Welcome to Pagosa Springs, Colorado! We are located in
southwest Colorado, surrounded by the incredible beauty of the San Juan
and Rocky Mountain Ranges, at an elevation of 7500 feet. Pagosa Springs
is about 50 miles east of Durango, and 25 miles north of the New Mexico
border. Pagosa Springs offers many outdoor recreation opportunities and
is perhaps best known for its historic mineral hot springs and the exceptional skiing at Wolf Creek, where 440 inches of snowfall annually make skiers very happy.
Retirees,
tourists and a steady base of "locals" who enjoy the high mountains,
four seasons, fresh air, plentiful sunshine, and diverse attractions of
southwestern Colorado make Pagosa Springs a dynamic town. Pagosa
Springs has been "discovered" by those wanting a great outdoors experience and life style. Archuleta County, home to Pagosa Springs, has a
population of about 11,000 people. Only about 40 percent of them are
full-time residents, making Pagosa Springs largely comprised of second
homes.
Within the 11,000 person population in the immediate vicinity of Pagosa
Springs, there are about 80 ham radio operators. A large majority of
these hams are technicians, with a strong representation of general and
a handful of extra class hams.
If you're fortunate enough to live in the mountains,
you're fortunate enough!
I moved to Pagosa Springs in 2003 from Fritz Creek, Alaska, where I was
licensed as WL7M.
I decided to get a new call sign that's "sorta" similar, WDØM.
My equipment is now in place, I've installed a US Tower TX-455 and a new 4 element SteppIR antenna on the top.
It was quite a project, but I'm back on the air! My 5
acre property is virtually covered by bedrock just a few inches under
the dirt. If you'd like to see how it turned out, click on the links
above, entitled "Ham Radio", then either "TX-455 Tower Project" or
"SteppIR 4 Element". I've also provided some information on installing
a lightning protection system that may be of use to some visitors. I
employ three different antennas, selectable by remote control from my
shack, and they are described in some detail as well.
I'm a retired USAF colonel, having spent 26 years on
duty in locations around the world. My duty assignments took me to many
places around the globe, and it's always a delight to be able to talk
to someone in a location I've been to at one time or another during my
career.
I've
had the incredible opportunity to work with some wonderful, dedicated
champions of liberty during my career, as well as on many fascinating
programs. I served as a missile launch officer on the Minuteman ICBM
system at Whiteman AFB, Missouri (now home of the B-2 Spirit stealth
bomber) and operated the Ballistic Missile Early Warning Station
(BMEWS) in Alaska.
I
served as a contracting officer and program manager on programs like
the Manned Maneuvering Unit worn by astronauts to "fly" around outside
the Shuttle, and as the Director of Contracting for the Alaskan Air
Command. I was Chairman of the Joint Acquisition Coordinating Board at
the US European Command Headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany, and served
as the Deputy Director for Security Assistance at the US Pacific
Command Headquarters in Hawaii.
My
last assignment before retiring was as the Commander of the Defense
Contract Management Area Operations office in Hartford, Connecticut,
where I was responsible for $12 billion in Department of Defense
contracts in locations throughout New England. The last project on
which I worked was the F-22 Raptor advanced fighter, where I performed
an audit of the program for the Secretary of the Air Force. A
fascinating and capable fighter, the Raptor is now on front line duty with the USAF.
Pagosa Springs has a 2 meter repeater on the air,
courtesy of Fred Harmon, NØJSP (146.610 - and PL Tone 123). It's an open
repeater, and local and transient hams are encouraged to use it.
Working DX stations (countries far away) is a favorite pastime of mine.
I'm continuing my pursuit of "the last one". I came very close when I
lived in Alaska (ex-WL7M) with 313 of 338 countries. Now that I've
moved to Pagosa Springs, I've had to start all over again! So far, I've
worked 330 countries - 17 more than my Alaska total - and just a fgew more left to finsih working all DXCC entities. Not bad
for not "being" a DX station! It takes more work, and it's every bit as
much fun!
I
love 6 meters too - I've managed to work 45 states in two months from
here in Colorado. When I lived in Alaska, I worked all states in 30
days on 6 meters - quite an accomplishment, but the bands were wide
open and being in a "rare" location, I got a fair share of attention.
My thanks to all the guys and gals who made that happen. I've also
started using High Speed Meteor Scatter on 6 meters, which allows me to
talk to people on a daily basis on what otherwise would be a "dead
band". Give it a try - you may really enjoy it!
