About my early years
Here is a little story about me. It is amazing how far a low power radio signal can travel. I remember spending time at my grandparents house listening to skip on an old handheld CB.
Joined Civil Air Patrol because I thought it would be an educational experience. I learned the fundamentals of communications early on and the majority of the practice search and rescues found me running communications from the base of operations. I kept track of all ground and air crews. Field communications were a lot of fun to practice and has most likely lead to my love of field portable QRP operations.
Becoming a ham
In 2013 I decided to get my ham radio license. I started as an General class operator. After spending a year learning more about the hobby, I upgraded to Extra. I became an ARRL Volunteer Examiner because I truly enjoy this hobby. This has been the most rewarding part of the hobby.
I have spent a lot of my time in the hobby doing field portable QRP operations since I owned an Elecraft KX3 which was used exclusively as my only HF radio. Digital modes of operation were a big part of my portable operations because of the poor propagation caused by the bottom of the solar cycle. My primary focus was on JS8 because it provided robust weak signal communications.
I have had a variety of radios go through the shack. My first was a Kenwood TS-830 Gold Line, which I still have. A Flex 3000 spent about a year in the primary operating position and I found it to be a great radio but later sold it.
Two years ago, I purchased my very first brand new HF radio…a Kenwood TS-590SG. This summer I added a Kenwood TS-990S to the shack. Both are fantastic radios. The TS-590SG has been my primary digital station and often runs in “Quad-Mode”, which is JS8, Contestia, FSQCall and gARIM all running simultaneously.
Hopefully you have enjoyed learning a little about me.
