W3KKC

2/28/2015

Episode 031 - Kevin Custer - W3KKC

Some people are born into it. Some people are just naturals. Kevin Custer, W3KKC, is maybe a combination of both. Kevin's father, Ken Custer, W3WGX (SK), exposed Kevin to the art of radio from the beginning. From the tender age of five, Kevin could help his father change out shorted bypass capacitors from inside of a Gates broadcast transmitter chassis. Continuous exposure to radios and electronics, and the support of Kevin's father and other Elmers put Kevin on his professional path. Becoming a ham, a radio expert, and creator of the Repeater Builder website is just the beginning of the Kevin's story. Kevin joins Eric, 4Z1UG, in his QSO Today, to tell the rest of the story.

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Age 5: Father Ken Custer, used little Kevin to change out bypass caps in a Gates broadcast transmitter.

First electronic kit: Radio Shack 101 project kit, age 7

Father/Elmer: Ken Custer. Ken was first licensed as W3WGX in 1934 Other calls: W8DMC and W8WGX relicensed in 1937.

Dayton Hamvention 1974 - Kevin's first trip to Dayton.

7400 series integrated circuits

Johnstown, Pennsylvania flood 1977

Other Elmers:

Harold Showman - W3PVG
Bill Weimer - WA3MYA, Technician for Columbia Gas who made first GE MasterPro repeater

General Radiotlephone License now replaces the Second Class Radiotelephone License

First Rig: Heathkit HW8

Fred Welsh - KQ3M, elmered Kevin on CW

Favorite Rigs:

Target Technical Information Page - Kevin's first website for technical information.

The Target Link System

Repeater Builder Website - Kevin's amazing resource for hams wishing to build repeaters from surplus Motorola, GE, RCA, etc. business band radios.

Main Webmaster : Robert Meister, WA1MIK, expert in the MSF 5000
Mike Morris, WA6ILG - expert on GE Mastr II
Scott Zimmerman, N3XCC

Astron Power Supply - linear power supplies great for repeaters.

WAN Repeater System - a number of repeaters tied together using Allstar link. Forty to sixty repeaters tied together

Allstar Link - the brainchild of Jim Dixon, WB6NIL, based on the Asterisk "PBX" used to link repeaters and base stations together over the Internet.

Salisbury, PA Tornado Disaster, 1998

September 11th, 2001, United Airlines Flight 93 - the crash was 1.5 miles from Kevin's house. Kevin was deployed by RACES to the crash site.

The Cable Television Technology & Information Page - Kevin's website for CATV technicians.

The RSS Feed for all audio content from QSO today is available from here.

Please join our QSO Today community by pressing the button below. It is the best way to suggest guests and topics, and provide feedback to Eric, 4Z1UG.

Join our OSO Today Community

Heathkit HW8 Transceiver

Radio Shack 100-in-1 Electronic Project Kit

Gates Broadcast Transmitter

GE Master Pro Repeater

Motorola Micor Repeater

3 Comments

Nice read Kevin, I wish I started out at your age! Hi http://home.comcast.net/~micorrepeater/

3/7/2015 01:51:28 pm

Eric 4Z1UG

3/21/2015 04:21:03 am

Wow! What a great article on Micor repeater conversion to 220 Mhz. I will forward it to Kevin. Great Job. Keep listening!

Tom Brew link

9/15/2019 12:03:54 pm

Kevin. I finally had a chance to listen to this. Between you and Scott N3XCC it makes me proud to be just a small part of wanrs.com. I remember well some years ago when I asked Scott how best for me to link then one of my repeaters in Cambria county to Smerset county, in a parking lot meeting Scott showed me then what was an audio FOB and said “hold off we are working on something “ thus WANRS was soon born. As of this posting I have remaining, thanks to you and Scott the K3WS 447.375 in Washington DC and the K3WS 447.925 in West Laurel MD. linked full time to nose 2135 on AllStar Kevin one important note you did not have a chance to mention about your dad was that he was one of the original corporate founders of the Johnstown WA3WGN 146.940 Repeater then hosted by the CVARC then also running under the same WA3WGN callsign. Although years later and a club name change the 146.940 remains the first Repeater on record coordinated by the WPRCinfo.org And as I found your fathers name and signature on the original incorporation documents of the CVARC when we renamed to The Cambria Radio Club, I remember you being a little choked up to see the archived incorporation document baring his signature. Yes Kevin, You. Scott and a few others have been my mentors. You made it possible for me to enjoy this great hobby. In closing the Sunday night NET that you mentioned in your interview Was carried over from the local ARES organization which then I served as EC, and from that point was known as the wide area network repeater system emergency service is now intended to bring everyone together both near and far as a common place To test the entire network’s ability to communicate as well as to introduce and welcome everyone to the system as well as the world Of amateur radio. 73. Tom K3WS.

Trivia for any reader. What is significant about AllStarLink node number 2135 being the main hub node number?

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Episode 031 - Kevin Custer - W3KKC

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