triple-conversion superheterodyne receiver covers 100 kHz to 29.99999 MHz continuously.

Four internal microprocessors within the FT-767GX provide a high level of digital integration and control, offering features such as user-programmable independent tuning steps for each mode, auto-calculating digital SWR meter, digital RF watt-meter, synchronous tracking VFO's and autospeed ACG.

Operating conveniences include dual (A-B) independent VFO's, automatic antenna tuner, ten memories storing frequency and mode, all mode squelch, range/step programmable scanner, variable noise blanker threshold, IF shift, IF notch, speech processor, and a built-in 100-234v power supply. An expanded CAT system allows practically unlimited addition of features and user-defined controls from an external computer.

Audio output is handled by two 4-ohm external speakers driven by a bhi Ltd (www.bhi-ltd.co.uk) "Noise Away" Amplified Noise Elimination Module (ANEM) with highly effective DSP Noise Cancellation.

My antenna system is a 40/20/15/10-meter parallel dipole, installed in an inverted-V configuration, manufactured by Alpha Delta Communications (model DX-EE) using stainless steel hardware and high tensile strength 12-guage copper wire to withstand severe environments. The center of this dipole is installed at a height of approximately 32 feet, using a military surplus mast made of fiberglass to minimize coupling, with the ends of the dipole roughly 12 feet above the ground.

Popular Amateur Radio Links

Amateur Radio in the United States is regulated by the Federal Communications Commission. The American Radio Relay League is the largest Ham Radio organization in the United States. The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) builds satellites equipped with Amateur Radio repeater technology for launch into space.

Use the Amateur Radio Callsign Search Page to locate licensed ham operators in this country. Here is the master index of the several hundred Amateur Radio Web Sites on this server.

About the Author

I was born in North Carolina in 1953, moving to California very shortly thereafter. As the child of an Air Force service member, much of my youth entailed traveling between military bases in California, Massachusetts, Georgia, and elsewhere. Two of those years, in the mid 60's, were spent at Karamursel Air Station on the coast of the Mediterranean across the Sea of Marmara from Istanbul Turkey.

Enlisted in the Army in 1970 and, after training as a Radio Relay Operator (MOS 31M), was stationed in Germany for a little over two years. Returned to Europe in 1977 as a civilian to work as a sales representative for a consumer electronics marketing firm based in Basel Switzerland, representing products from Hitachi, Infinity, Kenwood, Klispch, Pentax, Yamaha, and others. Later managed a German-owned computer store in Heidelberg, handling merchandise from Apple, Atari, Commodore, IBM, Wang, and others. Visited Europe once again in 1998 to live in Vicenza Italy for a year.

After leaving Italy, moved to Seattle Washington and then to Myrtle Beach South Carolina so my wife (Robin, KB9SNS) could attend classes at Coastal Carolina University. After graduating, she was offered a civilian job as a financial analyst with the military, so we returned to Europe once again. We currently reside in Heidelberg Germany, where we're planning to start a business in the very near future.

Over the years, I've taken military or college courses in journalism, public affairs, and several electronics courses including electrician, communications fundamentals, logical troubleshooting, electrical physics, and others. Have also taken several courses in seamanship, marine navigation, and marine rescue operations. Finally, have extensive (20+ years) experience with both Mac and PC computers.

I'm also a former member of the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary. The Auxiliary was created by Congress in 1939, with the Coast Guard given a legislative mandate at that time to use civilian volunteers to promote safety on and over the high seas and the nation's navigable waters. The Coast Guard Authorization Act of 1996 extended that role to assisting "the Coast Guard, as authorized by the Commandant, in performance of any Coast Guard function, duty, role, mission, or operation, authorized by law." Current federal law (33 CFR 5.31) adds that "members of the Auxiliary, when assigned to specific duties shall, unless otherwise limited by the Commandant, be vested with the same power and authority, in execution of such duties, as members of the regular Coast Guard assigned to similar duties."

My most recent past appointment was to the National Staff as Chief (BC-ATM) of the Member's Branch in the Technology Division of the Public Affairs Department. My job was to manage the national public affairs web site and advise or assist members in the development of information technology used to promote the Auxiliary or it's missions. Prior to that, I served as Division Staff Communications Services Officer with Division 4/D13 (Olympic and Kitsap Peninsulas in Western Washington State) and previously held several other flotilla and division level staff positions. I was also a founding member of the Department of Homeland Security.