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David C. Taylor, N5KWD

General

I have been an Extra class operator since 2016, and a Technician and General class operator since 2015. I am currently enjoying my first solar maximum as a ham.
I was first interested in radio and shortwave as a boy but . . . morse code. In 2015, a fraternity brother posted on social media that he got his ham radio license. He told me the FCC got rid of the morse code requirement. I had my Technician license a month later. Now I try to live by the motto: Eat - Sleep - Ham Radio. And, I am working on Morse code asnd intend to be a Morse operator soon.

No FT8. Never.

Clubs & Organizations

I am the current secretary and former president of my radio club in Kingwood, Texas, the Texas Emergency Amateur Communicators (TEAC). I am also a member of the Eastside Amateur Radio Service (EARS) the Oak Forest Amateur Radio Club (OFARC), the Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB), and a lifetime member of the American Radio Relay League (ARRL).

Operating Interests

  • DX, Awards (DXCC, WAC, etc.), and QSL Cards
  • Contesting, usually High Power Unlimited
  • Portable Operations, POTA and SOTA
  • Antenna Theory and Building
  • Electronics and Kit Building
  • Club Activities
  • Emergency Communications and Preparedness

Hamfests & Events

Time permitting, I try to go to every local hamfest that I can but they often conflct with contests. I have been waging a campaign to get the ARRL to STOP endorsing hamfests that occur on the same dates as major ARRL sponsored contests.

I went to Dayton Hamvention in 2019 and have been going every year since. I complete Contest University every year (the day before Hamvention). I went to Orlando Hamcation in 2022 and I want to go to Huntsville Hamfest. If you've never been to a MAJOR hamfest, you should try to go.

Classic Radios

  • E. F. Johnson Viking Valiant AM-CW Transmitter
  • E. F. Johnson Viking II AM-CW Tranmitter
  • Motorola R-390A Military Shortwave Receiver
  • Heathkit SB-401 Transmitter
  • Heathkit SB-300 Receiver
  • Heathkit HW-8 CW Transmitter
  • Drake 4 Lines (2)

Workbench

  • Kit Building
  • Raspberry Pi, Arduino, and other Microprocessor Projects
  • Antenna Design and Building

Education

  • BS in Biological Science, Minor in Geology, Sam Houston State University, 1999
  • AA, Lone Star College, 2013
  • AAS in Computer Programming, Lone Star College, 2013
  • AAS in Electrical Engineering, Lone Star College, In Progress

Professional

I started out in Horticulture but that ambition fell away in college and I switched to Botany and Geology. While at university, I learned Geographic Information Systems (G. I. S.) as a student assistant in the Environmental Lab. I also worked as a research asistant in the Pteridphyte lab, and a teaching assistant for several biology and one geography professors. After college, I started programming, database design and development, and website development.

  • Howard Hughes Medical Institute Intern
  • National Museum of Natural History (Smithsonian) Intern
  • Harvard Papers in Botany: Published new species and generic reallignments in Pitcairnia
  • Harvard Papers in Botany: Publishe a new tribe, and tribal reallignments in Pitcairnioideae