Red Hat Architect by day, which means I’m talking about, developing, or solutioning supported and enterprise level opensource software all day. But, when I’m not automating infrastructure provisioning into Infrastructure as Code or evangalizing GitOps strategies, I am spending time outside looking at the sky and/or promoting the art of amateur radio.
Since I was a young warthog
As far back as I can remember, I’ve been interested in Radios. Listening and monitoring local Police and emergency communications, I guess, gave me a sense of security that I would be able to respond quicker incertain events or that I was more ‘in-touch’ with the realities of my surroundings.
I’ve also for years seen the occasional car or truck with the Amateur Radio Operator license plate and usually occompanied by a ‘few’ antennas to trigger some curiosity. However, I didn’t really become interested in amateur radio until I heard about what others in the off-road and overlanding community are using for communications between vehicles, sometimes miles apart, and how with GMRS the signal quality is so much better.
This began my research into upgrading my mobile comms from a citizens band or CB radio to a rather humble mobile amateur radio station wd4rnr-9 w5aww-9. The main deciding factor was APRS and the ability to send beacons automatically providing another method of trackability when in very remote areas with zero cell phone service. Ultimately, also leading to the decision to study and get my amateur radio license and operate mobile with the Yaesu FTM-400xdr.
| Station | Transceiver | Antenna |
|---|---|---|
| w5aww-9 | Yaesu FTM-400xdr | Comet SBB5 w/Diamond k400 |