[OKDXA] I Have a Gavel Sitting on My Desk...

[Doug Snowden]

Kim - congratulations on the President position - I am sure you will do 
well.  At the meeting you mentioned the shortcomings of the Web site, 
and I agree. I don't know anything about web site editing etc so can't 
really help there.

I was licensed on 1963 and also took advantage of the 1X2 call when the 
FCC offered it.  Not sure how many people remember Nose, KH6IJ. He was 
one of my Ham heros. In a contest he always sounded relaxed, and 
efficient. He wrote many articles for QST. My call (N4IJ) was requested 
based on his call. I doubt it rings a bell to modern day hams, but it 
means a lot to me.

My first job with the Government was with NOAA/NCDC in Asheville, NC as 
an IT person.

Anyway, see you on the air on CW if possible.  I am recently retired 
from DoD at Tinker AFB.  I still build a few things.

Rig:  Ten Tec OMNI 6+ loaded with filters.  Kenwood TL-922. Homebrew 2 
EL on 20m @60FT. Homebrew 15/10 yagi @ 50FT, and wires for low bands.


Good Luck,   Doug N4IJ



On 4/15/2017 10:06 AM, Kim Elmore wrote:
> I'm honored to have been selected as the new OK DX Association 
> President. I want to personally thank all the past officers: they've 
> left me some  mighty big shoes to fill.
>
> I brief introduction might be in order so here goes: I'm 61 years old, 
> grew up in Tulsa, OK, and was first licensed as WN5CLC late in 1970 
> when I was 14 years old and I've been continuously licensed ever 
> since. I earned my Extra when I was 18 and, shortly afterward, the FCC 
> opened up the first 1x2 calls to Extras that had been licensed 
> something like 2 years. So, I threw in my request for all the Really 
> Cool calls, (K5KW, N5CW, W5AM, etc.). We could list up to ten 
> requested calls and, the first one that wasn't already taken was 
> assigned. My last choice was N5OP only because I liked the rhythm in 
> CW, and N5OP is what I received. As a bit of a romantic and an amateur 
> musician (I play violin in a community orchestra and string quartet), 
> I've always liked CW and use it almost exclusively.  Knowing CW came 
> in handy as I took flying lessons because I could copy the ID of any 
> navigation beacon without looking it up. With my Wife (N0MGC) we own a 
> 1946 Cessna 140.
>
> I've always been fascinated by communicating with someone else far 
> away on nothing more than rarefied air interacting with sunlight. My 
> dad was a ham (W5JHJ, now SK) and a physicist, and so I was introduced 
> pretty early to the "Kennelly–Heaviside layer," more popularly known 
> now as simply the ionosphere. He gave me my first lessons in theory 
> and electronics and I've built on that since. I maintain the very 
> first rig I ever operated: A World Radio Labs Globe Champion 350 and a 
> Hammarlund HQ-170 receiver, both purchased new by my dad in 1959.
>
> I was always interested in DXing, but it was very tough at my house: 
> we had noisy overhead utilities running through our back yard on a 
> suburban lot and my dad insisted on a vertical with few radials. Any 
> DX was rare and exotic. But, shortly after my wife and I bought a 
> house in Longmont, CO, in a neighborhood with underground utilities 
> (quite ones at that), I put up my current tower and antennas and the 
> magical world of DX was gloriously available. I learned about the Mile 
> High DX Association, found that DXers (and contesters) were among the 
> more technically astute hams, and was happy to join. While I lived in 
> Longmont working at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, I 
> wound up as president of a couple of clubs the: Boulder Amateur Radio 
> Club and the Longmont Amateur Radio Club (not simultaneously!). So, I 
> have a bit of experience.
>
> I hired on to OU as a research meteorologist at the National Severe 
> Storms Laboratory (NSSL) in 1995, was encouraged to enter the Ph.D. 
> program in 1998, earned my Ph.D. in meteorology in 2000, and moved 
> from near 104th and Anderson Road 5 mi southeast of Tinker AFB to my 
> current QTH in 2006. My station remains rather modest by Big Gun 
> standards. Antennas consist of an HDBX 48 tower with a Cushcraft 
> 40-CD2 at ~49 ft, a Cushcraft DW4 at 52 ft, and KLM KT34A at 60 ft, 
> all rotated with a T2X controlled by a Green Heron controller. I have 
> a F12 Sigma 80 for 80 m, I shunt feed the tower for 160 m using a 
> home-brewed L-match and a motor-drive vacuum variable for matching, 
> and have an Array Solutions K9YA loop system for low band receive. 
> Radios are a TenTec Orion II fully decked out with all the roofing 
> filters, auto tuner, and the optional RX-366 second receiver with 
> roofing filters (possibly the last one ever built), and a mint Kenwood 
> TS-930S I bought new in 1984 with auto tuner, all the filters (INRAD), 
> INRAD roofing filter, and PIEXX board, the previously mentioned boat 
> anchor gear, an AL-1200 amp with HV upgraded to 4 kV and internal 
> QSK-5PC QSK switch, and an ATR-15 antenna tuner (almost never needed).
>
> I still support all my toys and activities, along with two wonderful 
> kids, as a research meteorologist at the NSSL in Norman. Feel free to 
> contact me if you'd like to have a look at the place.
>
> I'll work to be worthy of the OKDXA and of your trust in selecting me 
> for the office. I'm also very fortunate in having an excellent, 
> experienced and gung ho VP in Randy Wing, N0LD and a a superb 
> Secretary/Treasurer in Bruce Burnette, K5PX. DX is!
>
> 73 and see you in the Pile-ups!
>
> Kim Elmore, N5OP
>
>