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Mike - WM4B: In his shack |
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For as long as I can remember, I was
interested in finding out how things work. Maybe it’s because
my dad was a general contractor and could pretty much fix
anything, but whatever the case, I was bitten at an early age.
There were not too many items in the house that were safe from
me and my screwdriver, and I’m sure that I drove the poor T.V.
repairman nuts!
During the C.B. craze of the 70’s, my dad
started using C.B. for his business. I was just a grade school
kid at the time, but I thought that the radios were pretty
neat. I heard about ham radio from a couple friends of my dad,
and the idea of talking to people all over the world intrigued
me. It also happened that the guy who owned our local Radio
Shack Franchise Store was a ham, and he kept some ham-radio
related odds & ends around the store.
In 1975 (when I was in 6th
grade), I took a Novice class through the local radio club (the
Black River Amateur Radio Club) and was licensed as WN8AGD. My
house was only about 25 miles from the infamous Heathkit factory
in Benton Harbor, so I spent a lot of time (and most of my
money) buying and building Heath gear. My first rig was the
monstrous Heathkit Apache TX-1 transmitter, which I bought for
$25. I can’t remember what receiver I used back then, but I
know it was made by Hallicrafters. (I sure wish I still had
that gear!) Eventually I managed to scrape together enough money
to buy a used HW-101. I upgraded to Technician, General, and
Advanced between 1976 and 1979 (my 'upgraded' call was WD8AGD),
and passed the Extra in 1980 (when I was in 11th
grade).
Somewhere during that period, I got active
on SSTV and RTTY (back when those were rather cumbersome modes
to operate – anybody who remembers using a Model 15 for RTTY or
a P7 tube for SSTV will know what I’m talking about!). I was
working for my dad after school, on weekends, and during the
summer and ended up with a pretty impressive station, including
an SB-200 linear amplifier, SB-614 monitor scope, and Mosley
TA-33 on a 40 foot tower. (Not bad for a high school kid!)
My current station consists of a Kenwood
TS-480 and a 500' horizontal loop. I also use an attic
dipole, which enables me to operate during severe weather. My
primary modes are PSK-31 and CW, although I do run SSB on
occasion. My 2-meter ‘base’ rig is an old Yaesu FT-227R
‘Memorizer’, which I purchased new in 1977. For mobile use, I
have a Yaesu FT-8900 quad-band (440, 2-meters, 6-meters,
10-meter FM) and a Radio Shack HTX-10 (10-meter SSB). Of course,
I have a variety of other equipment stored away, including
several old Heathkit rigs and various QRP rigs which I’ve built
over the years. I love to work QRP CW, but don’t have the space
for all my favorite radios, so the TS-480 cranked down to 5
watts (or less) has to serve extra duty. I’ve also been toying
with RTTY and SSTV again lately – it’s MUCH easier when
everything runs from the computer!
I joined the Air Force in 1981 and spent
the next 12 years working as a radar technician, traversing the
world aboard the EC-135 and EC-18B Advanced Range
Instrumentation Aircraft (ARIA) (ARIA
Factsheet). Other assignments include Edwards AFB, CA,
Sheppard AFB, TX, and Kunsan AB, Republic of Korea. My final
military assignment was at Robins AFB, GA, where I served with
the 116th Air Control Wing (Joint STARS) working as a Manpower
Management Analyst. During this assignment, I deployed to Al
Udeid AB, Qatar, where I did manpower programming for the
largest deployed Air Force wing, supporting Operation ENDURING
FREEDOM. After retiring from the Air Force in June of 2005, I
worked for a short time as a High Volume Instrument Technician
with the USDA Cotton Program in Macon, GA. Currently, I am
working for the Department of the Air Force, once again assigned
the the 116th Air Control Wing as the Chief of Manpower and
Organization.
I am married and have two school-age sons,
which means that I have limited time available to play radio.
I’m normally only able to operate during the late evening hours,
which is why PSK-31 and CW my modes of choice.
73,
-- de WM4B
Mike
Kathleen, GA |
