LATEST INFORMATION ON 2009 COSTA RICA (TI6) OPERATION-- TI6/K9KEJ for APRIL, 2010

Our Costa Rica operation WILL RUN from April 27 through May 1.2010 QSLs are handled by David, EB7DX. David requests $2 and a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Here's David's mailing address--David Fernandez, EB7DX, P.O. Box 163  21080, Huelva, Spain.

In the meantime, my HAM RADIO life began with very few $$ and lots of excitement and energy. It all started with a Knight Kit Space Spanner, super-regen recvr., with me listening to foreign broadcast stations with booming signals coming from around the world. And then I discovered a neighbor who happened to be a HAM, AND I BECAME INSTANTLY HOOKED ON THE HOBBY.  A lot has happened since 1956 when I started with a 6AQ5 Sandwich Box XMTR (from Popular Electronics) and a borrowed S-38 receiver.

Because I lived in a Chicago apartment, having a good antenna was almost an impossibility. I tried the infamous beer-can vertical (which collapsed during a violent rain storm); I tried a "mini-longwire"(it never worked); and I also tried loading up one of the metal,dining room,window screens (ugh). I finally hit paydirt when my treasured Gotham Vertical arrived. I think that was the year the word "junk" became a common term some Hams used referring to the Gotham antenna. And then along came the Command Set ARC-5/T21 xmtr and BC-454 rcvr for 40-meters.

Through the years I've had the tall towers and wide-spaced, stacked beams, and worked all the DX I heard. I now use a ground-mounted vertical,elevated just 8-inches off the ground. This is THE mighty Zero Five, 43-foot tall vertical which does an outstanding job on 80-10. I also leave one of my 33-footers (ZERO FIVE) down in the jungle of eastern Costa Rica. I'm in Costa Rica several times a year fishing for monster tarpon and do some Hamming as well with just 100 watts and the 33-foot ZERO FIVE VERTICAL.

I know this is hard to believe, but, this antenna (the 43-foote version back home)has performed so well that I've chosen to forget going back to a beam. My home back yard lot sits on a super, high-conductivity chunk of ground, which in turn has allowed me to get spectacular signal reports from all over the world. This red hot ground literally acts like a sheet of copper! I would of course would have liked a tall tower and a big beam at the outset, but it wasn't in the cards. So, I go with what fits, and that's the verticals. Unfortunately, during quite a few QSOs, some of the people on the other end of the contact refuse to believe I'm running the ZERO FIVE without any radials! Many comment that it "sounds like you're running a beam Orrin."

Now, on the professional side--I've been in radio and television broadcasting for over 45 years, with much of that time in the news business.

I presently host a radio talk show originating out of Chicago that covers the entire Chicago-metro area--plus the show is uplinked via sat., to over a hundred stations/markets across the United States through the National Radio Network and nationalradionetwork.com-live streamed as well) And to top it off,I am a print journalist/columnist with a one of the major, Chicago, daily newspapers.

I also write outdoor columns (fishing and hunting) for over a dozen magazines.

And in between all of that, I am also involved in commercial voice-over narration for a variety of different clients/sponsors.

Despite what appears to be a very busy schedule, I still manage to do quite a bit of globe trotting. My travels take me all over North America, as well as across the world. Aside from ham radio,another great passion for me is fishing, hunting, and photography. 

Ham Radio has changed since those early days when I first got my license, but the thrill is still there for me when I talk to a station in Asia or Europe,or some island in the South Pacific and Indian Ocean, and learn about that Ham's life and culture. And the ragchewing aspect this hobby offers is another element that keeps me coming back for lots more every day.

My latest shack contains an ICOM 756 PROIII, a legal-limit amp., a 3-KW antenna tuner, an ALS-600 backup amp.,a Kenwood TS-440S backup xcvr, along with another backup, an ICOM 718, and a Kenwood TS-50, 100-watt rig for travel and DX-Epeditions (prfesently in Costa Rica). You can often find me hanging out below 14.200 and close to 14.185. If you care to reach me on SKYPE, my user name is flycast2 

If you need a QSL card, for stateside stations please send an SASE with your card in an envelope. Requests from stations outside the U.S., please send a self-addressed, envelope with one green stamp to cover the $.94 postage.

If you'd like, I can be reached via e-mail angler88@att.net

Thanks for checking me out.