Hello! I am currently 13 years old and an Amateur Extra. I was licensed Technician with code on 2/4/06, upgraded to General on 4/15/06 and finally Extra in January of 2007. The other hams in my family are K0CEY (SK), WD0FHK, KC0BS, KB0BAW, KB0AWL, KC0KTP, KC0QIN, KC0QIO, KC0ZNO, KC0ZVT, KD0EVO, and KD0EVW.
Callsign: I was originaly assigned KC0VVU, but once I got my Extra changed it to KU0DM. KU as I am a big KU fan, DM are my initials. In the future, I'd like to change my call to a 1x2 for contest and DX reasons.
Operating: I probably spend much more time listening in pileups than calling CQ. I love DXing, and am currently working on a little station rebuild (see equipment), once I'm finished I hope to be more competitive in the pileups, my current standing is 115 worked. However I reserve the weekends for another facet of the hobby I hold dear: contesting! I tend to operate in the majors contests (lately chasing DX to get my count up), however I plan to start spending more time running. My next big contest date in NAQP. Lately I've been operating from a close friends house, Lee Bergren, W0AR. Lee is a true legend in the hobby, he operated the first Field Day, was on the council that gave us the WARC bands, and has been the first to activate many DX entities.
Doing some hunting in CQ WW CW 08 at W0AR (in the background)
Working Uganda early on, bringing my DX count to 113, Lee's SteppIR helps
Equipment: Right now I'm doing an extensive station overhaul. I've recently replaced my 20m dipole at 20' with an R8 with the feedpoint at 20 feet. I have also acquired an AL-811 which will help give me a little boost in the pile-ups. I'm currently in the process of acquiring meters, CW paddles, a Heil headset, the works. I spent the summer mowing lawns, running paper routes, and doing odd jobs to scrape together the money to do this. Is it going to be worth it? You better believe it!
On VHF and UHF, I enjoy playing around with APRS, and seeing how much functionality we can get with equipment at hand, as well as seeing how far we can push our equipment. Trying to get the most range, or most reliability, you can guess that I'm very involved with Emergency Communications. Also enjoy playing with voice repeaters for the same reason as above.
Roles: ARRL Youth Editor, JCRAC (W0ERH)Vice President, 440 NCS for JOCO (Johnson County)ARES, 2 meter NCS for JOCO ARES, 2 meter NCS for SATERN, 2 meter NCS for JCRAC, President of KD0BUH, T91RC (Troop 91 Radio Club) JOCO ARES Rapid Response Team Coordinator and Youth Outreach, SKCC 3556, FISTS 13577, WWYC 741, and proud member of T91RC, JCRAC, NEKSUN, Olathe CERT, JOCO ARES, and KC SATERN.
NEKSUN: The name NEKSUN is a combination of North Eastern Kansas Amateur Radio Club (NEKSARC, K0HAM) and Sunflower Interlink systems(K0SUN). NEKSUN is a organization focusing on the constantly growing APRS network in the Midwest. NEKSUN has about 25 digipeaters/igates on-line across the Midwest operating under the call of K0HAM or K0SUN. We also maintain VHF/UHF repeaters throughout Kansas under the call of K0HAM or K0SUN. For Field Day, we operate at Lake Perry north of Topeka, Kansas in a joint effort with Kaw Valley Amateur Radio Club. Our most remarkable operation occured in 2008, we operated as 3A KS and won the entire Midwest in 3A. We broke the record we set the previous year, making 1300+ QSOs and scoring 5,554 points. We are planning a even bigger operation in 2009, with our eyes on winning the entire Midwest division.
(in the blue) In the groove and running stations on 20m
Our secreat weapon: A TH7 at 50' for our phone station. Next year we plan to get another tower trailer and TH6 for our CW station
Outside of Ham Radio: I am also a Boy Scout with Troop 98. I am currently a Life scout, working on my Eagle scout rank, and a Brotherhood member in the Order of the Arrow. Also President of Troop 91 Radio Club (T91RC), KD0BUH. Every year at a District-wide scouting event, we put a station (or in the past years, 2 stations) on the air and try and stir up as much interest as possible. We then direct anyone interested to a Hamclass taught by Brian Short, KC0BS and Matt May, KC4WCG (many others help when available, I usually teach 1 or 2 classes a year).
I'm a huge sports fan, following my college team the KU Jayhawks who won the NCAA Mens National Championship in 2008, after a record football season and win in the Orange Bowl. I'm currently taking a hiatus from sports, after a serious muscle pull which continues to bother my sports activities. I hope to be able to play football in Highschool, as well as run cross-country with friends at another school.
Thanks for taking the time to read my bio!
Hope to hear you on the air, 73, and best DX! de KU0DM
Current Club Positions