K5JNM

My previous call-sign was KG5WGX.

​I live and work in a small town in South Texas.  In late August of 2017, we took a very hard hit from a Category 4 Hurricane.  Harvey completely knocked out cell phone service for many days.  Our city disaster plan relied on satellite phones.  They turned out to be a bit unreliable and very unavailable (We didn't have enough to go around).  We decided to add Amateur Radio to our disaster plan like many other cities and towns in the area. We reached out to our local ARES guys and they recommended that we get licensed and join ARES.

So, I got my Tech ticket November 30th, 2017 and a few months later upgraded to General.  I also joined ARES.  Now, 6 or 7 other employees are working on getting licensed as well. I originally thought this was going to be a "tool for communicating" but it is quickly turning into my primary hobby.

I'm still just trying to learn as much as I can so if you find me on the air, please be patient.

Most Used Equipment:

• Mobile:  Icom IC-7100 w/ 49" Larsen NMO-2/70C and Diamond SD330 Screwdriver w/ TennaTronix Turbo Tuner 2.
• Portable:  Kenwood TH-D74A and Icom ID-51A w/ multiple antenna options.  Several other HTs not worth mentioning
• Main
  • [SOLD] Icom IC-7200
  • Icom IC-7300, 6-80m long wire slop from 35ft to 10 ft, LDG IT-100, Heil Headset, etc
  • Kenwood TM-D710GA on a Diamond X50
• Scout Overland Trailer with LiFePo4 battery for operating remote.  I use a spiderbeam 12m push-up mast to string up my sloper.   I've got a generator and solar powered options for the battery system.

My wife and I are overlanders.  We like taking long, sometimes-off-grid camping trips.  With onboard water and power, we can stay out for weeks at a time.  Ham radio has added a fun and useful element to our overlanding experiences.  We will be uploading more videos to our YouTube channel as we have time.  I also plan to do some amateur radio videos there too.