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|
K5RCD | |
10-10 # 74373 - FISTS # 13523 - FELD HELL CLUB # FH-044
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My Background
I am Randall C. (Randy) Davis. I was born in north central Ohio in 1946, and
lived there until I enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1965, where I attained the rank
of Sergeant, proudly serving a year of combat in Vietnam, in the First Infantry
Division (the
BIG
RED ONE). After Viet Nam, I was assigned to an experimental weapons and
tactics unit at Ft. Ord California until my Honorable Discharge in 1968.
After reentering civilian life, I went to work as an Insurance Claim Representative in San Francisco CA. I married my wife Marjorie, a Bay Area native, in 1973, and we moved to Los Angeles where I attended Northrop University, studying Aeronautical Engineering. Following graduation, I obtained my Aircraft Mechanic's (A&P) License, and moved back to the San Francisco Bay Area, where I worked as an Aircraft Mechanic for a small cargo airline. After a year or so doing that, it became evident that the high cost of living in California would likely prevent me from ever attaining a personal goal of prospering and eventually being able to retire while I was young enough to enjoy it. We decided to pull up stakes and move to the Dallas / Ft. Worth area in Texas. My Mother and sister had moved there and I knew the Texas economy was booming. I ended up back in the Insurance Claim business there, and was fortunate enough to work my way up to a comfortable rung on the corporate ladder rather quickly.
After much hard work, many personal sacrifices by Marjorie and myself, and some sound (lucky?) financial investments, I was able to retire in my early fifties. We moved to Rockport on the Texas coast, and after six years of living in a waterfront home, we decided to move inland, away from the corrosive saltwater environment, small lot, and threat of hurricanes. We moved to a beautiful home located on five lovely wooded acres in Shannon Ridge subdivision, near Floresville, about 25 miles southeast of San Antonio.
We recently acquired 2 registered Miniature Horses which are wonderful pets. The 4 year old mare (Red Red Wine) was pregnant when we acquired her and in mid September of 2006 she gave birth to her foal, a small colt we named Ralph. He was only 21 inches high at the shoulders. The 2 year old colt (Creeper) is now completely grown. We had him gelded (neutered), as he was getting to be too aggressive as he matured. We have become quite attached to them, and they have unique personalities and enjoy playing with our dogs and chasing deer around the pasture. These horses normally stand about 3 feet at the shoulders when fully grown. Although they are too small to ride, they can be trained to pull a cart, and they will probably be driving us around soon.
We have abundant wildlife in our area including deer, turkeys, wild hogs, bobcats, coyotes and many different species of birds. There are so many hummingbirds in the warmer months that we can barely keep our hummingbird feeders filled. They nest in the trees around the house. Unfortunately, we also have our share of undesirable critters such as venomous snakes ( rattlers, copperheads, and coral snakes) as well as lots of scorpions and black widow, and brown recluse spiders. That's just part of country living in south Texas though, so we are very careful where we put our hands and feet. (And where we sit ) !
Ham Radio Interests
I am a relatively new ham, having obtained my Technician license in April 2005. I upgraded to General in June of the same year, and to Extra in June 2006. I applied for my current (Vanity) call sign (using my initials), as my original call of KE5EKN was too much of a tongue twister. My current interests include SSB rag chewing on 6 meters and all the HF bands, and PSK 31 and RTTY on all bands. I recently discovered the Hellschreiber mode and have joined the newly formed Feld Hell Club (It's FREE). I hope to make lots of contacts using that interesting old technology. I also enjoy answering CQ calls during contests, but am not concerned with scoring points. I just do it for fun. I have worked very little CW since becoming licensed, but my interest in that historic mode of communication has been re kindled by the recent change in licensing requirements. I recently began brushing up on my CW skills and am now beginning to enjoy haunting the airwaves in the CW portion of the bands.
Some Other Interests
In addition to my ham Radio addiction, other interests include hunting, skeet and trapshooting, reloading, fishing, and serving as Author and Webmaster of the website of our local Homeowner's Association, www.shannonridge.org. Needless to say, all of this keeps me quite busy and helps me enjoy a rather active retirement (and keeps me out of the tiddie bars).
We also enjoy traveling in our travel trailer,
and spend some of our leisure time at a
campground near
Rockport
where we enjoy fishing, bird watching, and talking on the
ICOM 706 MK 2 G with an
Ameritron SDA-100 Screwdriver Antenna. It is only about a 2 hour drive
from home, so we travel back and forth as we please.
How I Became Interested in Ham Radio.
My interest in amateur radio started when I was just a little shaver. I was about 6 years old or so when I started playing with our family's AM / Shortwave / Phonograph, a Spartan, made by Magnavox. It was a big console model with a big speaker, and we used it to listen to the radio programs of the day such as Amos n Andy, Fibber McGee and Molly, Dragnet, and of course The Lone Ranger among others. This was before we had a television set, and I spent many happy hours in front of that big radio. One day I was playing around with the dials, and discovered the strangest thing. Real people were actually talking back and forth on the air. I mean - they were just chatting and holding casual conversations. That really caught my fancy, so I asked my dad about it. He explained that these were "ham" radio operators, who were licensed and allowed to talk on the air. I was instantly captivated by this idea, and at that point decided that some day I would become a "ham". I became an avid Shortwave Listener, and received a "SWL Call Sign" (WPE8DEY) from Popular Electronics Magazine. I even had "SWL QSL Cards" printed and sent them out to hams and Foreign Broadcast Stations. Surprisingly, I received replies from the majority I mailed out. I had several shoeboxes full of cards received which sadly were destroyed in a flood at my parent's home while I was in Viet Nam.
Getting My License
Due to many other interests and hobbies, and the challenge of clawing my way through the corporate world, it was a long time before I finally made the effort to start studying for my license. I bought several books and study guides, and after studying for the Technician Exam, I decided I might as well try for the General Written Exam while I was at it. I took and passed the Technician (Element 2) scoring 100%, so went ahead the same day and took the General Exam (Element 3), missing only 2 questions. I wasn't thrilled with the limitations of the Technician License, so I immediately began studying for the Code Test (Element 1). I purchased the CODE QUICK program on CD, and it wasn't long before I mastered the meager 5 words per minute requirement, and passed the test on the first go around. Finally I was a real "ham" and allowed to utilize the HF bands, and on my way to really enjoying a fascinating pastime. I was pretty pleased with myself for passing the license exams, but at the same time realized that I had really learned very little about how to actually set up and operate a station. I knew I was in for some "on the job training". I joined the Radio Operators of South Texas (R.O.O.S.T.) Club, a friendly and knowledgeable bunch located in San Antonio, and the members have been most helpful to me. I started listening, asking questions, and reading and learning as fast as I could. I understand that any ham Ticket is really just a license to learn, and am learning more every day. I began earnestly studying for upgrade to Extra (Element 4) in January 2006, and gained a great deal of knowledge in the process. I passed the Extra exam in June 2006 with a score of 100%, of which I am proud. The preparation for the Extra exam required a great deal of study on my part, and was a much needed intellectual stimulation for my aging brain cells. I feel that I have finally arrived at a point where I have the foundation to really begin learning the details of this esoteric hobby. I am looking forward to learning much more as I go along, relieved of the pressure of having to prepare for a written exam. I recently became a Volunteer Examiner with the ARRL VEC Program. It is my privilege to help administer FCC exams to prospective new hams and upgrades to those already licensed. This gives me a special sense of satisfaction and is my way of giving something back to the amateur radio community.
Current Equipment
I currently own only the aforementioned IC 706 Transceiver with a MFJ 4245 MV Switching Power Supply, and an MFJ 989 D Antenna Tuner. This tuner performs quite well for me in combination with my main HF antenna, a 160 meter Horizontal Loop (520 feet of # 12 stranded, insulated copper wire) strung about 25 feet above the ground. This system delivers a very low SWR on all bands From 160 through 10 meters. I have had many favorable reports using this simple antenna, and so many requests for more information about it that I have made a separate page (see below) describing the construction of this type antenna. I also have 2 and 6 meter dipoles, Arrow Antennas 6 meter ground plane, and a 2meter/70 cm Arrow J Pole, all at about 25 feet. I recently added another antenna, a 5 band Traffie Hex Beam at 40 feet. I am still in the process of evaluating it, but so far am very pleased with its performance. For digital mode use, an Acer Laptop PC with 1.40 GHz processor, running Windows XP, with a serial to USB adapter and an MFJ 1279M Soundcard Interface serves me quite well. I use Mix W for digital modes, and use that and Ham Radio Deluxe with a West Mountain Radio RIGtalk interface device for PC - radio control and logging. I hope to add an amplifier in the next year or so. Being retired and living on a fixed income however, means I can't have everything at once. So far, I have been pleased with all my MFJ products. They seem to function well, and are reasonably priced. Because we live in the country where cable and DSL are not available, our high speed internet service is via satellite, provided by WildBlue. We have been quite satisfied with it so far.
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Horizontal Loop Antenna:
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ARRL Member
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Website authored and designed by Randy
Davis - Webmaster.
Copyright © 2006 by Randy
Davis.
All
rights reserved.
All information on this website may be copied or reproduced and used for NON
- commercial purposes only.
10/11/2008