• Home

Vital Statistics - Extra class. First licensed as novice KN2YWE in 1956

I used to listen to the awesome signal from NSS for code practice or just the sheer joy of hearing "perfect" CW. I worked NSS on CW during Armed Forces Day one year. What a thrill to hear that big signal come back to me. When I moved to Annapolis , one of the first things I did was visit the facility. Sadly it is now defunct, and but a few minor towers  remain.

99% CW Operation

Moderate diminishing proficiency in American Morse

Occasional lapses to AM and SSB, and lately even RTTY and PSK31

I sometime use my club call, K3AU, issued in 2004

Useful in contests. The e in my "real" call seems to get lost both on CW and phone.

Toe callsign belongs to the South Shore Amateur Radio Club of Maryland

The Club is dedicated to furthering Amateur Radio, CW, and Contesting. SSARC (MD) is a FISTS club.

Interest in contesting (scores) re-emerged several years ago

Active both at home SOLP and at Multi-op stations.

I use CT most of the time, but have registered versions of NA and TRLog too.

I recently built what I call a "Bone Simple SO2R Box" to get my feet wet in SO2R operation. Maybe you will find my design useful.

I put together some presentations on Contesting, especially for Little Pistols

Concentrated on doing well with modest stations, but there's good stuff in there for all contesters regardless of station capability. They are PowerPoint slide shows (.pps) that can be viewed using the Powerpoint Viewer, free from Microsoft if you need it. I intend to make these presentations available for HTML viewing on this site, but I have not gotten around to it. They are animated. If you have the bandwidth and a little patience, just click here . . .

Contest Introduction and More

Contesting Tips for Little Pistols, and others too

Contest Best Practices excerpted from "Little Pistols"

Member of PVRC, Maryland Mobileers, FISTS, HEMARC, and ARRL

PVRC-CARA W3AO Field Day June 2006 Photo Gallery

The W3AO team has been adding "features" every year. Air Conditioning in 2005!

W3AO has produced the Top FD score since 1999

I customarily operate 80CW

A limited view of my Modest Station, the DX/Contest Hound and Chief Op

• Yaesu FT-100MP and FT-990 and accouterments (not really set up for SO2R though)
• 40M inverted Delta Loop up 70 feet. Used on 40m and WARC bands, as well as for 160m Receive.
• 80m convoluted Dipole at about 50 feet. Was put up temporarily and needs to be "permanentized."
• 160m Lazy-U ("C"-shape) Dipole. Center-fed vertical section about 60' long, with two horizontal legs of about 105' each at 6/65 feet up.

Not earth-shattering performance, but gets me a few multipliers during contests. I have even participated a bit in the Stew Perry. I use my 40m Delta on receive most of the time on 160. Much better SNR than the "C". I need to rig a preamp for it.

This relatively small antenna never ceases to amaze me with its excellent performance

 

C3SS shakedown SWR measurements taken in 2001 at 29 feet.

• 20m SWR Curves of my C3SS OK
• 15m SWR Curves of my C3SS OK
• 10m SWR Curves of my C3SS Uh Oh, but works well

It's now up at 45 feet and I need to take new measurements with non-metallic guy wires.

When the spirit moves me and I have room, I fire up the older stuff

I hate to throw anything away . . .

• Globe Scout 680 - my first "commercial" rig. Bought new in 1957.
• Globe Chief 90 - purchased in 2000 and cleaned-up. Nice clean CW.
• I have a matching WRL-755 VFO, but sadly it is not the actual one I had years ago.
• Hammerlund HQ-110 - my second receiver (I had an S-85 for a while). New in 1960. Needs bandswitch work.
• National SW-54 - purchased in 2004. I lusted for one of these as a kid.
• Hallicrafters HT-37 - upgraded from the Globe Scout. Bought new in 1960.
• SX-117 - I bought this used in about 1980 ago. Works well with the HT-37. Always on line as second receiver.
• Technical Materiel Corporation (TMC) GPR-90 - I worked at TMC in high school in the later 1950's.
• B&W TR Switch, Johnson Viking Matchbox, etc . . .

Photo of Dan hisself with rig in late 1950's

Me as a young punk. Photo taken for a Westchester (NY) Amateur Radio Association membership meeting.

Photo of Dan's ham shack in the mid 1960's

SX-100, HT-37, HQ-110 and other stuff

Being a CW freak (FISTS #1726, CC #1360) I have

• my W8FYO single-lever paddle that Joe Hills made for me in the nineteen sixties. This is the paddle that Bencher copied (poorly) after the patent expired.
• my first electronic-keyer - Hallicrafters 'TO, with spare mercury-wetted relay.
• an Electronic single-lever keyer paddle
• a Vibroplex single lever keyer paddle
• some hand keys and some solid-state keyers

Good 'Ole Ham Friends (K2YWE, N4JR, K2XX at Hamvention)

• W3PJ - Chuck is a really good friend that lives nearby. The callsign belonged to his dad, Mel.
• N4JR - Jerry and I spent a lot of time together in middle and high school, along with K2ZOX. We did a lot of "stuff" together. He was K2TNI back then.
• N7XM - Josh and I QRQ'd each other to death in our younger years. We traveled through EU together in College. Josh was K2MMS "back in the day."
• K2XX Joe and I knew each other in high school. We once lit up his mother's kitchen lights with Joe's DX-100 on 10m. Joe was K2UZO.

C3SS beam shakedown measurements taken in 2001

• 20m SWR Curves of my C3SS OK
• 15m SWR Curves of my C3SS OK
• 10m SWR Curves of my C3SS Un Oh, but works well

Contest Presentations

• Contest Introduction and More
• Contesting Tips for Little Pistols, and others too
• Contest Best Practices excerpted from "Little Pistols"