Biography

I was born in Tulsa, OK. My Dad was a ham (W5JHJ, SK in 2007) and my Mother was a trained pianist. I was first licensed in 1970 as WN5CLC; examiners were my Dad and another ham. I received N5OP during a brief period when Extra class licensees could choose call signs if they had been licensed as Extras for two years; N5OP was my last choice (out of 10) because I liked the CW rhythm it has.

I attended the University of Oklahoma in Norman, OK, and earned my B.S. and M.S. in meteorology, then moved to Longmont, CO, to work at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. I'm married to N0MGC and have two harmonics. I lived in Longmont, CO, from 1982 to 1995, then moved back to OK, earned my Ph.D. in meteorology in 2000, and work at Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies and National Severe Storms Laboratory as a Ph.D. research meteorologist. I have been involved in many different field projects including The Joint Airport Weather Studies (JAWS), Classify, Locate and Avoid Wind Shear (CLAWS) , VORTEX2 (Verification of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes Experiment 2) and most currently mPING (Meteorological Phenomena Identification Near the Ground) project in which I am the Project Scientist.

I'm Interested in just about anything radio but particularly like CW, DXing, and contesting. With my wife, we also own a 1946 Cessna 140 and I have about 1200 h in light planes. I enjoy time with my family, recreational running, and playing the violin (I'm currently Pricipal Second violin in the University of Oklahoma Civic Orchestra).

Equipment

TenTec Orion II w/RX-366 (full filter compliment)
Kenwood TS-930S (Full filter compliment)
AL-1200 Amplifier with QSK-PC5 Switch and 4 kV B+
KC1 Keyer
WRL Globe Champion 350 AM/CW Transmitter
Hammarlund HQ-170 Receiver
Yeasu FT-8800 VHF/UHF FM transceiver
Green Heron Antenna Controller
CushCraft 40-CD2
KLM KT-34A
CushCraft DW3 dipole for WARC bands
F12 Sigma 80 OCF vertical dipole (80 m)
Shunt-fed tower for 160 m (remotely tuned matching network)
K9AY receive loops (low bands)