W1HS Steve Goldsmith Grantham, NH QCWA # 37654

Greetings from far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy. More specifically, we're located in the Northeast United States, in the state of New Hampshire; about 2 hours northwest of Boston.

I have been a licensed Amateur Radio operator since April 5, 1983 and I currently hold a US Extra class license. My first callsign, until 1989, was KA2RXO. From May 23, 1989 until March 31, 2016 I was N1JAD and now I'm W1HS, or as I like to say, Whisky: One Happy Steve.

In the work world, I spent 30+ years in telecommunications, designing, building and operating large scale fiber optic networks that span the Northeast United States. We provided backhaul for most of the major cellular companies and competative local exchange carriers, provided Carrier Ethernet, Internet access, voice, large server farms and stuff like that. Lots of cool technology and time on the road, but unfortunately there wasn't much time left over for radio. I am starting to make up for lost time now and getting back into it.

My station info:
At home, you'll find me running HF phone on my Icom 7610 with an Elecraft KPA500 amplifier and KAT500 antenna tuner behind it.

I run HF digital on my Flex 6700 and Icom 9100 and 2m/70cm/Satellite on the 9100. HF antennas are a Radio Oasis G5RV 80-10m dipole discretely hanging in the trees at about 50' and a pair of G5RV-Juniors hiding between 40' and 50' iin trees above a seasonal pond.

When operating on wheels, mobile station #1 is a Toyota rav4 hybrid with an Icom 7100, and a Yaesu FTM-400XDR. House-on-wheels (RV) station is an Icom 7300 and an Icom 5100.

My HT collection includes a Kenwood D74, an Icom ID-51A, a Yaesu FT2DR and a Tytera TYT-MD-2017 and a collection of DVAPs to actually be able to do something with digital voice, as there are no C4FM or D-Star repeaters near me.

The home QTH is solar powered, grid tied with battery backup. We have 48 panels on the roof (11,200 watts) and 720AH of batteries.

Things I've done with Radio/Communications/Emergency Service over the years include:
District Emergency Coordinator for Northern Maine ARES 1990-1993
Dirigo Search and Rescue in Northern Maine
UM and Orono Firefighter from 1988-1993.
ARRL Volunteer Examiner (present)


My other hobbies and interests include renewable energy, trains (the real ones), model (HO, G,
N scale) and RC UAV (quadcopter) flying, kayaking, traveling, biking and photo/video taking.

March 18, 2018