K5MGK

I received my first license in the early spring of 2019 and have upgraded to the General Class. I have volunteered as radio support for two mountain biking competitions and a bicycle road race since receiving my license. I have also joined our local amateur radio club: Gila Amateur Radio Society. I have a Yaesu FT-991A connected to a Hustler Vertical, a couple of homebrew end fed wire antennas and for VHF/UHF: a homebrew dual band yagi. For portable activations, I use a Xiegu G90 attached to an inverted V dipole antenna 20 ft agl on a DIY portable mast or my new homebrewed mag loop antenna. I also have a couple of handhelds: an FT-250R 2M and an FT-70DR 144/440/C4FM. My APRS station. I currently use LoTW, QRZ, eQSL, Club Log, and HRDLOG.net for my QSO logs. I would love to exchange QSLs by mail/bureau as well.

Amateur radio, for me, is a natural progression from my love of computers. I like to tinker with things and experiment with software, hardware, etc. I had a childhood friend whose father introduced me to amateur radio at a young age. I have learned so much more since being licensed than I have from any other rabbit hole I have crawled down previously. :o) One big appeal to me is in the age of big corporate culture, amateur radio has its own infrastructure which doesn't usually rely upon a commercial network.

The photo below shows the Mogollon Mountains looking north from one of my favorite hiking trails near Silver City.

73 de K5MGK