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KO6KD William C. 'Bill' Yeargain Roseville, CA QCWA # 38338 |
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I have been a Ham Radio Operator since 1985. I currently hold an Extra Class license. I operate on all bands of HF, VHF and UHF up to the 70 cm. Over the years, during my tenure as a Ham Operator, there have been several special activities or achievements that I have had the pleasure to have been apart. These include: message traffic in and out of the Mexico City Earthquake back in '85 to the earthquake in the San Francisco area in '89. In addition, I have spent many, many hours conducting phone patches with an American Hams visiting or stationed in area's of the world where telephone's are a rarity. From the far east to south America to American personnel located at the Amundsen-Scott and Palmer Stations located in Antarctica. Spending many months away from loved ones and weeks with out any sunlight would present a unique set of problems. Before the invention of the internet and SAT phones, a few minutes a week talking to someone from home an hearing a familiar voice could make a major difference to these courageous peoples morale. As with most Ham's, I did those things not for any special recognition, but rather just the warm feeling of being able to help make a positive difference to humanity.
Over the years I have achieved a few awards in HAM radio. Before I mention them, several people recently have inquired about my operating conditions. Below are two pictures of my Shack. In case you're wondering why I have two boom mics, the reason is because the H.F. radio on the left is the IC-7700, using the Heil PR-77D mic, connected to a TL-922A amp and is used primarily for HF and 6M SSB. The H.F. radio on the right is the FT-2000 using the Shure 55SW mic from 1960, and that radio is primarily used for H.F. A.M, 60 meter SSB and 6m FM. In addition to those two radios, I use an IC-9700 and a SM-8 Desk Mic for 144/432/1296 FM/SSB, with a FT-857D as a backup for HF/6m/2M & 440 all mode. An additional FM rig is the FT-8800 for expanded FM on 2M & 440 and x-band remote along with a Jetstream JT220M for 220 FM. The IC-9700 and the JT220M radios use outboard amplifiers and ALL radios are fully metered to monitor the operating conditions and transmitting performance. In addition, there is other equipment such as as a couple of wide band general coverage multi-mode receivers including the IC-R7000, along with controllers for all the rotors which are HAM-IV.
As for my antennas, here is a small sample. Below are pictures of my H.F. and VHF arrays. The first one is of my two small towers that support most of my directional antennas. The bottom picture is the auxiliary mast with my 80 meter dipole feed point and other VHF and UHF antennas. The total number of antennas in use here are 20. Of which only a handfull are shown.
More recently I have returned to my love of DX. After having all of my QSL cards checked and verified, I submitted them to the ARRL DXCC office where I received credit for just over 320 country conformations. Instantly qualifying me for the DXCC award.
Upon further examination, it was determined that I had in fact qualified for DXCC on ALL 5 primary HF bands as well as 17 meters, which allowed me to receive the coveted 5BDXCC award with a 17m endorsement.
Along with the above awards, I also qualified and received the "5BWAC" Worked All Continents award with a 12 and 17 meter endorsement.
As of this writing the last award I have received thus far is the ARRL Challenge Award for successful 2-way contact and conformation to at least 1000 country / band contacts.
Considering my very modest station, I cannot say how proud I am of myself at these accomplishments. With 329 countries worked, and over 320 confirmed, perhaps one day I will even achieve the highest award of all, Honor Roll.
In addition to the awards above, I have on a wall in my shack a map that I have referred to as my "Ego" map. Over the years, as I would make a contact to some place in the world, I would place a pin on the map signifying the contact. Each pin on the map below represents a place on the earth that my voice has been heard and confirmed by the receiving station.Through the wonder of HAM radio, my voice has been all around the World, while I have lived my entire life never having been more than a couple hundred miles from the Sacramento area. When you look at the DXCC Countries List, and see page after page of checked boxes indicating successful contacts, the significance of this accomplishment is not fully understandable. However, when displayed this way on a map of the world, this accomplishment can be more truly appreciated.
For now, I thank you for reading my bio, and hopefully we will meet on the air soon. 73 de - Bill.
September 20, 2020