Hello fellow hams. Thank you for visiting my webage. Most of you knew me as KM6VZ. I live in Oak Grove, Minnesota. That�s about 32 miles or 51.5 kilometers north of Minneapolis/Saint Paul. Grid square EN35hi in Anoka County. I am also fortunate enough to have another modest shack at the cabin in Itasca County, near Grand Rapids, Minnesota.
I grew up in Huntington Beach, California, hence the �6� call. I wanted to keep my roots. I have also lived in Florida and plan to winter there some day, Lord willing. I became interested in radio and the �magic� of radio communication as a young boy. I use to watch my Elmer (mentor), K6YUI talk on his radio and I was hooked. I soon asked my father for a shortwave radio. The son-of-a-gun bought a Knight Kit. That�s right, he made me build the radio to learn what makes it work. Besides radio, I enjoy golf, ice, fresh, and saltwater fishing. I also love to travel. Above all I enjoy the freedom my faith in Jesus as given.
Current radio equipment* consist of an Icom 756, SM-20 microphone, Icom 756 Pro, Heil Goldline boom microphone, Icom 706 (at cabin) with a SM-6 and a Heil pro-set, an Icom 271H with a SM-8. I also still have my first ham transceiver, two Kenwood 820-S', two MC-50 mircophones. I also have a Kenwood 940, Dentron Clipperton linear, Dentron Super Tuner, and a HM-10-4/5 microphone, SP-820, a VFO-820, HR2600 with a Shure 444, a few Icom, Radio Shack, and Yaseu 2 and 10 meter radios for mobile and packet. For general coverage, a Yaseu FRG-7700/FRT-7700. Amplifiers and some accessories are an Ameritron AL-1200, ATR-30 tuner, Ameritron AL-84, AWM-30 meter, Collins 30L-1 (a "bullet-proof linear), Heathkit 2060A tuner, Heathkit SB200, Heathkit SB-614, MFJ 962 tuner, (DO NOT buy one of these) Ameritron 811H, a home-brew 10 meter 1500 watt amplifier, a RF Concepts 150 watt VHF amplifier, a couple 350-watt mobile amplifiers for 10 meters, Dentron Jr. and four Rigblasters plus' (a GREAT product and good support)or digital (two at each shack).
Antennas are a Force 12-5BA, 5 band, 15-element beam, Force 40 meter rotatable dipole on a Rohn tower (currently out-of-service), and a Yaseu G-1000SDX rotor. A four-element quad on a 45-foot tower, R-5 vertical, a Cushcraft 13 element, Comet vertical for 2 meters on a 35-foot tower, Cushcraft 20 element 2 meter quad on a 40 foot tower, Cushcraft 3 element 6 meter beam and homebrew 6 meter vertical on a 40 foot tower. Also included in this mess are several dipoles, wires, 20, 40, and 80 meter double bazookas, and two packet vertical antennas. A few Ham IV's, a HG tailtwister, a CDE rotor, and an Alliance Dual Speed Azimuth Indicator turn some of these antennas.
I can be seen on 14.230 and 14.233 SSTV, 3.838 on Monday - Friday mornings and some Saturday mornings SSTV (0800 CDT), PSK, RTTY and CW across the 20/40/75/80 meter bands. I monitor a few DX clusters, both local and across the nation. I have TNC's, KPC-3's, and a KAM All-Mode. I also monitor live SSTV feeds from across the nation. I have set-up a home LAN (Local Area Network) and have a few computers in the shacks. I enjoy receiving QSL�s cards and will gladly return any that are sent.
*I have a hard time selling radio equipment :)
Here are some photos after I got bitten by the Ham Radio bug
Blessings and 73, Art
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