Joined the hobby in 2015 to pass the time away while traveling and when sitting home on those long cold nights. I was "talked" into it by a co-worker W8DSB ( formerly N8NQN) as I asked about all those antenna's on his truck. He was quick to point out the uses and the fact that entry level was cheap an fun.....

 

  I was soon bitten by the bug and away it went from there. I have since upgraded my General ticket to Extra . After upgrading I switched from ( KE8BPY ) to the current AD8DX.

 

  I work HF operations using my 857d radio Go-Box that I picked up at Hamfest in 2016. I primarily use this when camping in my RV. I have fun setting up my gear and seeing how many contacts I can get with as little power as possible when bands are right.

857d and Go box setup

 

 

 

 

  I enjoy learning and meeting new people and this hobby is exactly what I was looking for. It is challenging yet rewarding at the same time. I look forward to meeting many more as time goes by. I can be found usually on the Northville repeater WR8DAR however there are other many great repeaters in the Detroit metro area.

 

 

  I broke down and bought a dual band radio for mobile use. I opted for the Icom 5100 as this gave me the mobile capability of Dstar as well. I currently run a MMDVM for multimode usage and also a DVAP using a PI3 for the Dstar in the vehicle. I also have DMR capability now with a few simple steps and use my MD380 for this. I can also use my Fusion radio with the MMDVM.

 

        

 

 

  The coolest addition to my mobile shack would have to be the AllStar Link network go box. ( Node # 48022 )  Using a UV82 radio, a modified sound FOB and a PI3 running the Asterisk software, I can dial up repeaters all over the world. Much like the Dstar I can dial up different repeaters that run on allstar network and talk to those folks using my 5100 and a few simply DTMF tones to get hooked up. The nice thing about it is that the person on the receiving end using it thru a repeater needs nothing more than his regular RF radio. Only if he wants to use the system he must be able to DTMF. You can Google or YouTube videos on the AllStar link Network and see how easy and fun it is to use. I can also dial up EchoLink nodes when connected to the home WiFi. This is in part to the Ports needed to work mobile are blocked by cellular provider.

 

     

 

 

  This has been fun and exciting thus far and look forward to learning even more as time goes on. I have made several friends over the air and in person with the new setup and look forward to hearing from more. I will always try to help someone best I can as I too was once in that spot and still am daily. I can be found most often on 33B Dstar, Northville  - W8DAR Repeater - or Node # 45504 which links to W8DAR repeater. I also can be found frequently on K8DAC Repeater Node # 46351 which is located in Saginaw Michigan.

 

 

  In my spare time I enjoy riding motorcycles and seeing the country side. I recently purchased a RV to go camping and take the toys and all the goodies along. Below is a picture from our adventure to Yellow stone in 2015.

 

 

 

Also enjoy working on and customizing machines to make them unique. I have built a custom Shadow that was done with help of friends and a such and turned out to be a really sweet ride when all was said and done.

 

 

 

 

My 1989 GL1500 with only 210,000 miles

 

 

...73 and see you on the air waves

 

 

 

 

 

 

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