W9DZ Allen E. Jones Michigan City, IN QCWA # 34891 Chapter 36

During the ARRL Centennial operation in 2014 I was one of the many guest operators for the W1AW portable operation representing Indiana. My total contact count wasn't that impressive but I did activate 6M whenever I caught it open. I think I was responsible for the majority of the 6M contacts from Indiana. If you contacted W1AW/9 on six there is a good chance it was me.

I was first licensed as a Novice on March 1, 1961 as KN9DZE at age 14. Six months later I made the trip to Chicago, upgraded to General, and dropped the 'N' from my call. I made another trip to Chicago in 1968 to regain some of the spectrum lost due to incentive licensing by passing the Advanced Class exam. I upgraded to Extra at a VE session in LaPorte, Indiana in November, 1987. When the vanity callsign program opened in 1996, I applied for and received the call W9DZ.

For several years my HF operation was primarily QRP. While I still enjoy low power operation I find it less attractive these days. I operate weak signal modes (SSB & CW) on 50 and144 MHz. I was active in all the VHF contests for several years but mostly give out points these days. In 1999 we built a home in an unincorporated area where I have 2 acres and no antenna restrictions.

My dad was K9URA. He was licensed in 1959 and passed away in April, 2012 at age 92. My brother Rich is W4RLJ. He lives in Wellington, CO.

I enjoy homebrewing and building kits. A recent project was a 500W 6M amplifier using a surplus Russian mobile radar tube. Several pictures can be found here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/w9dz/sets/72157627191256279/

I also like to play with boatanchor (classic tube-type) VHF AM gear from the 60's. I monitor 50.4 MHz and and make a contact now and then. I am a regular check-in to the Kalamazoo Classic Radio Roundtable Sunday evening at 7:00PM Central (8:00 Eastern) on 50.4 MHz AM.

Station Working Conditions:
o Icom IC-7600
o Elecraft K3
o Drake TR-7
o Yaesu FT-817
o ACOM 1000

Antennas:
o 40M Delta Loop (Vertical Polarization) with apex at 50 feet
o 30M Cushcraft R7 Vertical
o 20, 17, 15, 12, 10M - Tennadyne 6 element LPDA at 60 feet
o 6M - M² 6M5X 5-element Yagi at 70 feet
o 2M - M² 2M12 12-element Yagi at 65 feet

I worked in the banking industry for 43 years and retired early in the Fall of 2007. Most of my time was spent in operations, the last 10 years in Information Technology.

1978

August 21, 2015