K2CIB John F. Samuels West Palm Beach, FL QCWA # 34027 Chapter # 111

Ham radio's been my "thing" since I was 9 years old, although I wasn't licensed until I was twelve in 1952. The picture below picture is from 1958. It shows me at home with my Collins 75A1, DB-23 pre-selector, Heathkit DX-100, D-104 mike (I still have it), Monkey keyer, homemade station control box, 2 mtr SCR-522, and borrowed Gonset 6-mtr "gooney box" with VFO and RME-69 receiver.

Although retired from IBM, I am known locally as "Dr. PC" for those who need to learn how to use IBM compatible computers or need software/hardware installation/debugging services.

I have two children and six grandchildren, none of whom are hams. My wife of 43 years passed away in early 2006 and my eldest daughter in May of 2013. I keep fit by bicycling and walking

I enjoy DXing, 160 though 10 meters, Field Day, occasional contesting, rag chewing on VHF and UHF repeaters, and working with digital modes, such as RTTY, MFSK, PSK31 and Pactor. I use LOTW, eQSL and the ARRL QSL bureau. I spend far more time on CW and digital modes than SSB.

While living in New York, I achieved the DXCC Honor Roll (333 countries confirmed) and am still on it, although I have moved to Florida and no longer have my 60 foot tower, TH5DXX and SB-220 to add the few countries I don't have confirmed. I also hold DXCC certificates for CW(323), Phone(332) and RTTY(197). I have all 40 CQ-zones confirmed on all modes.

I am a proud Life Member of the ARRL, member of the QCWA, former President of the Rockland Repeater Association and Crystal Radio Club, and am presently the Secretary (I've held all positions) of the Palms West Radio Club and President of the AREC67 Repeater. I was the EC and RACES officer for Rockland County, NY for many years and am presently active in the Palm Beach County ARES organization. I serve as the team leader for the Laurel VEC in Palm Beach County.

I've integrated my ham radio gear with my computer and can't figure out how I did it before computers! Up until two years ago I used DX4WIN for all my logging and award tracking, but have now migrated to DXLab. I also use NN1M, MixW, FLDigi, MMTTY and Ham Radio Deluxe.

This picture is from NY in 2004. My station at that time was a TS-870S, Ham-IV rotator with RS-232 control, turning the TH-5 DXX at 60', a Heathkit SB-220 amplifier and MFJ-989 tuner, a KAM and Tiny-2 for RTTY and packet.

This one shows my workbench-station here in florida a few years ago. The AL-811 afterburner was added in January, 2012 but has now been replaced.

This is my current home station showing the a much more comfortable operating position!

My home gear: TS-590S, Flex-5000, Timewave DSP-599-ZX, Elecraft KPA-500 amplifier and KAT-500 tuner, WinKeyer, K-1 Keyer, Bencher paddle and R6000 vertical for 6-20m. There is an attic T2FD for 30-80m. My home station computer is a HP Elitebook 8440p running Windows 10.

For mobile work I use an IC-7000 and Litle Tarheel HP antenna with a TurboTuner, and a Kenwood TM-V71 in the other car.

For portable operation I use a 33 foot fibreglass whip on a tripod and SG-239 tuner.

For VHF/UHF I have a TM-V71, TM-732a, FT-7800, IC-W32a, T90a and IC-228H. For DMR I use a Tytera MD-380 and Motorola XPR-4550. For P25 I have a Motorola XTS3000 HT. I also use the IC-W32A with an Arrow antenna for satellite work and a portable yagi or Ramsey DF-1 for fox hunts.

I am now a partner in a remote station, 15 miles north of me. It is equipped with a Flex-6500, Expert 2k-FA amplifier, Green Heron controller for a Yaesu 2800 rotator, Ameritron coax switch (modified to be remote), Winkeyer, Dell i3 computer, Tri-Ex SkyNeedle 70' tower, 2-el. 30 and 40 meter Yagi (JK 3040), 11 element log periodic antenna (JK Navassa) for 6-20m and Fritzel 80m dipole. The software, running under Windows 10, includes TightVNC, SoftEther, SmartSDR, DDUtil and more. Unfortuntely, last Fall after the hurricane, the mast bent at 30 degrees. When we prepared to fix it, we were told by the landowner to vacate, which we did. We are presently seeking a new location for this super, competitive remote station.

August 5, 2018