Biography
Preferred Name: Andy
Occupation: Vendor Management Lead Liaison & Self Employed independent contractor for radio technology, subscriber training, etc. Former 911 dispatcher and radio tech.
First - I am aware that my mailing address shows Canastota because the Peterboro, NY Post Office is only for boxes now; I reside in the Town of Smithfield in Central Madison County and use Smithfield for all radiograms originating from my station. I am a member of Madison County ARES/RACES, a member of RACES in Oneida County and enjoy participating in SkyWARN activites when my busy schedule allows. Due to a change in career, I am driving my personal vehicle less often. I do not have as much time to chat while mobile as I used to. I drive a gray 2019 Volkswagen Jetta and have finally installed my CS-800D Mobile in it. When driving my '84 BMW or my newly acquired '71 VW Beetle, I often have a handheld on the 145.17 available. When at home or portable, I generally listen to 145.210 (-) PL 71.9 CNYARA repeater (when it's up and running) and 145.170 (-) CSQ MOARC repeater. If I am monitoring DMR, I can generally be located listening to the Upstate NY talkgroup on the Brandmeister Network. At my QTH, I have a simple 80m dipole out back for HF and a high-gain dual-band (2m/70cm) whip about 20-25 feet above ground.
Equipment
Heathkit - Various HF and SSB rigs
Heathkit - Seneca VHF-1 FM & SSB VHF rig
Icom IC-718 made complete with a MFJ-949D Versa Tuner II
Connect Systems CS-800D Mobile DMR dual band
Icom IC-V8000
Radio Shack HTX-242
Radio Shack HTX-252
Yeasu FT-7900R
TYT TH-7800
Yeasu VX-170R (HT)
BaoFeng UV-5X (HT)
TYT MD-380 (DMR HT)
DV4MINI dongle
My primary home rigs are the IC-718 for HF and the FT-7900R for VHF/UHF operation, including traffic nets.