Keith
Harris’ Amateur Radio History:
Keith got his first
license as a Technician Class, call sign N9YYN, in
October, 1994. However, he learned most of what was
needed for a Ham license when he was in the Air Force.
His job title was Morse Intercept Operator, or
ditty-bop. They monitored Soviet and other Iron Curtain
countries military communications. Back then there
primary means of communications was CW. He did this for
about 5 years in
Turkey, Germany and England. He copied weather,
aircraft tracking, coded messages, etc. It was not
uncommon in an 8 hour shift to copy for 480 minutes.
The math shows this as 60 minutes an hour. Each
position had two R-390A radios, antenna switching gear
and other equipment. He was introduced to Amateur Radio
by his brother Mark, N9SRT, who lives in the Chicago
area. Keith took Technician test in 1994, and passed
his General exam in 1995. He passed the code test the
same day, but it wasn't in the usual way. The code
requirement for General was 13 wpm, but Keith asked if
he could listen to a little 20 wpm (the requirement for
an Extra license). He hadn't copied any code in 20
years and was a bit rusty. He told the examiner he
would do the 13 wpm, but the examiner said go for the
20. He did and passed! However, that presented a
problem. Part 97 rules say the second part of the exam
must be passed within a year for the license or lose
it. Keith asked everyone, but no one knew if that
applied to passing the code first. He decided to not
take the chance and passed his Advanced, call sign
KG9JH, and Extra, call sign AA9UA, within the year.
When he first used the AA9UA call sign the response was
"You a what?", He told them "I a Ham", and decided it
was time to get a vanity call, N9KH.
Keith’s shack consists of
a Yaesu FT-890 running through a GAP Titan vertical
antenna, and a Yaesu FT-7800R dual band mobile rig
running through an Arrow dual band J-Pole. He also has
a Red Hot 40 QRP rig that he bought from Hal, W8AIR.
Keith’s Red Hot QRP rig resides in an aluminum tool case
along with an MFJ antenna tuner, a Bull-Dog iambic key,
and electronic keyer and a multi-band portable dipole.
He has not had much chance to work the QRP rig but is
looking forward to it. At present, his HF station is
down because of antenna damage from some high winds, but
he did manage to work the 3Y0X DXpedition to Peter I
Island on 40m CW. It was only his second CW QSO. He
gets the most enjoyment from Fox Hunting. It is
challenging, competitive and you get to see a lot of the
back roads. He joined the Hoosier Hills Ham Club in
December, 1994, and has been a member since then. He
used to be involved in RACES, Lawrence County Search and
Rescue, and was an ARRL Volunteer Instructor and
Examiner until his eyesight limited his ability to read
and drive. Keith really enjoys Amateur Radio and does
his best to promote and explain it to people.
In the 13 years Keith has
been in the Hoosier Hills Ham Club he has been President
6 years, Vice President 1 year and Secretary 2 years.
During that time, he received the Vance Lockenour Award
once and Member of the Year twice. Additionally, Keith
was RACES Officer for
Lawrence County and a founding member and first
president of Lawrence County Search and Rescue. He is
also a member of the ARRL, Flying Pigs QRP Club, QRP
Amateur Radio Club International and FISTS (The
International Morse Preservation Society).
November Fox Hunt:
Two hunters showed to track down Mike, KF9NP, the fox.
He was hidden on the Lawrence County-Orange County line
near a substation off Highway 37 as you go toward
Orleans. The signal was readable at the starting point
by the Harris Team, Keith/Ann, N9KH/K9NOT and Larry,
WA9FFZ. Larry needed a victory in this hunt to stay in
contention for the drive to top gun for 2007, but it was
not to be. Keith and Ann continued their string of
victories, scoring their fourth for the year. They
easily won, driving three miles less than Larry, taking
into consideration the odometer accuracy. The next hunt
will be on December 15 and the Harris Team will be the
fox. Tally for the year on wins is Keith and Ann with
four, Mike Wright with three, Larry with two, and Ray
Stevens and Tim Wray with one apiece. Starting time will
be 3:30 PM
Newsletter - November
2007