TAKE A LOOK AT THE WØAH ANTENNAS- Pictures of 160M vertical, KT34XA, 40M beam, Hytowers for 75/80M and 20/40 backup, 144 EME array, 432 array, etc. will be linked soon .

The most exciting development here is the purchase of the house next door on 6 acres. Bought as an investment, I have a big mortgage and need you to help me pay it off! It's ready to rent, weekly, June through late August, and, then probably, from late August until late May I'll rent to a local teacher or professor.
What an opportunity for a fabulous Colorado vacation which includes hamming. About 25 yards from the rental is a "studio" hamshack that will be outfitted with an FT-1000 for HF and an IC-706 for VHF. Best of all, most of the W0AH antenna farm on the adjoining property will be connected to this dedicated hamshack. Additional QRP, classic, and UHF equipment is available. The studio hamshack allows you to ham as little or as much without bothering your family. Here's the chance to operate a world class station as part of a vacation. Special arrangements can be made should you want to operate a contest.
Since this area is one of the best and most popular vacation destinations, everyone in the family should have a great time. For information on the area attractions and the rental, click vacation rental.

As a young child, aliens implanted a radio bug in my brain. I have never been able to overcome the radio bug despite trips to the top of the mountain and even to the Dayton Hamconvention. Seriously, radio activities have been an important part of my life since my first shortwave listening at age 12 on a relative's Zenith Transoceanic.
I was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1940. I did additional SWLing with an S-38C from home. Soon after my 15th birthday, I became KN8BAJ (thank you neighbor and Elmer, W8HNX) and used a Viking Adventurer that I constructed from kit and an SX-99 that my grandparents bought me.
After only a few months, the family moved to the Washington D.C. area where I upgraded to general with the call W3IFA. Back then, you could hold a second call, and I received K1UGQ for Biddeford Pool, Maine, where my grandparents had a summer home. As W3IFA in Washington, DC, I discovered 160 meters in 1956 using a newly acquired Viking II. Top Band remains one of my favorite bands, and my new 90' top loaded 160M vertical is a fantastic antenna. I worked 107 countries with it the first six months it was in service.
As K1UGQ, I discovered two meters (and weak signal VHF) using a Gonset II my grandparent's cook (and mother surrogate) bought me the summer of 1957. It was a thrill to work 100 miles on 2 meters back then using 6 watts AM. I once worked 500+ miles to NC which is my all time favorite contact and probably the resason I'm such a devoted VHF weak signal enthusiast.
I spent 1959-1964 at Union College in Schenectady with undergraduate work in English and graduate work in American Studies. After that, I began teaching high school, met, and married Judy Maston in 1967, and we bought our first home the same year, a furnished summer camp (cost $3900.) which we winterized. Judy beacme WN2AAX in 1968. She is presently studying for her General.
That station I worked in NC from Biddeford Pool, Maine. He was using a Clegg Zeus and Interceptor. The next summer after much caddying, I owned a Clegg Zeus and Interceptor, and was now a Big Gun on two meters. I operated 2M meteor scatter for the first time in August,1963. By August 1974, my last month of operationin Biddeford Pool (because of my grandparents health) I had worked 27 states from Maine (in just 16 months of operation, one month a year). Most of the 2M big guns within 1300 miles now had worked Maine, and I had worked 27 states, which was the record until super big gun K1WHS arrived in Maine .
The summer camp Judy and I bought in 1967 was in Mariaville on the highest hill in Schenectady County. I became a Big Gun VHFer from there and also operated HF. I first started operating VHF contests in 1957. By the 1960's, HF contests (such as the Sweepstake, Field Day, plus ARRL and CQ DX Tests) also became part of the annual ritual. By 1971, I had worked 37 states on 144 MHz from Mariaville which equalled the best in NYS. I was also operating 220 and 432 MHz in the late 60's and 70's using prototype ARCOS amplifiers that friend, Fred Merry, W2GN, allowed me to test.
The Mariaville camp never was a real house. In 1974, we moved to an apartment in Schenectady. Not being able to operate from the apartment was very frustrating. I did more hilltopping and portable VHF operation than I had done before plus I began collecting old radios and DXing on the broadcast band. By 1979, we had purchased a real house on the east side of Schenectady on high ground, but 1000' lower that the Mariaville QTH just 12 miles away. Still, it was a good VHF location, and in just a two years, I had worked 37 states (again) on 144 MHz from this location. I also added 1296 MHz to my VHF arsenal, and, after years of VHF contesting, finally took first place, single op, North America, in a September ARRL VHF contest. Two other equally obsessive hobbies, birding, begun in 1968, and running, begun in 1973, began eating into my amateur radio time during the 1970's and 80's.
When Ten Tec came out with their first QRP transceivers (was it the early 60's?), I bought one. I have been hooked ever since. By 1975, I had worked DXCC with 2 watts using a Ten Tec Argonaut. I love the challenge of QRP and continue to operate it much of the time, to this day. I have now worked WAS with less than 100 milliwatts and have worked DXCC on 3 bands: 10, 15, and 20 with 40M QRP DXCC my present goal.
Vacations here to visit friends in Woodland Park, Colorado, the summers of 1986 and 1987, changed our lives. We fell in love with the area and moved here, 9 miles north of Pikes Peak, in March, 1998. Here, my dream of having land and an antenna farm is being realized. I've always loved to experiment with antennas. Right now I have 6 towers with with all sorts of antennas: EME arrays on 144 and 432, a KT-34XA for 10/15/20, a 2 element CC 40M beam, a Hytower, big TV UHF, VHF and commercial FM antennas for VHF propagation studies, and a 90' shunt fed, top loaded tower for 160M. A second Hytower will soon go up as will a 4 el 20M beam on top of the 90' tower. I also plan to get the big 50' boom M2 six meter antenna back up soon.
I got my Rag Chewers Certificate way back in the 1950's, but most of my rag chewing now is on 75M, 20M, 6M, and 2M AM where I use a B&W 5100B, HQ-129X, Clegg Zeus and Interceptor. I love restoring older equipment (despite not having much talent for it) and have dozens of pieces of classic VHF and HF equipment.
Although I love the challenge of working DX, especially on 160M and VHF, I'm not a true DXer who follows and works the DXpeditions, etc.
Most of my DX is worked during contests, and, with the WØAH hilltop location, antenna farm and equipment, I am competitive in both VHF and HF contests. I have worked over 200 countries on 4 bands: 10, 15, 20, and 40 meters, and over 150 countries on two bands: 80 and 160. On VHF i have worked WAS on 6 and two meters plus 90 countries on 50 MHz and 40 countries on 144 Mhz. Right now, I'm emphasizing HF from the home QTH except for 6M, and operating most VHF contests from portable locations.
I'm retired now, but sure can't find enough hours in the day for ham radio, hiking, running, birding, reading and following Rockies baseball. Judy and I love to travel and hope to do some of that in the years ahead. Judy and I are both very fortunate to be fit, active, and in good health as we approach our sixties.
Not enjoying the grind of 36 or 48 hour, single op, contests, I am doing more contests with friends, and configuring the station for possible multi-multi. With the rental next door, including the dedicated studio hamshack, others will also have an opportunity to try their hand at contests from here. As a recent VEC, I hope to help others get licensed and upgrade. If I can do it, anybody can!

My other major hobbies include birding, begun with Judy in 1968. My 600+ species in the "lower 48 states" is my major league birding accomplishment, sort of like making the DX Honor Role. I've also photograghed over 100 species of birds and had my nature photography published in various magasines.
Stock market investing, begun in 1969 when I got my NASD license, has remained an active and sometimes profitable avocation. Buying the house on 6 acres next door is my first real estate investment. We'll see how it turns out.
Competitive running, cross country skiing, bicycle, and triathlon racing begun in 1973, became my principal hobby during the late '70's and 80's. I hope to be in competitive shape again when I enter the 60 age group in September, 2001.
Hiking and mountain climbing, begun here in Colorado the past ten years is my principal recreatrion now, though I do try to get some running or biking in each week.
I'm an "armchair Himalayan mountain climber"and love following the Everest ascents on the internet. Having climbed many of the Colorado 14,000' peaks, I'm planning to climb the 17,000 and 18,000' Mexican volcanoes some time soon.
I love reading (mainly biographies, philosophy, religion,and current events). I'm a published poet, technical writer, and former editor/publisher of the EME REPORT and ROCKY MOUNTAIN VHF+ newsletters.
I follow Colorado Rockies baseball and do a little photography. I would love to be able to travel throughout the world, but my investments haven't been that good! Soon, I'll have links to webpages relating to these hobbies.

Judy and I just celebrated our 32nd anniversary. Her Mom is still alive and healthy, but my mother died in an automobile accident when I was only two. My father and step-mother died in their 40's, which is one reason I've worked hard stay fit and healthy. I have a sister in Maine. We presently have two black cats. For many years, I coached cross country, cross country skiing, and track & field. Those kids were my family, and I still keep in touch with some of them and some of the kids I've taught over the years.

		See the Pikes Peak cam.
		Check out Woodland Park, Colorado, weather.
		Check out the Pikes Peak Trail Guide
		Check out Yard and Teller County Bird Lists
		Check out VACATION RENTAL