I am an Amateur Radio operator located in Lansing, MI. My callsign is WX8BEN, and I have been a HAM Radio operator since I passed the technician license test on 5/14/2005. I am a certified R.A.C.E.S. member for Ingham County and enjoy donating my time to public service-related events. My biggest interest is in SKYWARN, however. I have been a SKYWARN trained spotter since April 2005, and have been in charge of the Ingham County Skywarn Group since April 2007.

Callsign
I guess the biggest question you may have at this point is why did I choose WX8BEN, and what does the stuff in the header mean? My original callsign was KD8BOO. My dad changed his callsign to be WA8KZY in honor of his father. I originally changed mine to WA8BEN because W8BEN was taken. At the end of 2007 I decided I wanted to change my callsign. I had seen some other WX calls, and decided I wanted to be WX8BEN. I found it more fitting, and that is what a vanity call is for, right?

Upgrade to General
On Saturday January 19, 2008 I successfully passed the Element 3 General test to become a General Class Amateur Radio Operator. My first day on HF as a Temporary AG I have made contacts with Wyoming, Colorado, Louisiana, California, Florida, Saskatchewan, Texas, Tennessee and Washington State.

Here's a picture of me holding my CSCE signed by W8ERV, KD8BD and KB8RAD.

Public Service
As of April 2007, I am the AEC (Assistant Emergency Coordinator) in charge of Skywarn for Ingham County. On top of that, I also participate in the R.A.C.E.S. program. I enjoy volunteering for the walk-a-thons and other public service events we participate in throughout the year.

I also am responsible for three websites for local Amateur Radio clubs. My favorite web site is for the Lansing Amateur Radio Public Service Corp. I also put together the website for Central Michigan Amateur Radio Club, although most of the content and updates are done by other members. The third group site I've worked on is the Lansing Civil Defense Repeater Association site.

APRS
You can track me via APRS at http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/find.cgi?call=WX8BEN. Whenever I have my Kenwood 710A on in the truck, it should have my current position listed with the little truck icon.