Biography

Callsigns used

- NU6N was issued in June 2010.
- Operated as K6MEE August 2009 - June 2010.
- Briefly held KJ6AZW upon the grant of a Technician license in July 2009.
- Between 1975 and 2009 I was off the air.
- First licensed in college and held the Novice callsign WN3ATR around 1974-1976.

Radio interests

XYL retired from a technical career; my husband is also a ham.
Enjoys QSL cards but, unfortunately, can no longer commit to sending them regularly. It is just too much time, expense and hassle. I prefer LoTW and upload my logs regularly. If you'd like to exchange cards after a QSO, that would be great and I will try to reciprocate. The commitment to sending QSL cards was impairing my operating, so I decided I'd rather put more energy into operating and less into sending cards, QSL?
Likes CW and continues to work on honing CW skills.
Volunteers as a net control with the Western Kern County ARES Net. This is a worthwhile activity to drill weekly on emergency communications procedures. I've met a lot of good local people through this group and there is satisfaction in volunteering to help others.
Contesting is a joy! Hope to meet you on the air!!

73 de NU6N Marcia

Equipment

We operate a Yaesu FT 1000mp HF rig, usually at 100 watts. Our HF station was a gift from silent key W1BX and we will always remember his kindness and generous help getting us back into ham radio.
Our HF antenna is a Carolina Windom 80 in the trees. It's 133 feet (40m) long, 20 feet (6m) above irregular terrain sloping downhill to the west. (A Carolina Windom resembles a dipole but the horizontal element is a grounded counterpoise and is fed off-center; what appears to be a feedline is rather a vertical radiator.) This multiband antenna works on 80m-10m, and we even work 160m once in a while using an external tuner. We have found it to be an excellent DX antenna!
Our main VHF/UHF rig is a Yaesu FT 7900 running 5-50 watts to a Diamond X50A vertical antenna up 15 feet, providing coverage of much of the San Joaquin Valley and its adjacent mountains.
Our QTH is a wilderness ranch at 4500 feet (1500m) elevation. The electrical system is non-commercial power. Depending on the time of day, we are powered by solar panels, deepcycle batteries or a generator.