KB4UPI Terry M. 'Mick' Lindley Bessemer, AL QCWA # 36673

See a live view of my shack here: http://lindleyonline.com/webcam/ham/kb4upi.htm

I was an avid SWL for many years until I got my amateur radio license in 1986. I still enjoy listening to SW & utility stations. I operate HF, 6, and 2 meters with 10 meters being my favorite band. My 10-10 number is 74849. Listen for our 10 meter propagation beacon at 28.255 MHz running 2 watts. The beacon transmitter is located at our lake house in Centre, AL. Beacon reports and QSL'S are welcome. If you want a card I QSL 100%, just provide your own SASE, or use QRZ, eQSL, or LOTW. See beacon info below. Other interests include GeoCaching (MickUpi), RC Airplanes, Computers, and Electronics. I have about 635 QSL cards on the wall with several hundred more in a box. I ran out of wall. I you would like to see my BIO scroll to the bottom of the page.

Our 10 meter beacon runs 3 watts into a inverted V dipole antenna and is located at Roll Tide Retreat in Centre, Alabama on the beautiful banks of Weiss Lake in EM74. It is 27 miles to the NE from my QTH. This has been our family lake house for many years. The beacon was first placed on the air in October of 1987 on 28.224, and the first report came from Don, WB4YRJ, who is now a SK. The frequency was chosen because it was the only place I could make the converted CB transmit at due to the crystals I had on hand. Later I changed it to 28.267 for much the same reason. It was later changed to 28.255 at the request of the HF beacon coordinator Bill, WJ50. Contact Bill before you start any intended beacon operation. See the WJ5O Beacon List.

The beacon has received reports from all over the world over the years. The most distant report was in March of 1990 and came from SWL, Brian Webb, ZL2262 in New Zealand. That is 4998 (MPW) miles per watt.

I was interested in radio from an early age. At the age of 12 I built a crystal set and threw a wire out my bedroom window. It received our local AM station and from that moment on I was hooked on radio for life. After all as simple as it was, I built something that received a radio signal. I was fairly happy as a SWL from the age of 12. I struggled with Morse code for several years, and I never had any kind of aid in my endeavor to learn it. Years later I was working on an electronics building project that had me stumped. I only knew one person in our community who was a ham operator, Jim Bonner, K4UMD. I figured he could help me. I went over to his house and knocked on the door. As I went in I noticed the ham station, but I didn't say anything about it. I was there for help with my project. He got me on the right track with it. Afterward the conversation turned to ham radio. Jim said, "You really ought to get your ham radio license". I answered by saying "why". "Just because you can", he said. Jim was the first person ever to tell me I could get my ham radio license. I told him I had a problem with the code. I came over to his ham shack several times for some CW tutor and practice. I later got to where I could practice on my own. Jim gave me my Novice exam in 1986 and suddenly I was a ham radio operator. If not for the help and patience of Jim K4UMD I may have never gotten my license. I upgraded to Advanced in the same year.

I work contests but I rarely send in the log results. I have worked all states on three bands and 207 or so countries. If certificates and awards are your thing that's fine and I understand the pursuit of such, but they don't do much for me. I know what I have done and that's good enough for me. I work most all bands and modes including SSB, CW, RTTY, SSTV, and a few other digital modes. I am good with CW at 10 to 14 wpm. Faster than that I tend to lose some of the copy.

I was a master plumber for 24 years and after that I worked as a Plumbing Inspector for our local county for 18 years and retired in 2012.

I hope to hear you on the air. 73 de Mick, KB4UPI

September 16, 2015