I'll bite, too -- I'm out of the circle and SMC is a great group, but I do
miss the SECC since returning to the Midwest. At least I get to work all
y'all in the contests! I think Matt K4AQ "the ham formerly known as
WB6BWZ" is in more of my 9-land logs than any other SECCer.
(These stories are being collected for inclusion on the SECC web site,
right?)
73, Gary
K9AY
1. What got you interested in ham Radio?
Two things -- a) my oldest brother was interested in electronics. He got his
Novice, but never got on the air; and b) my own curiosity -- at age 9, I
built a crystal set from the plans in a 1930s-era radio book I got from the
library. The local club was technically unsophisticated, but very
enthusiastic and helpful.
2. What is your favorite mode and why?
CW. It's incredibly efficient for communications and I learned it well
operating nearly every day as a 12-year-old Novice.
3. What got you interested in contesting?
I somehow met a bunch of crazy contesters when I moved to Colorado -- mainly
W0UO, W1XE, KC0D (SK), N2IC and K0EU. I'd already been licensed 25 years,
but what they were doing sounded like fun, and they were damn good contest
Elmers!
4. What is your favorite contest and why?
I used to like CQWW and ARRL DX CW contests best. They are still great, but
now I favor the two major 160M events -- ARRL 160 and CQWW DX 160 CW.
5. What is your current station line up? Rigs, antennas, etc.
(2) IC765s, Elecraft K2, Alpha 99. Several towers and antennas in storage;
the only working antennas are wires in the trees. Will still have wires in
the trees this season, but at a new QTH -- no house yet, but the shed has
240V 200A service.
6. Besides radio, what do you do for fun?
I build things (like part of the house we're planning) and like to go
fishing once in a while.
7. What do you do for a living?
Partner in Summit Technical Media, a publishing company (95%) and make a few
odds and ends for lowband hams under the name AY Technologies (5%).
8. What improvements do you plan to make to your station before the CQ WW
SSB contest in Oct 2004?
Huh? An SSB contest? Seriously, #1 priority is to install temporary
antennas for the ARRL 160 and CQ160 contests, although the Beverages must
wait until the corn is in. I also need to do the synthesizer trimmer
capacitor fix to my IC765s. 2005 will see major station-building.
9. How long have you been licensed?
Coming up on 43 years -- became WN9AYP in October 1961.
10. What part of the hobby do you like the least?
The intrusion of man-made noise and interference into the electromagnetic
spectrum -- and now we must contend with BPL.
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