Current Terrorist Threat Level

Yes, I'm an Amateur Radio Operator, or a Ham, as some of you may call it. My wife is too. I've been a Ham Radio Operator since 1994 and have always had the same callsign.

I used to have a tower up at my previous residence, but since I moved and I'm not planning on living here too long, it's currently in storage. When I move to the next house, I plan on putting it back up and there will certainly be some sort of use for it on this site.

Currently at home, I've taken down all the antennas. We were hoping to move, so in preperation of the new selling this place, I took them down.  Now since it's not looking like we are moving anytime soon with home prices falling where they are, I've been thinking about putting them back up.

In the truck, I have a Kenwood D700A set aside, but I haven't installed it yet.  I'm waiting for warmer weather and a plan for a good place to mount it. It's a really nice radio, and it was in the previous truck.  In the car, there's a Yaesu FT-8800.  At home, there's a Yaesu FT-100 that I've used to talk all over the world, including my 2 favorite contacts to Antartica.  There's also a Kenwood TM-261 that's hooked up to a Kantronics KPC3+.  I also have an Yaesu VX-7R, which is a really nice HT, and an old Kenwood TH-78A, which was really cool in it's day, but now sucks batteries and is heavy by today's standards.  It's become a scanner.

My wife got her callsign at the Dayton Hamvention in 2003. I made her a promise that if she passed I would buy her a radio. She picked out a Kenwood V7A which is cute and all, but that screen is really hard to read in direct sunlight. We sold it and bought the Yeasu FT-8800 that's now in the car.

My oldest son has expressed an interest in amateur radio, but so far it's just a fascination with gadgets. Every once in a while, he pulls out the books or asks me questions about it.

In the past, I have been the webmaster and treasurer for a couple of amateur radio organizations, but have since then decided that when it became work and not fun, it was time to move on. Mike Bottema taught me a long time ago that it's a hobby. Hobbies are supposed to be fun. If you're not having fun, then either you're doing it wrong, or you're taking it too seriously.

Speaking of having fun, currently I am a Team Leader for the Skywarn team that goes to the National Weather Service during the severe weather months. My wife is my team member. We take reports from amateur radio operators for the 23 county area. We then let the meteorologists know about the reports and they make decisions based on those reports. We have been there sometimes late into the next morning on weekdays. On more than one occasion, I have left the NWS, gone home, showered, changed, and gone to work. We have 3 teams and we rotate weeks all summer long.

I have also volunteered at some of the local events in the area, such as walks and the River Bank Run. I used to run the March of Dimes walk, but I gave it up after 4 years.

If you're interested in callsigns and what not, try the search feature on the left. Type in a Amateur or GMRS callsign and give it will give you the results. It will also give you a link to a Google Map if the address can be found, and provided it's not a PO box. I also have mailing lists set up so that you can get information on the FCC database activity for the 23 counties that make up the GRR/NWS area. Click on the Mailing Lists link to the left if you're interested in that. It also gives you a complete list in a comma seperated value file on the first of the month. It's free and I don't use the addresses for anything, so feel free to sign up.