Biography

While waiting for the North High Street bus in Columbus, Ohio in 1976 I met Wally Michener (now K0TSI in Golden, Colorado) who, like me, was studying engineering at Ohio State. During the course of one of our bus rides the subject of ham radio came up. I told him I had been interested in the hobby for years, but never had an Elmer to help me get over the hump. As luck would have it, Wally became the greatest Elmer one could ever hope to have. On September 28, 1976 I was issued a Technician license with callsign WD8CXY.

With a homebrew 80-meter CW transmitter and a Yaesu receiver, I made some HF contacts from Columbus using a simple random wire. But, my amateur radio career really didn't start in earnest until I graduated from OSU and relocated to Lexington, Kentucky in the summer of 1977. I became WD4LWH and operated from a small apartment on the city's east side. I passed the Advanced class test in 1978. In March of 1979 I moved into my present QTH, and after erecting some decent antennas I got pretty deep into our wonderful hobby. After passing the Extra class test in December of 1979, I was issued the call sign KU4A in January, 1980, via normal sequential issue.

I am active on most all bands and most all modes. My present primary home QTH equipment is either a Kenwood TS-2000, Yaesu FT-950 or an Icom IC-746PRO. I do a lot of QRP work using a Yaesu FT-817ND or another rig with the power turned down to 5 watts. I have a tri-band beam at 45 feet, a 3el 6m beam at 40 feet, and various slopers and sloping dipoles for the other bands. I have never owned an amplifier. If I can't work you with 100 watts, we will have to wait until band conditions are better :-). My HF mobile setup in my old Chevrolet is a Yaesu FT-857D with an SGC-230 automatic antenna coupler and SGC-303 whip. My RAV4 has an old Icom IC-706 and I am using Hamsticks as the antennas. I began collecting vintage gear several years ago, and this house is filling up fast.

I've achieved 5-band W.A.S., Triple Play W.A.S., single-band W.A.S. on 30, 17 and 12 meters, DXCC, DXCC phone (150 endorsement), DXCC CW, DXCC digital, single-band DXCCs on 40, 20 (150 endorsement), 15 and 10 (150 endorsement) meters, QRP DXCC and numerous other awards. I have VUCC 300 grids confirmed on 6m. I do a lot of contesting. While not a big gun, I have pulled out a few state/section level victories. I am the current record holder in the mixed-mode and SSB QRP categories in the ARRL Ten-meter contest for the Kentucky section.

My interest in award chasing has been enhanced by the willingness of so many hams to QSL. So, obviously, I myself QSL 100% either direct or via the bureau since I want to help you earn your awards. An SASE is appreciated but not absolutely necessary. I am on LoTW as well. I upload to LoTW right around the first of every month, or more often when I am particularly active.

I hang out a lot in the K3UK LoTW chat room that is used for setting up schedules. You can find it at http://www.obriensweb.com/sked/ Look for me there if you need Kentucky or Fayette County Kentucky, or grid EM78 on 6m.

I sometimes have a 10-meter beacon on 28226.8. It is a Yaesu FT-450 and a ground-mounted Gap Eagle vertical. I am happy to QSL any reports received, with a special QSL card just for the beacon. The beacon is on the air when the station is not being used for something else.

I have posted a number of ham radio related videos on my YouTube page: http://www.youtube.com/user/ku4a/videos

For those of you who have the Microtelecom Perseus SDR, or at least the control software, my Perseus is often online, using a multi-band ground-mounted vertical antenna. To see if it is online, go here: http://www.microtelecom.it/map/PerseusServers.html

I provide two receivers on the GlobalTuners network of remote receivers. GT is a great collection of web receivers and they are free to use after registration with your e-mail address.

The Lexington #1 receiver is a PCR-1000 using a slinky dipole in the attic: http://www.globaltuners.com/receiver/122/

The Lexington #2 receiver is an Icom IC-706 using either a 160/80/40 sloping dipole or a horizonal loop: http://www.globaltuners.com/receiver/406/

Last but not least, go here to see pictures of the station: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ku4a/sets/72157601846418447/

Worked DXCCs: