W1MKA Timothy J. 'Tim' Brown Mattapoisett, MA QCWA # 37662

Thanks for visiting! If we have had a QSO thanks for the contact. Have a look below for some details that we may not have had time to discuss and perhaps some new areas that we might talk about next time.

History
First licensed in 1962 as WN2MKA in Seaford N.Y. where I managed to cover most of my parents. small house lot with a forest of very ugly wire antennas including a 15m two element bamboo quad popping out the top of a small maple tree. I love wire antennas. I hung a little fluorescent bulb on the antenna mast of that Quad and none of the neighbors could quite figure out why the tree would glow late at night. They thought me strange. Graduated a year later to a General license as WB2MKA and then added the Advanced license some years later. Eventually finished up the Extra exam when my hair turned grey and finally changed my call sign to W1MKA after living in New England for only 25 years.

I have spent my whole career in electronics including an active tour of duty as a Signal Officer in the Artillery. Professionally, I.m a Physicist and have made most of my non military career in passive components and electronic materials where I continue to be professionally engaged helping companies improve their performance. (see www.brevisconsult.com)

Station
The station is about a simple as you can get. My audio squeaks its way out either through an antique Astatic 10DA or a custom rebuilt D104 microphone. The transceiver is a Yaesu FT 1000 Mark V which has done good service for me putting out 200w (or less if I.m in a playful mood) through a Palstar AT2K tuner to any one of an array of wire antennas strung up in the high pine trees surrounding the house. I haven.t outgrown my youthful tastes. (My current favorite antenna is a modified corner fed 80m Delta Loop installed on a 30 degree slant with a pronounced catenary in the two long legs. This geometry seems to provide some nice low angle radiation.) There is also a little used and unshown ALS-600 linear amplifier at the station. The operating position also has a computer which supports QRZ data display, digital modes and access to EchoLink. The whole mess is tied together electronically by the erstwhile free software from Ham Radio Deluxe for which I am very grateful to Simon Brown (HB9DRV) and his now retired team of excellent collaborators.

Location:
Mattapoisett is a small town located on Buzzards Bay around 100km SSE from Boston. It sits not too far from the actual site of the original Plymouth Colony established in 1620.

Plymouth Colony, as it happens, was home to one of my ancestors, Abram Brown. This site, now called Plimoth Plantation, is marked by an excellent historical recreation of the original settlement (photo above) complete with period actors and a native American village outside the settlement.s wood palisade walls. A fine recreation of the ship Mayflower itself sits afloat in the modern Plymouth harbor. The colony's Governor (also an actor) attends the ship and if asked about my ancestor will frown and point out that he wasn't of the same religious persuasion as the settlers and so was a "stranger" and a Scot but all in all 'a good man none the less'.

March 31, 2018