HAM RADIO

My favorite hobby to which I continually return.  I've had many hobbies over the years, but I always come back to Ham Radio.  If you read below, you'll see why.

I've been a Ham Radio operator since 1983.  A lot of hams create websites specifically about their ham radio hobby and include nothing else.  But one of the purposes of Ham Radio is to learn about the people we contact.  That's why you see so much more about me here on this site than just Ham Radio.  In fact, you'll see very little about Ham Radio here, and more about me in other areas.  Despite the years I've been a Ham Operator, I have very little to contribute to the hobby that hasn't been done better by those more qualified than I am.  This is just a section of the web devoted to all things I've done or am interested in.  I'm more than just a voice on the air, and this site gives you the opportunity to see that.

My Rigs

I currently have two different rigs.  One is mobile and the other base.  The mobile is a Radio Shack HTX-100 10 meter radio.  This is currently the only one i have in operation.  The other rig was recently given to me by a good friend of mine.  It's a National NCX-3 which covers 20, 40, and 80 meters.  I don't have it set up just yet, so it's sitting silent for the time being, but after what little I've played with it already, I'm eager to do more.  I'll soon be moving back to Arkansas and will likely wait until then to string my antennae and get that rig on the air.  Until then, you can catch me operating mobile most days of the week on 10 meters.  Check the 10x10 nets for me as I usually hang out on one of them.

Me and Radio

For those that are curious, here's a little bit about my radio career, including Ham Radio, and my life in professional broadcasting.  You can see the basics on the Employment and Broadcast Radio links in the menu, but this is the real story here, so enjoy.

I've been a radio nut all my life. My father(K5YEP) and my mother (WA5BMB) were both hams. So it's only natural that I got the bug.

I soon discovered that I could retune my fathers rig (much to his dismay) to pick up Short Wave stations, and I got hooked as an SWL.

I listened to standard broadcast radio too. My favorite station was clear channel KAAY-AM 1090, with it's fantastic late night programs like Beaker Street. Listening to this and other great stations made me want to work in radio as a professional
broadcaster.

In High School I purchased my first CB Radio. I had a lot of fun with it and was well known among the local CBers. Using money I earned on my own, I purchased enough CB's to equip our house and two cars with their own rigs.

After high school I went to work as a part time Radio Operator for the police. That's where I picked up a love for emergency service communications. I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the radio desk, as well as my time "on patrol" with the officers in my off duty hours.

But all this wasn't enough. In college I majored in Radio and Television Broadcasting and I was assigned to work on the 100,000 watt FM station owned by the university. My first shift was as host of "Morning Classics" on KASU-FM.

Television was a part of my training as well. I found myself directing the local newscasts for the university cable station, and doing occasional stand-up news reports. In television, my preference was for directing the camera operators in getting their shots rather than being on air.

In college I met others my age that were interested in ham radio, and I began studying for my own ticket. As a freshman I earned my Novice license (KA5ZPC) but never used it as I was not interested in CW at all. After a while I updated to Technician, and traded in my old call to become N5KCJ.

My Tech test included the written element for General. So I was eventually grandfathered into a class that became Technician Plus, which finally granted me voice privileges on 10 meters. But due to tight funding while attending school, I had to stick to the 2 meter HT I managed to purchase with leftover money from
financial aid.

My use of 2 meters and previous experience as a radio dispatcher led me into the local storm spotters group, where I assisted with communications between the Sheriff's Department and the Hams.

After college, I landed my first professional radio gig as Program Director for a small AM/FM combination station in Brinkley, Arkansas. There I held an air shift for five terrific years, and assisted in writing news, due to my constant attention to the police scanner.

I dabbled in newspaper reporting too. I earned spare change as a stringer for the Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tennessee. I've had the honor of having my work on the front page, and flashed across the national wires.

That left only one medium left to work in, and amazingly, I managed to do it. I got a one-shot extra roll in a movie filmed in Cotton Plant, Arkansas, which was written by a then as yet unknown talent named Billy Bob Thornton.

I eventually moved on to the "big time", as Director of Operations for the Arkansas Radio Network, in Little Rock. I worked with over 80 radio stations, and broadcast my voice via satellite to listeners across Arkansas. People outside of Little Rock knew me as their "weather voice", and the guy who occasionally did the news. People living in Little Rock also knew me as the host of "Sunday Digest" which aired on our flagship station, KARN-AM 920.

This was when I added a Radio Shack HTX-100 to my collection of ham gear and started working 10m mobile. I was able to work many US and Canada hams, but I never got any DX contacts in my efforts.

After six years in Little Rock, a change in career led me to Overland Park, Kansas, just outside of Kansas City, where I dropped out of the ham radio hobby for a decade. I worked as a computer technician installing automation systems in radio
stations across the country. Although no longer on the air, I was still involved with the great people in radio. And tho I wasn't actively hamming, I kept my license current. When the FCC restructured the license classes, my grandfathered status
allowed me an automatic upgrade to General Class. I took advantage of the upgrade as soon as possible, but didn't operate for nearly a year.

In Summer 2002 I was off work for a while due to an work injury. With time on my hands, I dusted off my old HTX-100, tuned the 10m band and answered a CQ from Argentina. I was very excited to receive a 59 in return, and the DX bug bit me hard. A month after I had gotten back on the air after a 10 year silence I received my first DX QSL card in the mail. What a thrill!

I'm still stuck on 10 meters for lack of equipment, but am having a ball. Until I manage to get a better HF rig you'll hear me up and down 10m almost every day.

I'm very proud of both my professional and amateur careers. There's not many people that have done what I've done. I haven't gotten rich in doing any of this, but I've enjoyed every single minute of it, and will continue to do so until I can't do it any more.

73's and good DXing to you from N5KCJ. ._.