My interest in ham radio began with my father W9CJE, W1CBH and finally K4AYT.From 1948 until he became a silent key in 1976,he was an avid CW operator. That's where I got my first taste of Amateur Radio. In 1964 I was lucky enough to have him as teacher. With his help I became licensed as WN1CKF and then WA1CKF. Had it not been for his constant encouragement I might never have learned the Morse Code. Had it not been for that encouragement, I would not be here relating my interest and experience in the field of radio operation and experimentation.
I have also developed an interest in meteorolgy and weather observation. This interest is mainly due to the influence of Dr. Dewey Stowers at the University of South Florida. His knowledge and enthusiasm in the area of meteorology and geography can only be described as infectious. The good Dr. made a very dry subject interesting for his students. It's like a fellow student once said "When the weather forcasters have a problem or are confused about what's going on with the weather, they come to see Dr.Stowers and he straightens them out". Further into the web page there will be links to all sorts of weather information. There will also be some very interesting weather graphics you won't want to miss.
In addition there will be many articles related to antennas,new and old electronic theory,and some simple modifications to new and old gear which should prove interesting to everyone.
My present operating interests consist of chasing DX on CW/SSB/AM primarily on 160m thru 10 meters with a side order of local 2 meter activitity. I have always been interested in experimentation with antennas. Further down the web page KN4LF and I have provide some interesting information about a 160 m antenna that really works. The interesting part of the entire article is that you don't need alot of property to put up this antenna. I live in the city of Tampa and have found a way to get this antenna up and running. In case you haven't already guessed, this band is my present area of operation and experimentation. In addition to the 160m activity and experimentation, I design and build 2mtr antennas.They usually consist of multi- element yagis constructed of some unusual materials. Most of the principles that I use in constucting these antennas, lend themselves to construction and operation of HF band antennas. If you're interested in having a cheap and easily constructed 2mtr yagi antenna with good forward gain with excellent side and rear rejection, there will soon be constuction information available on this web site.
My present station consists of a TS850Sat,Dentron Clipperton L Amplifier with a 3 Element TA33-M Mosley Yagi at 40 feet. In addition I have a Viking Valiant plate modulated AM/CW transmitter(circa 1955) matched with a
National NC 300 reciever of about the same era. My Realistic HTX 242 2mtr FM Transciever which is used mainly for local ragchewing. The 2mtr rig is fed into one of my homebrew 6 el yagis (mentioned earlier) at about the 40ft level above my HF antenna. It can be seen in the picture at the top of the web page.
Another side benifit was that a license to operate was unnecessary. Just be big enough to carry all the batteries and related equipment to sustain yourself for extended operations(LRP's) in the field. I failed to mention that these radios had an effective operating range for of about 50 feet- your living room to your mail box give or take a few feet either way. Armed with this knowledge you can imagine who was answering my "CQ DX" calls! In 1968 I joined the US Air Force and spent nearly a year at Lowery AFB learning the finer points of aircraft attack radar and inertial navigation operation and repair.After Lowery AFB, I was stationed at Nellis AFB working on such aircraft as F-105's,F-4's and finally F-111A's. I didn't have much time for ham radio except for an occasional contact on the HF radios in the aircraft I happened to be working on.
During this time (1968) I changed my callsign to WB4PFY which I held for the next 20 years. In 1988 I upgraded my license to Amateur Advanced and changed my callsign to KK4TR. In 1974 I was employed by the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office and after nearly 25 years I'll soon be up for retirement. All that means is I'll be working for someone else for a while! As I previously indicated this web site will be changing from time to time. Feel free to revisit anytime to take a look. The plan is to have some useful ham radio operating information in the "Favorite Links To Other Websites". Since I also have an interest in meteorology be sure to check out my links to weather and other related subjects.
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24th Infantry 1966 | 25th Infantry 1966/67 |
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