Welcome to NJ3B's Station

(ex KA3SDS - N3FYC - WM3O)
Industry, PA (Beaver Co.)
Longitude: 80° 26.259  - Latitude: 40° 40.394 N - 1202 ft.
Grid: EN90sp (Map)
ARRL Section: Western Pennsylvania
ARRL Division: Atlantic

This page updated December 16, 2004

QSL Direct: Jim Brown, 367 Engle Road, Industry, PA 15052 (Beaver County)
QSL VIA the Bureau: PDXA, PO Box 100, York Haven, PA 17370-0100

Contesting

I worked the ARRL DX Phone contest in March 2001. I only operated 10.72 hours of the 48 hours the contest ran, but enjoyed it a lot. I worked nearly 200 stations and ended up with a score of 57,330 points. I used my Kenwood TS-50S with the LDG AT-11MP  Autotuner into my Alpha-Delta DXCC antenna.

Won First Place for South Carolina Section

I worked the ARRL Phone DX contest for 2002. This year I ended up working 416 DX stations and came out with a score of over 222,000.  For the 2nd year in a row, I was high score for South Carolina.

NJ3B History

• Obtained Novice Class License KA3SDS - Sept.15, 1987
• Upgraded to Technician Class N3FYC - Nov. 21, 1987
• Upgraded to General Class - June 18, 1988
• Upgraded to Advanced Class -June 17, 1989
• Upgraded to Extra Class - October 21, 1989
• Novice to Extra - 2 years and 26 days
• Call change to NJ3B April 16, 2002

• ARRL Rag Chewers' Club
• ARRL Certificate of Code Proficiency (15 WPM) Oct 8, 1989
• ARRL Worked All States - May 29, 1990 - #44,669
• ARRL ARES Assistant Emergency Coordinator July 29. 1990
• ARRL Official Observer April 14, 1992
• ARRL SAREX Antenna Test Certificate - April 30, 1993
• AMSAT Satellite Communicators Club - January 26, 2001
• ARRL International Contest Award. 1st Place single operator, low power, phone, South Carolina Section. March, 2001.
• IARU Worked All Continents (WAC) July 26, 2001
• VUCC - February 5, 2002 - #1201
• ARRL International Contest Award. 1st Place single operator, low power, phone, South Carolina Section. March, 2002.
• DXCC - December 9, 2004 - #39,908

 

• I have two brothers who are also amateurs; NS3N is my younger brother and NM3H is my older brother.
• My brother, NS3N loaned me his Drake TR-4 till I got my own rig. My first HF radio was a Swan 350 (Nov. 4, 1987). I later owned a Kenwood TS-440SAT (Oct 1, 1989), then a Ten-Tec Argosy II (April 27, 1993) then a Kenwood TS-570S(G) (July 24, 1999) which was destroyed by a lightning strike in August 1999, three weeks after I bought it. I had the TS-820S that belonged to my Elmer, but UPS destroyed it when I'd shipped it back to Kenwood for service.
• Current station, Kenwood TS-570S
• Current mobile station Kenwood TS-50S, LDG AT-11MP Auto Antenna Tuner
• I'm active in HF SSB and digital modes and have made a few contacts via amateur satellites. I'm also very active in the SAREX program (see QSLs below) and look forward to the new amateur station on the International Space Station. You can find me checking into the South Carolina SSB Net in the evenings on 3.915 MHz at 7 PM local time.
• One of my current interests is in amateur radio astronomy. This is something that I've been interested in for years, and it brings together my love of astronomy as well as my love of radio. If you're interested in learning more, visit the link below.

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View my Amateur Radio Astronomy webpage

View my ham radio page

My SAREX/MIR QSL Cards Click on card for larger view
Mir Front	Mir Back	STS-35	STS-45	STS-47
STS-50	STS-55	STS-58	STS-59	STS-60
STS-64	STS-65	STS-67	STS-70	STS-78

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My previous station was a Kenwood TS-820S

• The Kenwood TS-820S station had belonged to my Elmer, Leslie Grimm, WB3HUE and his wife, Julia Grimm, WB3IQD (both silent keys). My younger brother, NS3N (Jeff) aquired it and gave it to me as a Christmas gift. The radio was in mint condition and was a wonderful addition to my shack.
• One of the general complaints about the TS-820S is the instability of the digital display. This problem is easily taken care of. Simply open the top cover of the radio and remove the flat white plug that runs from the display to the electonics that control it. Take emory cloth and clean the metal pins, then put a LIGHT coat of No-Ox on the pins. This will keep the pins from oxidizing and causing the flickering digital display.
• February 1, 2001. The digital display failed but was not the common problem with the plug. I sent it to Kenwood via UPS and somewhere between here and the Kenwood Service Center in Virginia, some gorilla working for UPS dropped it or drove a truck over the box. The radio sustained unrepairable cosmetic and mechanical (VFO) damage. And to make matters worse, Kenwood says it's to old to service; "parts no longer available". While I had carefully packed the radio, UPS initially denied the claim ($500) because it wasn't in the original box and they claimed I did not have it packed correctly. I've had the local UPS depot verify that it was packed correctly. UPS finally paid the claim but I had to provide proof that it was worth what I had it insured for. The moral to the story, if you ship UPS, make sure you insure for the value of your equipment.

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