KE3TJ
I'm Eric, KE3TJ, VE Team Liaison with the ARRL/VEC for the Horseshoe Amateur Radio Club Examiners. I've been a Volunteer Examiner since March 1997 and maintain VE credentials with the ARRL/VEC. I formed this exam team in August 2000 to address the need to offer exam sessions on a regular, predictable schedule to amateurs in Blair and surrounding counties.
I became a "ham" in 1993 and currently hold an Extra Class license, having upgraded with "license restructuring" in April 2000. I'm active with the Horseshoe Amateur Radio Club, and I'm a member of the ARRL, the National Association for Amateur Radio.I'm active mainly on 2-meter FM. I serve as a net control station on the second Sunday on the month for the Horseshoe Amateur Radio Club's weekly Sunday Evening Net (7 p.m. local, W3QZF/R, 146.610 MHz, PL 123.0 Hz). I greatly enjoy public service activities and Field Day. I maintain an association with Blair County ARES/RACES, the emergency amateur communications service for the county. About once a year I still fire up a portable packet station.
Both my daughter, N3WMH, and I upgraded (finally) to Kenwood TH-K2AT handheld 2-meter transceivers in 2004. We used Radio Shack HTX-202's for 10 years (as did about half of the hams in the country at one time). I'm also using a Kenwood TH-G71A dual band transceiver. Presently I'm using a "super-deluxe" portable VHF/UHF station for public service and emergency operations. This elegant station features a Kenwood TM-271A 2-meter mobile transceiver and an older TM-V7A dual band mobile transceiver. The station is capable of operating simultaneous FM phone or digital modes on two frequencies while monitoring a third frequency.
I'm barely active on HF, due in part to limited free time and to antenna safety and EMI issues. (My property is surrounded by power, phone, and cable TV lines on 3 sides, and not all of my neighbors say they enjoy hearing me on 40 meters over their telephones!) I picked up a Kenwood TS-140S transceiver at a nearby hamfest in 1998, but it spent more time on the service bench than on the air for the next three years. It's a nice radio now that it works, usually during Field Day. I wanted to upgrade to a Kenwood TS-570S(G) ever since they were introduced, but I've successfully delayed that expense to the point that now they are discontinued by the manufacturer! Now I've got my eye on the Kenwood TS-480SAT. I use a GAP Challenger multi-band vertical antenna which I've modified for portability for Field Day. Since 2004 my daughter and I have operated a 100% emergency powered station during Field Day. Someday when I retire, I'd like to settle into some old-fashioned RTTY and PSK31 (and maybe some light contesting).
I once "enjoyed" building antennas, but I think I've gotten that out of my system now. I've built portable 2-meter ground-plane and portable 2-meter, 5-element Yagi antennas, both from scrap aluminum arrow shafts. I've also built a pair of portable 2-meter log-periodic dipole arrays (they're fantastic), again with scrap aluminum arrow shafts. I once fabricated a portable HF multiband dipole design, but I had little time for the extensive testing this project required. Then I discovered a fundamental flaw in my design. Like I said, I think I've gotten it out of my system now.
My most recent project was to convert everything over to Anderson PowerPole connectors.
What does occupy much of my time for now is the administrative recordkeeping involved with the Volunteer Examiner team and promotion of Amateur Radio. Other interests include amateur astronomy, database development and programming, and all aspects of the shooting sports (I serve on the Board of Directors of the Outdoor Sportsman's Club, Inc.).
I invite your comments (and your interest in joining the team) via e-mail.