Biography

Born 1961 to Lillian & Major Bobby G Williams, USAF, Fighter Pilot (Korea and Vietnam), Air Combat Instructor and SERE Trainer (Edwards/George AFB) for the USAF up till 1971. In 1971, he and his family moved to the vastness of the Arkansas Mountains where his childhood was VERY interesting learning bushcraft and Survival skills from an expert (Duh!). Mark Graduated from high school in 1979 and decided to ride the hairy dog working for the Federal Government as a Fire Fighter for the U.S.. Forrest Service. He eventually graduated from Smoke Jumper school and proceeded to enjoy the a short career jumping out of perfectly good aircraft at high and low altitudes far too many times.

Farther down the road, Mark decided an education was the way to go and accepted an athletic Scholarship to his fathers Alma Mater. After 4 years, well you guessed it, he was smart enough to Graduate! Fast Forward to 1997, met the love of my life and settled in Mississippi. 2005 Katrina caught us with our pants down and all of the skills I learned were for naught because we were totally un prepared. My Wife and I made a commitment after watching the utter panic and social fabric come apart. We vowed to never be unprepared.

Mark has done many seminars all over the Southeast USA speaking to thousands of people about preparedness, bush craft and Amateur Radio EMCOMM.

W5DIX/Mark is an Engineer by trade and loves to build things from scratch... Including his current passion of working with Mr. Steve Deines at ALPHA Antenna who produces a wonderful product, Magnetic Loops. Mark also builds his own Mag Loops and along with the Alpha Product, he uses specifically for EMCOMM both at home and for his Volunteer Work with the Mississippi State Department of Health Emergency Services and the Mississippi Hospital Association.

Equipment

I also have designed my first true ARES GO Kit... And it’s not your typical Go kit that is simply 2/440 meter... This go kit equipment was wedged (Just kidding) into a Pelican 1510 case which is a carry on hard case for traveling with wheels and all. It is setup for 12 Volt DC & 120 Volt and can be ran as noted & pictured on the 2106 ARES SET event above, Ford Lariat 4X4 F250, The Go Trailer both have 2000 Watts 120 Volt output capability and a self contained 35 Amp Hour & 24 volt Solar Fold out Companion Kit contained in a sister Pelican case.

The Go box contains:

13.8, 19AMP power Supply, LDG AT Tuner Pro II, Rigblaster Plug and Play for Digi work and the heart of the system being an ICOM 7000. The cooling system is a high tech low noise Noctua NF-S12B fan which keeps the well known fire box ICOM cool even under heavy load. The LED lights are for low light use and night time use (Hey it looks cool!). The only thing that was required to compromise the external shell was the addition of the Double Female UHF (PL-259 Female) Adapter/Mounts from Walcott Radio supplies to make a water proof access for the PL259 connections to the system inside the box. The Box has two levels to allow wiring, storing of the Transceiver Body and Power supply. Speaking of the Transceiver, the ICOM 7000 series is wonderful for in Vehicle mount given the option to remove the faceplate, add a cable and you have a mountable radio without chopping up your dash.