Cliff Fox

Hi all. I am age 48 and happily married to Irene for 24 years.I have 4 children, 2 sons, 1 daughter, 1 daughter-in-law, and 1 grandson.Clifford(24),Cory(21), Elizabeth(17), Molly(in law,22) and Trace(grandson).My oldest son is a Corporal in the United States Marine Corps and is currently serving at Camp Lejeune, NC after just finishing his first and hopefully last tour in Iraq. Oohrah! My hobby is the best hobby in the world-Amateur Radio, better known as Ham Radio. I first became interested in radio when I was 15 years old, but didn't study for my ham license until I was 35 years old. I spent all those pre-ham days operating on Single Sideband on CB Radio(11 Meter band) on 27.375,27.385, and 27.395 Mhz. I used to belong to a radio group called the 12 America Sideband Group. Number 12 because North Carolina was the 12th state to join the union.I was 12 America 018 Cliff and my FCC callsign was KBPU-1686. I met many good friends in this group who have done like myself and gotten into ham radio and also a few have passed on.The 12 America Group in it's heyday was over 600 members and I used to publish a monthly newsletter for the group and we held an annual dinner at Elk Shoals Methodist Campground in West Jefferson, NC. My first interest in radio was sparked by a Cobra 85 radio, an Astatic D-104(lollypop) microphone , and a 1/4 wave ground plane antenna my Mom bought me for Christmas at age 15. Mom says it's the only thing she ever bought me I didn't get tired of. I enjoyed 11 meter sideband for the next 20 years until a friend of mine KF4LLF Seth Oneal got me to get off my lazy duff and study for my ham ticket.I finally passed and got my Technician License on October 16th,1996 after taking the Novice & Technician license exams and in the next 9 months I studied and learned Morse Code and passed the written tests for my General Class, Advanced Class, and Extra Class licenses in addition to passing the 5, 13, & 20 word per minute Morse Code exams. I'm now at the pinnacle of the hobby and absolutely have a ball with it working voice(phone),CW(Morse Code), and several digital modes such as PSK31,MFSK16,Hellschreiber(Feld-Hell),RTTY(radioteletype),and a little SSTV(Slow Scan Television) from time to time. My VHF radio equipment consists of (2)Radio Shack HTX-242 mobiles and a Comet GP-3 ground plane & a Cushcraft A14810S 10 element yagi antenna.I operate VHF most on the W4FAR Repeater on Pore's Knob Mountain in North Wilkesboro,NC 145.370- (94.8 Hz PL Tone). My HF equipment consists of a Kenwood TS-570D HF exciter with a Ameritron AL-80B 1000 Watt HF Linear Amplifier and a Heil Proset Plus headset. I also own a Heil MM-4 Goldline Microphone. My HF antennas consist of a Solarcon A-99 vertical(Antron 99) for 10 meters and a 260 feet long doublet dipole antenna horizontal at 50 feet high for use on 10-160 meters. It was manufactured by WZ4I Mark and is one super antenna!I also just recently purchased a Hustler 5BTV vertical antenna and 100 feet of #12 stranded copper wire to lay down 30 33 feet 4 inch radials for DXing on 10,15,20,40 and 80 meter bands.I still have to assemble and get this newest antenna up which I plan on doing over the next few months. I purchased an 8 feet copper clad ground rod for it, but still have to purchase some coaxial cable and 2 Amphenol PL-259 coaxial connectors. I also use a Palstar AT-1500CV antenna tuner.I run the TS-570D from a Icom PS-55 20 amp power supply and run the 2 meter equipment from a Pyramid 10 amp power supply.I own 6 Morse Code keys which are all pictured in my Photo Section. I hang with a bunch of other hams on 3.680 & 3.895 Mhz in the 75 meter band mornings and a group on 28.374,28.385, & 28.465 Mhz on the 10 meter band most evenings.I can also occasionally be found on 3.672 and 3.810 Mhz on the 75 meter band. I also am a member of the SKCC(Straight Key Century Club) Morse Code group. We are 5,670 members now and are dedicated to the preservation of Morse Code and the use of the straight key telegraph keys and bug keys(NO Electronic keying devices). We operate on: 1.820,3.350,3.550,7.055,7.120,10.120,14.050,18.080,21.050, 24.910, & 28.050 Mhz in the 160,80,40,30,20,17,15,12,and 10 meter bands. I can mostly be found around 3.530,3.550,7.050, and 14.050 Mhz on CW. I am also a member of the Centralina Amateur Radio Society - See http://www.carsnc.org, NAQCC-the North American QRP CW Club-NAQCC#1491 see http://www.usatek.net/~yoel/ , the Flying Pigs QRP CW Club-FP#1183 see http://fpqrp.net/, the Feld Hell(Hellschreiber)Club-FH#062 see feldhellclub.org , and of SATERN-the Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network see satern.org SATERN has a weekly net on 14.265 Mhz at 10 AM ET year round on the 20 Meter band.I am also an Official Observer for the Federal Communications Commission Amateur Auxiliary and assist with Amateur Radio Service Part 97 FCC Rules compliance. Give me a call sometime. Well, that's my blog for now, until next update, very 73 from the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina-Grid EM95jv.