Hi, I’m Daniel.
I was born in 1982 and I’m an IT guy through and through. I have held a German Class E amateur-radio licence since 1 May 2026. Professionally, I mainly come from infrastructure and security: networks, high-availability solutions, Linux, monitoring and automation have been part of my everyday work for many years.
Home is the beautiful Lower Rhine region, where I live with my wife, our children and our cats. Technology is never very far away around here – but this page is deliberately about the person behind DA6IT as well as the hobby itself.
My shack
Apparently I cannot get very far away from computers even in my hobbies, so my shack is centred around an Icom IC-7300 MK2. For 2m and 70cm I also have a Yaesu FTM-510, although I am rather less active there.
A few handhelds have accumulated as well: Yaesu FT5D, Icom ID-52 Plus and Anytone GD-88. At the moment I am also using my local club’s Yaesu FTX-1 Optima – and I am honestly a little bit in love with that radio.
My antennas
There is not a huge amount of space in my garden, so I chose a Kelemen multiband dipole with two legs of roughly 11 metres each. It is installed as close to an inverted V as the garden allows – not exactly textbook-perfect, but it works.
There are a few other antennas in the collection as well, including a Diamond BB7V and, for portable use, a Radioddity HF-010. In amateur radio, one antenna somehow never stays the last antenna for very long.
3D printing
Amateur radio is what got me into 3D printing. There is always some little part that is missing – and surprisingly often it is easier to make it yourself: mast clamps, signs, radio stands, holders, insulators and all sorts of small practical pieces.
What started as “I’ll just print this one part quickly” has therefore turned into a small hobby of its own.
Digital Voice & digital modes
I wander through pretty much all of the common Digital Voice worlds: DMR, YSF and D-Star are all part of the station. On the road I use an openSPOT4; at home an Euronode MMDVM node serves as a simplex access point.
I am not exceptionally active on Digital Voice, though. My current all-day modes are much more likely to be FT8 and FT4 – but experimenting with the different digital systems is still part of the fun.
My local radio club
My local DARC chapter is OV Geldern L17. For me, club life is not just about making contacts: it is also about building things together, training newcomers, technology, events and spending time with people who share the same kind of technical curiosity.
With our own clubhouse we have a permanent place for meetings, radio operation and projects. Quite a few ideas that later appear somewhere on DA6IT.de start with a conversation, an experiment or a joint activity in the club.
Visit OV L17 ↗