W3MF's Home Page
W3MF's Home Page 
My name is John Schreibmaier and my amateur radio call is W3MF. I first received my amateur radio license, WN3MFZ, way back in 1969, but was unable to get down to Philadelphia to take the General class test. As a consequence, I dropped out of amateur radio for a few years, never suspecting I would ever get back, HOWEVER...
One weekend in 1974, when my brother, Bob (K3PH), was home from college, I heard him working CW and realized I could still copy it! Soon, I passed the Novice test again, receiving the call WN3YIV. I built a Heathkit HW-16 CW transceiver and the companion HG-10B VFO and was on the air! After some months of operating, I took and passed the General test in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, changing my call to WA3YIV. At another sitting, I passed the Advanced test and, after "several" attempts, finally got the Extra class.
Eventually, I received the call AK3Z, which really stinks on both phone and CW. So... with the advent of the vanity call program, I applied for W3MF. The rest is history!
Currently, I am active as a DXer and DX contester, mostly on SSB. I have also become active on RTTY and can be heard chasing rare and exotic DX on that mode. I am at Number One on the DXCC Honor Roll (Mixed Mode), which means I have all the current DXCC entities confirmed. I also hold 9-Band DXCC, basic Worked All States (WAS), and WAS on RTTY.
At the
left is a
self-supporting 56-foot Rohn tower with a
Cushcraft
2-element shorty 40 and a Diamond 146/440
vertical. On the right is a foldover
Rohn
74-foot tower with a Bencher
Skyhawk that replaces a
Cubex 4-element
quad that was used
until an ice storm in early January 2005. Here are before
and after pictures of
the quad.
Off the 56-foot tower is a 160-meter inverted L,
currently with 8 radials. Between the two towers is
the 80/75 dipole. Usually, an 80/75 antenna is for one
end of the band or the other but, sometimes, my brother gets
a brainstorm and a "GYT Special" is the result. The current GYT Special
is an off-center-fed dipole fed with a Spiro 4:1 voltage
balun and a
feedline balun from Antennas
& More. Strangely enough, this antenna
actually seems to
work. While it is cut for 3650 kHz, it provides an SWR of 1.5:1
or better from 3500 to 3800 kHz, and still is only about 2:1 at 4000
kHz. Check out the SWR curve here.
Performance seems to be equivalent to a center-fed dipole.
Click here for a larger picture of the 40-meter beam.
Click here for a larger picture of the Skyhawk.
Yep,
here's the old sot himself. The main HF radio is an
Icom
IC-756ProIII driving an
Alpha
87A. The computer on the upper left is an Acer Aspire AST135.
The rotators are a HAM IV (on top) turning the 40-meter
beam, while another Ham IV turns the tribander.
The HF antennas are automatically switched by a
Top Ten Devices
antenna switch. Also in the picture is a Yaesu FT-7900R for 2
meters and 70 cm .
The FT-7900R is powered by a Astron
RS-35A power supply.
To the right of the IC-756ProIII is a Kent paddle. Obviously, this is here for decoration.
Not visible from this picture is the DXCC Honor Roll and 5BDXCC plaques, as well as the certificates for ARRL DX Contest and CQ Worldwide DX Contest, to say nothing of the plaque for winning the 1997 Pennsylvania QSO Party, multi-single category. The latter was won with the aid of my little brother, K3PH.
Speaking of K3PH, here are some pictures of the dynamic duo and friends.
By now, you are probably wondering what I do for a living. Well, I'm going to tell you anyway. I was employed by the United States Postal Service from June 25, 1969 through January 2, 2007. Here is a picture of an atypical post office.
Click here to see a copy of my service award for 37 years of exemplary service. Note that no member of mismanagement actually signed the award. Further, note that they got the year wrong. Typical.
The USPS sponsors a very nice web site. Check it out.
indicates that
 |
E-mail to: 
|
 |
