I was first licensed in March 2004 as KB1LCS. I upgraded to General and received a vanity callsign W8DEC in June 2009. I deployed to Hattiesburg, MS and Bay St Louis, MS with Portsmouth, VA ARES to support amateur radio communications for Hurricane Katrina on September 11, 2005.
My HF station consists of a IC-7300, Vectronics tuner, and dipole antenna about 40 feet in the air. I enjoy running 20W on 20M PSK using the Tigertronics Signalink USB and enjoy ragchewing on 6 meters, 220 and 440 MHz. I use an IC-2720H for VHF/UHF and use it with a Diamond V2000A fed with 35′ Belden 9913.
My portable base station (go-box) consists of a Kenwood TMD-710GA , Samlex SEC1223 switching power supply, as well as another Tigertronics Signalink USB. My mobile station is a Kenwood TM-D710GA primarily used for VHF. I also have a Icom IC-7000 for mobile HF, Kenwood TK-630H that I used for 6M FM, and a Motorola XTL2500 for UHF 440 MHz FM.
I was employed with Amateur Electronic Supply at the Cleveland store from 2007 to 2016 up until they closed at the end of July 2016.
My all-time favorite aspect of the hobby is participating in public service events. They give me the opportunity to put my radio equipment to the test and help keep my skills honed. I have volunteered for over 50 different public service events throughout 5 ARRL Sections including the 2005 Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, DC.
