User data

N6ADO

First name:

Gary

Altstadt

Address:

420 3rd St.

92118/Coronado/CA

United States

QSL via:

Direct mail, eQsl, LOTW, E-mail request, Online request, Other

OQRS (On line QSL request) via Ham365

User info

 Memberships
ARRL (American Radio Relay League)
OMISS #10379 - Old Man International Sideband Society
CERO - Coronado Emergency Radio Operators
IBC #239 - Island Beer Club

A Little About Me:

Many of you may know me from the nightly OMISS 40m Net and depending on my energy level, the nightly 80m Net. Hams on OMISS now can pick me out without hearing my call sign because of my signature "How Copy, How Copy, How Copy" when making an attempted QSO.  I don't know how that came about but I'm stuck with it now! Hi, hi!  I earned my technician and general license in 2013 and decided to complete my Extra Class certification in August 2015 well before they changed the exam. I "half-jokingly" tell hams I only did it so I wouldn't have to refer to the band plan!

Something most of you do not know is that I am a Quadriplegic.  I am a spinal cord injury (SCI) C6-7 Incomplete of 41+ years now.  I was injured at the age of 15. If you have any questions about it, just ask!  I am lucky enough to have enough function left in my arms and hands to operate all my equipment in the shack.

I've also been fortunate enough to have a lot of ham buddies help put together a pretty darn good station. Yes, there is always another component to tweak and it is time to totally revamp the infrastructure of the shack. New power, grounding, moving antennas, etc. All of it just takes a bit longer because I need to ask for assistance...I don't mind asking anymore because hams help out by nature!

I am lucky enough to have been married to a wonderful woman for 30+ years and we have been blessed with two children a daughter in college and a son in high school. They support me in my "ham addiction" but have not been bitten by the bug and stay as far away as possible from it...so far!

Yes, I still work 40-50 hours a week as an IT Manager specializing in in Business Intelligence and Data Warehousing. In fact, amateur radio may have added a few years on to work to afford the equipment!

My Ham Shack/Man Cave has become a spectacular and special place for me. 

It would not exists except for a tremendous amount of help from my 2nd family of ham friends from "The Hangout" - 449.440:

• Brian (KC2GNV)
• Johnny (KK6RGN)
• Steve (AI6CX)
• Roy (KR6RG)
• Nestor (K6JTT)
• John (K6XI)
• ...and many others...

My radio equipment (pictured above right - now labled) includes:

• Icom IC-7600 with the v2.x firmware upgrade
  • Pan Adapter modification is coming. It consists of a RTL SDR Tuner with a micro splitter installed in-line before the IF out filter inside the rig
    
• Kenwood TS-2000 used primarilyfor a VHF/UHF rig and for crosband repeat when I'm using an HT inside the "Faraday Cage" I call my home...Hi Hi!  It also is my backup HF radio.  I love the form factor and the tremendous functionality and flexibility of the TS-2000 so I think it will be a permanent piece of equipment
• Ameritron AL-80B - 1KW amplifier
• LDG AT-1000ProII autotuner (als used as an antenna switch)
  This is a spectacular antenna tuner with 2000 memory locations. With the Icom IC-7600, I can now use the ATU interface to truly make it "automatic" by simply pressing the autotune button on the radio or simply key the mic to quickly tune up.
• Acer 27" LED HD Dual Monitors with a Dell XPS 8700 (Windows 7 Professional O/S) dektop computer
  • Radio interfaces for the IC-7600 and TS-2000

Antennas include:

• Inverted "L" - Vertical Leg on telephone pole (35') sloping about 60' up to a 31' Jackite mast 45' up in a tree
  • he first is an "Inverted L" using about a hundred feet of stranded copper wire, a 9:1/4:1 (Combo) Unun from Balun Designs set to 4:1, one plastic pulley, two 4' Ground rods, 60 lb fishing line, one 35' telephone pole and a 31' "Jackite" mast stealthly anchored (firmly with duct tape ;)) in my tree in front of my home up around 45'.  So far there are a half-dozen or so ground radials laid out.  The antenna is a awesome (if you can see it!) and tunes up well on 10M through 80M...we are working on a solution to "electroncally extend" whe antenna to tune up on 160m.
• NA4RR Hex Beam (6 Band, 6M - 20M) - It's a beautiful thing now raised from the orioginal height of 10-12' to now 22-25'.  RFI has decreased by 80% or Once properly positioned and raised to 40' or so; it will be SPECTACULAR!
  • Yaesu G450a Rotor - Light Duty
  • Controller Cable - 150'
• Tram 1480 dual band antenna attached to a 10' section of EMT in a vent pipe
• Discone wide band antenna attached to a 10' section of EMT in a vent pipe

HT Transceivers include:

• Kenwood TH-F6A (Tri-Band) - my first radio after getting my Tecnician License
• Yaesu FT-1DR (Digital, Fusion)
• Baofeng UV-5R (5W Dual Band)

Peripherals include:

• Heil Sound PR-781 microphone - A professional quality dynamic cardioid microphone for amateur radio
  • Heil Sound PL-2T Overhead Broadcast Boom
  • Heil PRSM-B Schock Mount
  • Heil CC-1-XLR-I microphone adapter cable with pig tail for PTT switch
  • PTT Hand Switch from radiodan.com - Controls two radios
• Kenwood MC-60 - Desk microphone used with the TS-2000
• MFJ-1263 Microphone Control Center which can handle 2 different radios interchangable with 2 different microphones of any type with the press of a button or two
• External speakers:
  • Icom SP-20 (with mod) used with IC-7600
  • Kenwood SP-23 used with the TS-2000
• For Digital Communications, I use the Signalink USB external soundcard for use with:
  • RMS Express (EMCOMM)
  • Ham Radio Deluxe + DM-780 (PSK-31)
  • HDSDR (Large Pan Adapter)
• Power Supplies
  • Astron RS-35M linear, non-switched power supply (used for the Icom IC-7600)
  • MFJ-4225MV 25amp switching power supply (used for the Kenwood TS-2000)
• Radio Sport RS60CF Headset with a killer "close talk" noise cancelling mic element that can be used with VOX for hands-free use
• Uniden Bearcat BCD536HP Scanner (Trunking - Digital & Analog) - Currently Out of Service