[GCARC] KC2IEB - Introductions

[JAMES CLARK]

 Chris;
    Thank you for your e-mail.  I would like to take this opportunity to WELCOME you to the GCARC.  The Club has a lot to offer and I hope that you will take advantage and get involved especially with Field Day and our Hamfest.  I look forward to meeting you in person.  If you recall we briefly spoke with you Monday night on 28.465 Mhz.


73,

JIM, KA2OSV
President GCARC
    On Tuesday, October 27, 2020, 10:41:59 AM EDT, Christopher Wawak <chris at wawak.org> wrote:  
 
 Hi, I'm KC2IEB (qrz link, you know you were gonna look it up!)
<https://www.qrz.com/db/KC2IEB>, Chris Wawak. I recently applied for
membership to the club. I just wanted to give an introduction of myself, my
ham interests, and what drove me to join the club.

I'm married with two small kids. We live in Haddon Township, not too far
from the Cooper river in FM29lw. I work as a Technical Account Manager for
Red Hat, mostly helping large companies get onboard with Kubernetes. I've
worked with Linux since before 2000, and hope to bring not only my
technical skills, but a strong command of open decision making
<https://opensource.com/open-organization/resources/open-decision-framework>.
(To those with questions, my company is a bit of a meritocracy, so
controversial decisions tend to be made out in the open, which can get
messy if you don't follow some ground rules!)

I was first licensed as a no-code Tech back in June 2001, while I was
attending college at Rutgers up in central jersey. I got busy with life and
other interests, but kept my license up-to-date. I've had an interest in
SDR for a while, especially given my Linux heritage and experience. Earlier
this year, I started toying with a Baofeng HT I kept around, trying to hit
some FM satellites. That resparked the interest, which lead to me upgrading
to General. It's my hope to upgrade to Amateur Extra before the end of the
year, though we'll see.

My HF station is a IC-7300 connected to a wire antenna strung up in the
trees. Even with a simple wire, I have made numerous contacts on FT8 all
over the world, and even a few high quality SSB contacts on 40m. This
totally amazes me, and makes me happy every time I turn on the radio. My
current "radio" focus is organizing and "finalizing" the layout of my
shack, and finding areas to improve the efficiency. My short-term goal is a
decent, clear sound on SSB, with an eye to being able to send that signal
around the country. I haven't found my "niche" in HF, but I think being
able to reliably make contacts on SSB is a great way to find a solid
foundation to build on. I'm interested in using the skills I've learned so
far, and applying them to contesting - what a wonderful way to measure how
effective you are!

I'm also interested in playing with VHF/UHF DX, though I only have FM
equipment right now. Don't quite have the time and money for something like
a FT-726R or (gasp) IC-9700.

I'm joining because I believe that being a part of a community is critical
to personal happiness as well as success in this hobby. I have a lot to
give, and my ears are wide open to learning.

Thanks for the opportunity to participate! I look forward to meeting you on
the air.

*Seriously* - if you have ANY Linux questions at all, please reach out and
I am happy to help.

-- Chris
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