KI4FAU's Home Page

Back to Gaston Hams "Local Area Hams" Page

Welcome to my web site!

My name is Scott and I live in Bessemer City, NC. I have had an interest in HAM radio since I was about 8 years old, but it wasn't until the Spring of 2004 that I decided to earn my amateur radio license and get involved with the hobby. I took a Technician class sponsored by the local ARES group, successfully passed the Element 2 test, and was assigned the call of KI4FAU on April 13, 2004.

I upgraded to General privileges after passing the Element 3 exam on May 12, 2007 and passed the exam for Extra on May 2, 2009. I have completed paperwork for my VEC credentials and am looking forward to being able to actively participate in the local VE test sessions.

In the fall of 2007 I finally moved into my own home again and I have been rediscovering the hobby on these two bands since I do not have antenna restrictions, plus I have an excellent location so far as elevation is concerned (approx. 1040' with a relatively clear view in all directions). I recently also got my HF antenna up (80M dipole) with the help of several friends and am now enjoying HF on my "classic" Kenwood TS-520.

If I'm in the car, my radio is on! No matter if I'm driving to work, running errands, or traveling to the mountains or beach, I find the amateur bands help the time to pass by a lot faster.

Depending on the time of day and my mood, here is where you can find me on the air:

	145.230(-) Gaston County ARES repeater, owned by the W4BFB club in Charlotte and located on Spencer Mountain here in Gaston County. This is my usual afternoon "drive time" repeater.
	146.880(-) One of the Shelby Amateur Radio Club repeaters, located near Blacksburg, SC. There are many good people on this repeater and nets are held on Monday & Friday at 8:30 pm.
	147.120(+) Gaston County Amateur Radio Society (GCARS) repeater, also on Spencer Mountain. This repeater has excellent audio and reaches out very well with 20W of power. By the way, you're not a *"real"* ham until you've made contact with Oscar, W4OXH on this frequency! He's one of the many good people you'll meet on this repeater. I typically monitor the 147.120 on my way to work in the morning though it's usually very quiet. If you're awake and near the radio in the 6:15-7:00 am time frame, ride along with me during the drive to Charlotte!
	444.550(+) The GCARS 440 repeater. Not a lot of activity on here, but I typically am monitoring if I have the radio is on. This repeater has undergone some recent improvements and now has very good coverage for the Gastonia/Shelby/Charlotte region.
	I often wander off to several other 2 meter and 440 machines, especially now that I have the location I do for playing radio at home. Keep an ear out for me, you never know where I might turn up!

This is my first attempt at creating a web page, so please be patient and check back when you can to see if I'm making any progress!

This page was last updated on 05/29/09.