N7LT, Lyndel Thiesen
I first became licensed on September 28, 1984. My call sign was KA7TVT. That was a day I long waited for! I always wanted to be a ham since I was in grade school but that darn code always tripped me up. I thought I just couldn't learn that language. Turns out it was just that I needed a certain way to learn the code. That way was to use the Radio Shack book called "From 5 to 1,000 watts". It teaches you to learn the code by saying it out loud. It teaches you 4 characters per day. In just over a month I'd learned the code! In a couple of more months I'd pushed my capability of receiving code to 30 WPM! While living in Bozeman, I had a nice home station consisting of a Yeasu FT-107M with all the accessories and a handheld 2-meter rig and a mobile 2-meter rig. My antenna was a 2 element Gem Quad that performed GREAT! I also had double bazookas for 40 and 80 meters.
Looking back at my logbook from those first contacts back in 1984, I worked lots of 40, 15 and 10-meter CW contacts around the US. After about 6 months of working mostly CW, I started working SSB when I received my General call sign N7HAZ and left CW behind until 1989 due to moving to Washington State and other life obligations. Around 1990 I decided to upgrade my license to Extra. I took the Advanced test in Pullman, WA and received the call sign KF7XJ. A couple of weeks later took the Extra class test in Lewiston, Idaho. I studied a total of 1/2 hour for the CW test and missed only one! Not bad for not using CW for almost 5 years! I received the Extra call sign AA7DG. After that my interest in CW was rekindled by purchasing an old Heathkit HW-8 QRP rig for 60 bucks from an old friend who had no more use for it. I hooked it up and put it on the air in our small apartment. What fun it was to work stations around the country with only 2 watts!
In late 1990 I moved to Seattle WA to work for ICOM America as a Tech Rep. My official title was Technical Customer Service Rep and I provided telephone support to customers who needed help with their radios for Amateur, Aviation and marine. Working for ICOM America Inc. was sure an eye opener into the business world of Amateur radio and the world of large corporations. It was also very interesting to learn all about how our hobby is molded and shaped by what engineers in another country think we want!
While working for ICOM I had at my disposal all of the gear they had! I frequently would get off work and go into the ICOM hamshack and fire up the IC-781 and the IC-4KL 1KW amplifier, which fed into either an HY-Gain TH7DXX or a KLM 4-element monobander for 40 meters! What a kick it was to operate that station! Their Satellite station was also a super set up with an ICOM IC-970 with 2,440 and 1,2GHZ modules and fantastic antennas. Fun working the sats from ICOM! Generated lots of pile-ups!
Late 1992 I moved back to Bozeman, Montana. I still had no equipment set up for operating on the HF bands except for my mobile rig which I'd been using since I moved away from Bozeman back in 1989. I worked on getting my repeater on the ridge of the Bridger Mountains, which I did with the help of my friend Cody Snider, KC6UNN. We build lots of cool stuff for our repeater system. We worked all sorts of 10 meter FM DX with our remote base. Later we began building beacons for 10, 6 and 2 meters.
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In 1995 I met a lady who changed my whole life! Wendy (KC7ZER) and I got married and together we purchased our own home! I could finally once again put up BIG antennas! All with my wife's blessings! Well, so I thought…Wendy has talked me out of the 4-tower idea and down to just 4 towers…In October of 1999 I installed my Rohn HDBX 48 tower! Just weeks after my Son Jacob was born. It now sports a TH6DXX, a 17 element 2 meter Tona beam on a 24 foot boom, a 27 element KLM log-yagi, a 6 meter halo, and a dual band vertical for FM. I also have a Butternut HF6V mounted in the back yard temporarily. It will be replaced soon with two in phase Hy-Gain HT-18 High Towers for 160, 80 and 40 meters. I also plan to set up Satellite antennas for working the new bird when it's launched. I also like to still work QRP. My arsenal of QRP gear is a G5RV lightweight antenna, The HW-8, A Ten-Tec Argonaut 509, Argosy, and Power-mite. I hope to soon purchase an Elecraft K2 kit rig. The best on the market! My hamshack also sports an ICOM IC-736 for HF-6 meters A YEASU FT-736 for 6, 2, 220, 440 and hopefully some day a 1.2 GHz module. My amps are 160 watts for 2 meters SSB and 100 watts for 440 SSB. I still have to rebuild the AEA prototype amp I have for 220 MHz so I'll have 100 watts on that band. My receivers are ICOM IC-R72 SW receiver and matching ICOM IC-7100 25 to 2 GHz all mode receiver. I also have a pair of ICOM IC-2500 FM rigs for 440/1.2 GHz to go along with my 1.2 GHz repeater I have on a hilltop overlooking the Gallatin Valley. Its frequency is 1292.000/1272.000 MHz. |
I enjoy all aspects of Amateur radio. I've worked VUCC on the RS-12/13 birds and am now working on VUCC on 2 meters meteor scatter and AU.
My future plans for ham radio are to get the low band towers up, work on getting at least a 3 element beam up for 6 meters (neighbors will REALLY love that one!) and work lots more 2-meter DX to keep up with N7CZ!
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