About

This is the homepage of Russell Thomas – KV4S.

My Website was created and posted in October, 1999 and overtime has evolved into what you see now.

I’ve been an amateur radio operator since January 21, 1999 with a Technician Class license, via the Tuscaloosa Amateur Radio Club, where I was granted the call of KG4BQK.  I passed my General Class license, which at the time included 5wpm Morse code, on February 3rd 2002 with the Birmingham Amateur Radio Club; the FCC effective date was February 7th 2002.  I passed my Extra Class license on March 1st 2002 with the Shelby County Amateur Radio Club; the FCC effective date was March 12th 2002.  On March 8th 2002 I got the call W4JRT to reflect my initials.   On June 22nd 2002 I got the call KV4S to better reflect my license class.

KV4S Open PGP Public Key:

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My Memberships:

ALERT – Alabama Emergency Response Team in Birmingham

Chelsea Alabama Amateur Radio Club – Charter Member

SEEN – Southeast Emergency Network

The Shelby County Amateur Radio Club in Birmingham

University of Alabama Amateur Radio Club in Tuscaloosa

Digital Equipment:
DMR Anytone HT: AT-D878UV
DMR Anytone Mobile: AT-D578UVIIIPRO
D-STAR Icom: ID51A Plus2
Fusion: Yaesu FT-70D, FT-5DR, FTM-300D, FTM-510D ASP
SharkRF: OpenSpot (2 of them) and OpenSpot 2
Micro Node (Pi-Star): Nano-Spot
Pi-Star: MegaSpot-D+Pro – Duplex board on a Pi3 with 3.5in Display

APRS:
Yaesu FT-5D is my APRS radio
Yaesu FTM-300D for mobile APRS
Yaesu FT-25 is the Digipeater/iGate radio
Yaesu FTM-510D ASP is the Digipeater radio with Comet GP-9
DigiRig is my sound card interface between the Radio and Pi
Raspberry Pi 3 running Direwolf as the iGate/Digipeater software Windows 11 running Direwolf as a larger area fill in Digipeater

Analog Equipment:
Yaesu FT-4X
Baofeng UV-5R+
Baofeng UV-5RX3 (tri-band)
Allstar on a Raspberry Pi 3 with UV-82 as the radio

HF Equipment:
ICOM IC-7300
EFHW 40-10M
I’ve been playing on digital data modes on HF
I really like VarAC, WinLink Vara HF, JS8Call, and a little FT8
Yaesu FT-100D (haven’t switched vehicles at this time)
Yaesu ATAS active tuning antenna for mobile use
Hustler 80M antenna for mobile use
MFJ – CW paddle using with the 100D