RICHARDSON, TX
AMATEUR STATION
K5KZK
New ham as of April 2019.
Upgraded to General December 2019.
Member of the Richardson Wireless Klub - K5RWK
Repeaters/Frequencies I Monitor
The K5RWK club repeater - 147.120+ 110.9)
"The Flamethrower" W5EBQ - 146.700- 110.9
W5FC - 146.880- 110.9
146.52
I am also licensed on GMRS as WRDR758, and sometimes monitor the Dallas County REACT GMRS repeater at 462.600+ 141.3
AllStar - K5KZK Garage Node 430.430 PL 100
My new thing is AllStar. I originally set it up so I could access the RWK repeater from anywhere via my phone, but it became a full simplex node when a club member was selling the URI at a great price.
The node is usually connected to the East Coast Reflector. It's powered by a Pi 2, TechNo by George ARA-1 URI and an Icom IC-F621-2.
In Texas, it's tough to keep things cool, so I've had to add fans to both the radio and the Pi. The radio fan is just a regular 80mm case fan, and it turns on and off using a thermostat relay when the temperature rises above 40c, and turns off again when it's back down to 38.
I still enjoy DMR, and monitor Texas Statewide (3148) most of the time. Both DMR-MARC/Lonestar or whatever it is, and the Brandmeister 3148.
I use TYT MD-380s (UHF) for all my DMR needs. When mobile, I have one mounted on my dash, going into a Laird 1/4 wave UHF unity gain antenna, and it gets the signal where I need it to go.
Main rig in the vehicle is an Icom IC-2370a into a Comet SS-460SB 1/4 wave (so I can park in the garage), sometimes a Comet SS-680SB 5/8 wave. The big Comet SBB-7 goes on for public service work.
HTs are all Baofengs and TYTs. UV-5R, UV-82, BF-R3 (for 220) and 2x MD-380s so far. Replaced antennas on the 5R and 82 with Nagoya 701 and 717 whips.
GMRS/UHF backup radios: Kenwood TK-880H (Part 95!) and Icom IC-F621-2, which is now part of my AllStar node.
Working a rest stop at the Hot Rocks Bike Ride in Rockwall, T X
Lots of antennas that day for main and backup rigs.
Dash Mount
Before these "uncertain times" started up, my station was usually mobile or portable, but now since I barely drive anymore, I set up a garage shack where the TK-880H, F621 and Yaesu 2600 all live.
The 621 and 2600 go through a duplexer which feeds an Ed Fong DBJ-2 via 30' of LMR-400 to the front peak of the garage roof. The 880H covers GMRS and feeds a 1/4 wave unity gain mag mount on steel sheet in the rafters.
I used to really enjoy public service work like doing SAG for cycling events, and definitely miss that.
When I was doing a lot of that work, I put together a standalone APRS beacon rig which consists of a UBX-M8030-KT chip GPS reciever (Beitan branded), Argent Data OpenTracker USB, the Yaesu FT-2600M and Laird 144QWB. Set it & forget it!
Garage Shack
Antenna farm! Left to right: Analog VHF/UHF, DMR, APRS, GPS
I am brand new to HF and just bought an Icom IC-7000. It's mated to an LDG AT-7000, and I have two end fed setups. I have yet to make a contact on HF, so I have some adjusting and learning to do.
HF