Page dynamically updated Sunday, 21-Sep-2025 15:24:03 EDT (New York Time -0400z)

My Picture Scrapbook

 My cat in action..
 

 My store in Lynbrook, NY
 

 My company logo
 

 The WLIR Van! (The 70's and 80's)
 

 The old WLIR days - Malibu Sue!
 

 WLIR's Donna-Donna, Andre, Malibu Sue
 

 Larry "The Duck"' Kleinman, Donna-Donna
 

 Long Beach Medical Center, LI
 

 SpectrumDSL, Spec.Net, Webstable, AccessHighway
 

Thanks for dropping by! My name is Albert Thiel, callsign WA2RF, formerly KD2YDI. I am the creator of HAMsWeb which will soon include a NE US DX Cluster and a trading post. My station is located in southwest Nassau County, Long Island, New York. The ground here is about 15 feet (5 meters) above sea-level. I am located in grid-square FN30dp.

This page includes several useful tools for all HAM radio operators to use. Getting that hard to reach contact will be a lot easier for sure. Note that there are complete software packages like Ham Radio Deluxe that incorporate many of these things under one roof. What you choose to use makes you unique. This should be a great starting point for most people.

A little dive into my past (just a glimpse)..

My original call sign (KD2YDI) was a vanity. It was the closest that I could find to match my business name at the time (Your Data Center Incorporated). Data and communications are among my passions. I am that guy who worked on Cisco routers and the like back in the day to build the Internet that you all enjoy today. I was also a big part of the BSD foundation's work on FreeBSD and on parts of Sendmail. I've contributed quite a bit over the years.

I was very heavily involved in broadcast radio and amateur radio (to the extreme) some 40+ years ago. Back then I was young, the world was simpler and life was good. I also had a band called "Spectrum". Spectrum ended with college, but you'll note that the name Spectrum comes up throughout my life. It is just so all-inclusive :-)

Some perspective. New York was the beginning of the Internet that we all know today. There were four major commercial brand names of Internet Service Providors (ISPs) for the New York area around 1990. They were Spec.Net, SpectrumDSL, WebStable and AccessHighway. In reality they were all the same services, but were our different brands introduced at different times just like the big boys still do today. I, AT54-ARIN, designed, configured and managed everything for a decade as we expanded from New York to Philadelphia, setting the standards for Internet access. It was a fun time, and then came the dot-com crash.. it all ended within hours and over 150 employees lost their jobs as we disolved the corporation..

After the dot-com crash I became the technical administrator for a local community hospital here on Long Island. I expected to retire from that job. We had about 1,350 employees. The hospital was destroyed by superstorm Sandy, so I reinvented myself one last time with the creation of Your Data Center Incorporated in 2009.

That is my story, and yes, I am related to "The Donald" and Peter. My family name or last name, Thiel is of pre-German (Latin) origin, simply meaning "Of The People". The Thiels were Lords representing peaceful extended kingdoms in Medevil times. Appropriately, in modern times today, Peter went into real estate, lol. Other famous Thiels include Albert Thiel the famous marine biologist from Canada, Robert Thiel my brother who was a famous TV, film and broadway producer and David Thiel my nephew who created the search engine for Yahoo under his corporation, Auragen.

I am both happy and proud knowing that the Internet I helped to create has become what we collectively dreamed of and more. It has also become the backbone of everything except radio communications. I cannot stress this enough.. unification of services over one publicly accessible network was a very bad idea, but it has happened. Our method of communication (RF) may be all there is one day if a zero-day takes down the Internet, and yes, that could happen! Let us pray that it doesn't!

I enjoy the old way and the new ways of verifying QSOs. Send me a QSL card and I'll do the same, no return postage necessary. I also acknowledge EVERY QSL on LOTW, QRZ and eQSL (I try to keep you all happy). Drop me an email with your log name, Call Sign, time and frequency to be sure that I can accept it if something goes wrong. Cards and email (AL@KD2YDI.COM) always work!

It is nice to be back online again, creating new memories! I love grayline so you know when to listen! 73's! Best, Al