Chad Brown, N9UNX

I was first introduced to amateur radio in 2010, when I met Reid Crowe (N0RC). We were working together in Greenland for the Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets (a National Science Foundation funded Science and Technology Center). Reid was already an accomplished amateur radio operator, and of course brought some radios along for the trip to operate as OX/N0RC. He was gracious enough to let me goof around with the radios (no transmitting, of course!), and I think it’s fair to say I was hooked after that. I was first licensed in the spring of 2011.

Born and raised in Indianapolis, IN, and have spent most of my life here. I’m married to a very patient and understanding wife, and have an amazing 9 year-old son. My formal education is in Computer Science. At present, I manage a DevOps team and a DBA team for a financial sector company.

I began my Morse code journey in the fall of 2020. I had always wanted to learn (several failed attempts over the years), but was really determined in this last iteration. I learned on my own, mostly using a Morserino-32 (Koch method at 20 wpm, in echo mode – send back with the key what you copy). Perhaps not the most efficient method, but it kept me engaged and making progress. Once I got through the letters, numbers, and a few symbols, I started using MorseRunner. To this day, I practice nearly every day using a combination of: RufzXP, MorseRunner (with and without N1MM), G4FON contest trainer, and Just Learn Morse code.

I enjoy all of sorts of different CW activities, and am starting to get into contesting, although it can be difficult for me to participate meaningfully in contests, given family responsibilities.

I’m proud to be a member of CWops, and appreciate my nomination and sponsors. There are too many people to thank for helping me get here, but I would be remiss if I didn’t thank my wife and son for being so patient with me as I’ve spent countless hours listening to the “beeps” (as my son calls it).