Dale: WG5N G# 2575

Dale was first licensed in 1976, with the call sign WN5UCQ as a Novice. Like many Hams, Dale ran into life situations that took him away from the hobby for several years, but he never lost the interest in Ham Radio, and took the test again in 2009, this time receiving the call sign KE5YUG.

He recalls tuning around the bands with this new call sign and hearing the GERATOL Net in the Extra Class portion of the band. He says listening to the net was one of the motivations he received to upgrade to Extra Class. He did just that, and was issued the call sign WG5N, and he’s been a regular check-in to the net ever since. Dale received his GERATOL Number, 2575 in 2010.

HENRY TEMPO ONE

During his early years in the hobby, Dale’s first station consisted of a Henry Tempo One with a
couple of Inverted Vees for antennas. Dale says he was not very active in those early years, but the FCC had changed his WN call to WB5UCQ. As was the case with many wood-be Hams, his interest in two- way communications began on 11 Meters. Many of the so-called Old Timers, recall a time when the 11 Meter Band was an Amateur Band, prior to 1958. Looking back at it less emotionally now, it truly did become more of a breeding ground for new hams as a CB band, than it ever did as an assigned Amateur band.

His current station consists of a Yaesu FTDX 3000 with an Ameritron AL-82 amplifier. He runs (2) Inverted Vees for 80 meters – one oriented Northwest to Southeast and one East to West. This explains the great signal he puts out on the GERATOL Net. He also has a Cushcraft A4S for 10, 15 and 20 meters, as well as a 160 Meter Inverted Vee for the top band. For picking out those weaker signals, he uses a Shared Apex Loop (by Array Solutions) as a receive only antenna.

Dale’s Current Operating Position

Note the Unbelievable Operating Achievement Award on the wall

Dale’s Elmer was a REAL Elmer. Namely, ELMER Poteet, K5PMR Elmer Poteet who is now an (SK).
His best friend at that time was Mr. Poteet’s son Bruce WN5UCP. As the similar call sign suggests, Dale and Bruce tested together and had consecutive calls. Bruce is also (SK) now. His call was changed to
WB5UCQ by the FCC and he later obtained the vanity (initial) call of AB5CP. As Bruce’s friend, Dale used to visit Bruce’s dad Elmer (K5PMR) and his first experience of talking on a Ham radio (prior to getting his own license) was on one of those visits.

Most recently, Dale has become very active in digital communications, using the new FT-8 digital mode and spends a lot of time on various bands using it. He says the digital modes are a really good way to work DX stations without a lot of power. As a former PSK user, I would have to agree. Low power, great contacts, and a lot of fun.

In the area of Ham Radio achievements, Dale has WAS (phone) on 80 meters through the GERATOL Net. He has 132 (mixed) DX entities worked with 126 confirmed but has not yet applied for DXCC. He also has WAS (mixed) on 20 meters confirmed with paper QSL cards but has not applied for the award. He has 48 states in the log toward WAS with FT 8 only with only two to go: WY and ND.

Dale has also taken a few turns as NCS for the GERATOL Net, filling in for AI4IL this past season, for which us GERATOLers are grateful, as is Bob I am sure.  Also, in the area of Ham Radio, while he is not currently active in any of their various activities he does remain available in case of emergency to the local Choctaw County, OK Emergency Management team.

Outside of Ham radio, Dale is actively involved in his home Church at Valliant, OK.  He also likes to custom smoke meat and assist in providing meals to and for Church activities and dinners. He does support and volunteer work, to assist the Southern Baptist Association’s Disaster Relief Team as needed by donating his time and talents.

Dale also has several other hobbies in addition to Ham Radio,  including hunting, fishing, traveling, reading,
photography, gardening, raising cattle and birdwatching. Wow, I get tired just looking at his list of activities. But for those who may wonder how you can have a hobby of raising cattle, we have attached a few pictures of his efforts he was willing to share. I can only imagine what his hunting and fishing trophies look like !!

Dale says he currently runs a small herd (approximately 30 head) of Black Angus cows in a cow/calf operation. In between ham radio and other interests he says it keeps him active tending to them and taking care of their pasture.

My thanks to Dale for taking the time and for making an effort to provide us some information about his interest in Ham Radio, as well as his other interests. As we can see by Dale’s write up, we have some very interesting and multi-talented folks as part of our GERATOL Group, Dale being one of them.

Feel free to post a COMMENT and thank Dale for his dedication to the hobby, and his support of our GERATOL group.

Kevin N1KL