A look into my past (from a ham's prospective)....
Copyright 2000 Jim Leighty


W6UJX - The present....

In 1985 Jim and his wife Roni moved to an acre on top of a hill in the north of Thousand Oaks. This was a great location, but the antennas still had to remain modest. Electrical noise was almost nil. When new countries came on and dx-peditions went on the air, Jim worked them - not the first call, but ultimately he worked them. He got pointers on how to snag the rare ones from Harvey Shore, K6EXO, and some of the good people in the Southern California DX Club. In 1995 his company was sold and his job was moved to Northridge (in the San Fernando Valley where he had grown up). Thousand Oaks became unfriendly to hams and antennas, and was no longer close to work. So, Jim and Roni moved to Littlerock (in the high desert near Palmdale) where he could put up real antennas and Roni could have a kennel license to accomodate the number of dogs that was right for us at the time.

ARRL 40 year pinTriEx 54ft Heavy Duty Tower Putting up a tower and antennas on the 2-1/2 acres at the Littlerock farm has taken longer than expected. Permits took almost a year - but they were obtained finally. The tower is a 54 foot TriEx heavy duty self standing model with a motor to move it up and down. The picture shows it nested with the heavy duty antenna post installed. But everyone asks "where are the antennas?" and "hey, no arms." They're coming. The problem has been that the tower is more than 300 feet from the house, and coax and control cables have to be routed in underground pipe to the tower (easier said than done). The coax is in hand and the trenching should finally take place this spring (2000). Meanwhile, a GAP vertical is in place in the front yard.

Jim travels 50 miles to work each day and operates 2 meters FM and HF from his Honda Civic. W6UJX/MThe HF antenna on the car is a Screwdriver (made by Don, W6AAQ - the inventor of the Screwdriver antenna). The antenna now has a 102 inch whip on top of the coil. It really works nice with only the TS-50 and 100 watts. Traveling to and from work affords Jim the time to enjoy ham radio. Jim is a member of the Antelope Valley Radio Club and has found the club to be very friendly and welcoming.

1999 company picture of Jim

Heard enough?