Biography

Hello! I'm Marissa. Thanks for looking me up.

I live and operate in Tampa, FL (EL87). I also spend time in Belleair Beach, FL (EL87) and Murphy, NC (EM75).

I am new to amateur radio and just passed my general as of 5/17/23 and my extra as of 5/20/23. Managed to take and pass all 3 exams in under one month (4/27/2023 for my technician). These licenses are definetly licenses to learn and I haven't stopped learning since I passed them.

I speak both English and Spanish. I'm married and have two children.

I applied for this vanity call sign because I wanted my initials (MT) in my call...haven't changed my name legally yet hence what you might see on some call sign lookup pages.

I hope to hear you all on the air!


My Reasons For Exploring Amateur Radio:
I got into ham radio because of off-roading after realizing CB is on the way out and GMRS is very limited especially in emergencies. Because that's why I got into amateur radio, I was intially invested in 2m and 70cm using HTs. I'm now on HF and enjoying seeing how far I can reach using SSB and FT8/FT4. I decided to go for extra because I'm a bit of a completionist and also wanted to be able to use my radios in CEPT countries. I'm glad I did as it was a fun challenge to study for the exams.

I've been enjoying learning how to use APRS and other packet radio modes such as Winlink.

Worked DXCCs:

Equipment

HF:
I'm currently using an Icom 7300 with a 20m dipole. I had been using RemoteHams (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) and Remote Ham Radio (NY and MA) to get on HF. I had initially tried my 20m dipole in my attic but that didn't work thanks to the AC unit being too close causing some very high SWR so I've rigged a telescoping pole for that antenna to use in my front yard and setup my station at my unused side door.

UHF/VHF:
I use a Wouxun UV9PX HT currently along with a QRZ-1. I also have a Baofeng UV-5R that I use to experiment with digital modes using an audio cable interface.


Future Equipment:
I'm planning on some sort of permanent EFHW or OCFD to get on the other HF bands besides 20m soon. Being in the lightning capital of the world...it'll be retractable.

I plan on installing a mobile radio in my Jeep soon as well, preferably something with built-in APRS. I’ll probably set it up so I can easily remove it from the Jeep and use it as a home UHF/VHF base station when I'm not off-roading. I'm thinking about the Yaesu FTM-500DR or FTM-300DR. I might also just buy a TNC and a cheaper 25W mobile for this purpose and use my phone to do APRS thru that.

I will probably pickup a DMR or similar HT in the future, but I've had decent luck using EchoLink and Peanut for internet radio link access.