[SECC] Club

[Bill Coleman]

On Sep 5, 2004, at 8:58 PM, Greg Richard wrote:

> 1.  What got you interested in ham Radio?

It is my older brother's fault (NJ8J). Even though he was five years 
older, I always had to try and do everything he did. So, when get 
finally got his Novice license in March of 1975, I decided I did as 
well. We'd both been SWLs for years (Ben got 3-transistor SW radio kit 
from our Uncle for Christmas in 1969). Was licensed as WN8WOY in 
November of 1975.

> 2.  What is your favorite mode and why?

I really enjoy SSB contesting. I know most contesters love CW, but I 
was never the super CW operator before I got into contesting. I'm 
gaining a better appreciation for CW.

> 3. What got you interested in contesting?

Long ago, I remember reading a 73 magazine about how contesting was 
good for you. But I never really had the confidence to try it out. I 
was a shy kid. A couple of weeks after I got married, my wife and I 
drove out to Field Day for the Atlanta Radio Club. I musta sat at one 
of the operating tables for three hours before getting enough gumption 
to actually operate.

Later that year, I tried Sweepstakes CW and Phone, and I've been hooked 
on contesting since.

> 4. What is your favorite contest and why?

SS Phone. I've done well on low power, and may actually have a 
snowball's chance at setting a GA section record one day.

My second favorite is NAQP, both modes. It's one of the few contests a 
family man (or woman) can put in a full effort without neglecting 
everyone else.

> 5.  What is your current station line up? Rigs, antennas, etc.

Elecraft K2/100, Kenwood TS-430S
No Amps (yet - my shack has been wired for 240V in two locations over 
18 years)

Cushcraft A3S at 15m, 40m 1/4 wave sloper at 12m, 125 foot doublet at 
10m, shunt fed tower for 80m. Cushcraft R7000 runs the second radio as 
well.

I do SO2R a bit on phone. I need more practice to be effective.

> 6. Besides radio, what do you do for fun?

Flying (I'm licensed, and own 1/5 of a Cessna 172, am building a 
Nieuport 11 replica)
Computers

> 7.  What do you do for a living?

Software developer with 20 years experience.

> 8.  What improvements do you plan to make to your station before the 
> CQ WW SSB contest in Oct 2004?

Well, I plan to operating at NQ4I's. Rick has made a whole bunch of 
improvements to the station since I was last there during ARRL CW. 40m 
should really be competitive this year. And it may be the first year we 
can actually rotate the big 80m beam in some time.

I'm making some Rx filters for the second radio stations for Rick. We 
had some adjacent channel interference back during ARRL CW. The primary 
radios already have filters.

Before SS Phone, there are several improvements I'd like to make to MY 
station. First, I'd like to get a Cushcraft A743 40m kit on my A3S. The 
sloper is only modestly effective, and I don't have any tall trees on 
my lot to put up wires. The 40m kit would be right at 15m high.

Second, I need to put down 12 60 foot radials on the tower for the 
shunt feed. This would complement the 13 radials I have in place. This 
will make the shunt and the 40m sloper more effective.

Third, I need to make some mods to my K2. I want to clean up the SSB 
filter, and I have the caps to do this. I also need to order the 
firmware upgrades and the key click mods. It's just a matter of having 
the money to do this.

Forth, I may try to put up a K9AY loop or pennant pointed north so I 
can hear callers on the low bands when I'm trying to run.

Before the ARRL 160m, I'd like to get some kind of inverted-L up fed 
against the 80m radial field.

> 9.  How long have you been licensed?

Since 1975, with a 1.5 year hiatus between my Novice and General.

> 10.  What part of the hobby do you like the least?

Hams who think contesters ought to be regulated to some narrow 
backwater of the HF bands. Oooo. I can't stand that....


Bill Coleman, AA4LR, PP-ASEL        Mail: aa4lr at arrl.net
Quote: "Not within a thousand years will man ever fly!"
             -- Wilbur Wright, 1901