BMWsAmateurRadioCyclingLinux

    I received my Technician class licence in September of 2001, after many, MANY years of wanting to get my ticket.  I got my first Shortwave Radio when I was about 6 or 7, and was hooked on listening to the world from day one.  I never seemed to manage to get around to taking the tests though, even though there were times when I had my code speed up enough to pass, as well as knowing the things I needed to pass the written tests.  Once I got out of HighSchool, everything else seemed to take the front seat and Amateur Radio went to the back of the line.  When I got a job at Caldera Systems, one of my co-workers was a Technician licenced HAM, and soon enough I found this out and we started talking about Amateur Radio.  Well, that was all it took to spark my interest again, and this time I was determined to do something about it.  The Technician test had gotten a lot easier than it used to be, and with less than a day of fresh study I took the test.  Aced it in just under 4 minutes :), and I was on my way.  Waiting for my callsign was pure torture, but it eventually came on September 26, 2001.  I wa son the air as soon as I found my callsign in the FCC database.  Well, that was fun and all, but using a handheld (the RadioShack HTX-202) on 2meters wasn't everything that I wanted out of Amateur Radio.  I took the General written exam in November 2001, and not being ready for the code, didn't take that test till December 2001 (something about actually practicing code for more than 5minutes total or something like that...  lol).  Of course, all I had at this point was still my 2meter handheld, and couldn't do HF yet anyway.  Tax time came in late January, and with some of the return I purchased the Kenwood TS-940, and the Windom antenna on January 25th.  Wasting no time, I got the antenna up ASAP and was on the air January 26th.  Within my first month, I had worked every continent on the planet with the exception of Austrailia (which I still don't have :(, including talking to KC4AAA at the South Pole!  Great fun.  In June, I finally got around to taking the Extra class exam.  It's great too.  Realistically my callsign is only a year and a bit old.  Since I kept my original callsign (and so far have no plans on changing it), it's great to see the look on peoples faces when I have an eyeball QSO and they find out that I'm actually Extra class.  That's starting to die off, but it was well worth keeping the original callsign if for no other reason than that.

So there's my brief history of me and Amateur Radio.  If you see a silver BMW 733i with several antennas on it, and the licence plates say KD7OLF, that's me!

ICOM 2100H 2 meter mobile
Currently installed in the '80 BMW 733i.
ICOM T-22A 2 meter handheld
USed as my general purpose handheld, for everything from miscelaneous mobile, traveling when I'm not in my car, field day, ARES, and more..
Radio Shack HTX-202 2 meter handheld
Currently used as a 2meter Base station, running a Ringo Ranger II ARX2B antenna on the roof of my home.
Radio Shack DX-300 SWR
Currently used as a monitor for the transmissions from the Kenwood.  Hooked up to an antenna attenuator with no actual antenna, since the antenna for the Kenwood is only 30feet above the roof, thus maybe 38feet above the DX-300.  Don't need much of an antenna for picking up stuff THAT close!
Kenwood TS-940SAT HF all mode tranciever.
Main HF station.  Currently equipped with an iambic keyer, paddle, and a RigBlaster I use for PSK31 (and other modes eventually), hooked up to my main system running Linux (and typing this out on it as well...).  This tranciever is fed to a traditional Windom antenna, about 30feet in the middle, 20feet high on the long end, and 10feet high on the short end (my weird inverted V, but hey, it works!)

Here's some useful radio links:

FCC  ULS system
ARRL
Utah Repeater information
Utah Amateur Radio Club
Gordon West Radio School

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