Richard — N0EMR

Quincy, Illinois. Flight paramedic, technical diver, and the operator behind this console.

On the air

Thanks for stopping by. After several years off the air, I finally got the shack set back up and a few antennas back up with it. My favourite operating modes are SSB and PSK31 on 20 and 40 metres, along with DMR and EchoLink.

The shack

Radios

FlexRadio FLEX‑3000 · FlexRadio FLEX‑1500

Antennas

80‑metre loop · G5RV

How the console happened

After moving from west‑central Iowa to Illinois to become a flight paramedic, the XYL informed me that the two radio towers from our old QTH — a hundred‑footer and a sixty‑footer — would not be making the move with us.

As a compromise, we agreed that instead of rebuilding a large VHF/UHF tower setup, I could build a dispatch console system and deploy remote radio nodes around the area to provide the coverage I wanted.

Then I looked into commercial dispatch consoles — Telex, Zetron. Wow, they are expensive. So I decided to build my own.

Over the past year I've been designing and building a custom dispatch console system specifically for amateur radio: remote radio gateways, with extensive integrations for DMR, D‑STAR, Fusion, EchoLink and AllStarLink. It allows simultaneous monitoring of multiple talkgroups, conferences, repeaters and networks, all from a single console. It has turned into a major passion project, and I'm always looking for fellow hams interested in helping test features and work out bugs.

Away from the radio

I'm a flight paramedic and an avid scuba diver. My XYL and I are both certified technical and cave divers, and avid cave divers at that. You can often catch us at Roubidoux Spring in Waynesville, MO, or in North Florida enjoying its plethora of underwater caves. I'm also part of the RAD Dive Team — we have a small YouTube channel if you'd like to see what I'm up to when I'm not involved in the hobby.

73 and great DX!

Richard — N0EMR