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K4PIM William R. 'Pim' Rodrigues De Miranda The Villages, FL QCWA # 37906 Chapter 217 |
I moved to The Villages (about 50 Mi. NW of Orlando) Lake CO, FL in March of 2018. As they have antenna restrictions here, I was not able to erect my great Mosley TA33MW on a tower. But I was able to place two, more stealthy antennas. The first is a 31 Ft. vertical whip, called Eagle One, made by SG Engineering in the US. It sits on the ground behind my house on a tripod, which is staked in the ground with 3 copper plated rods. It is capable of handling full legal limit. The second is a 21 Ft. vertical, Diamond CP6AR, and has tuned, elevated radials for each band, and can handle 200W max. It is made in Great Britain, and also sits aon the gound on a similar tripod. My main rig still is the Icom 756ProII, and an Icom IC-2KL amplifier, feeding the Eagle One via an Icom AT-500 tuner.
I was born in Amsterdam and grew up in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. My mother added my nickname "Pim", so I wouldn'd be "Willie". I first became interested in amateur radio when I was 14 and I was staying with my uncle, PA0GE (now silent key). He had a home-built rig and an antenna strung to a factory chimney behind his house in Doetinchem, the Netherlands. He regularly had QSOs with the US on 80 M. In fact, his contacts sponsored him when he emigrated to the US some time later. I followed on my own a few years later in 1958. (See photograph below)
I had a career as an electronic engineer and worked on space parts and materials with Boeing, Honeywell, E-Systems and Raytheon. While at E-Systems, in the early 80s, several collegues got me re-interested in ham and I got my Novice, Technician and General ticket in quick succession, with my first call sign KC4NIY. One of them sold me an Icom 701, which has been my main rig until just a few months ago. My wife and I lived on a 42 ft. sailboat in the St. Petersburg, FL, marina. I isolated my backstay to have a sloper, and also installed a 10 M whip on the rail.
I was inactive for about ten years when I retired to Homosassa, 70 miles N. of Tampa, FL, in 2000, because I was too busy sailing, my first love. Early 2011, I dusted off my old Icom 701 and plugged it in. It still played. Made nummerous contacts all over the world with just a 31 ft. whip ("Eagle One") mounted on a tripod on the metal roof of my carport. In the fall of 2011, I upgraded to Extra, acquired an Icom 718, got my new call K4PIM, and in spring of 2012, I strung a G5RV wire dipole from a big pine tree to a jury rigged PVC pole of my own design. I oriented it so one of the major lobes points at Europe. That was my main DX antenna. It covered, beside Europe, the whole eastern seaboard, NW Canada, California, Arizona and a chunk of South America, with many QSOs in Brazil. It will now be my 40-80M antenna.
Just before Thanksgiving 2012, I acquired an Icom 756 Pro II. I am still learning how to operate all the bells and whistles and it may take a few more months to get me completely familiar with this sophisticated rig. On 8 March 2013 I finally erected my new Mosley TA-33-M-WARC, a 5 band yagy (10-15-20M)/dipole (12 &17M) on a 45 feet tower, for which I had some sections laying in my yard. I am relearning code, and I hope to be able to add CW to my operating modes in the future.
I am active in our local Citrus County Amateur Radio Club, and I usually call in their busy net (4 days a week) on Mondays with my Yaesu FT 2800 on 2 M with a homebrew J-pole hanging in a tree at 30 ft. I am also active in the Citrus County ARES.
I usually spend a good part of my summers in Whittier, NC, (just south of the Great Smokey Mountain National Park), where I have set up a secondary station with an Icom 718, an Icom AT-500 tuner and an Eagle One 31 feet whip antenna. I also plan to have my mobile station there, as the RV park where I am staying, is on the slope of a mountain an I cannot get signals out to the North and East (Eastern Seaboard and Europe). So, if I want QSOs in that direction, I drive my Nissan to a nearby hill top and operate mobile. I am also a member of the Franklin, NC Amateur Radio Club, and the Haywood County Amateur Radio Club in Waynesville, NC.
Current HF and 2 M Equipment:
In my Shack in The Villages, FL: Icom 756 Pro II, IC-2KL 500 Watt Linear Amp, Icom AT-500 Auto Tuner, Yaesu FT-2800 (2M), Wouxun Handheld 2M /70 cm.
Antennas in The Villages Fl: Eagle One 31 ft. whip, Diamond CP6AR 21 ft. vertical, Magnetic/ mobile 2M/70cm at 12 feet
My Mobile Station (Nissan Altima): Yaesu FT-100D, Alpine Screwdriver antenna.
Hope to meet you on the bands!
73, Pim
Me in my previous ham shack, an old Holiday Rambler trailer.
PAØGE, Captain Ge Pieterson, in Doetinchem, Netherlands, 1949
Phil (KK4BNL) and myself at the completed Mosley TA-33-M-WARC
All Done!
January 27, 2019