The radio bug hit me early on when I was 12 at a Boy Scout meeting working on the Radio Merit Badge. When working on the badge, I had the opportunity to visit the teacher’s station and made my first third party contact with a station in Canada. From that moment on I was hooked. I came home to find out that my dad has had a license for 15 years but was relatively inactive, we even had to look up his call sign (N6FSH).
Fast forward two years, I was in my freshman year at McBride High School (K6MHS) when I saw the Radio Club at the club fair. I was tempted to join when the physics teacher, John Jacobson KK6JBA gave some encouragement by offering extra credit in his class when a student gets
their radio license. I dove off the cliff and went all the way to the extra class license within a 7-month period in my freshman year. In the club I was supported by the advisors Devon Day KF6KEE and Richard Sherwood N6RU, who were both long time hams. I was extremely active in the club for all 4 years and was honored to be the president of the club my junior and senior years. As a club, we were active in many contests and community service projects throughout the school year. During the summer, I worked at the local Boy Scout base teaching the Radio Merit Badge to hundreds of scouts each year.
Contesting is one of my favorite aspects of amateur radio. I enjoy operating all modes, but CW by far is my favorite in contests. I often go out to the Mojave Desert with my dad and operate many contests a year portable. We like using all homebrew antennas and operating off of the grid. Club members from the Associated Radio Amateurs of Long Beach often join us. Before and after contests, we commonly do a couple SOTA activations for the Summits on the Air program.
Outside of radio I enjoy everything about the outdoors. I am an Eagle Scout who loves camping and often combine radio with many of my trips. Throughout the year I am an active fly fisher and hunter across California and Arizona. I love to tinker and am active in various maker societies.
I am now 19 years old and attending California State University Long Beach working on a degree in electrical engineering. I am very fortunate to be a 2018 ARRL scholarship winner and various other awards because of ham radio. Right now, I plan on minoring in RF engineering and getting a career in a related field once I graduate. Although there is no active radio club at CSULB, that should change within the next year with the help of some fellow students.
Without the support of my CWops level 1 instructor, Bill Spickler N0KQ and my level 2 instructor Bill Hurd N7YT, I would never of gained the solid foundation that I had for learning the code. I would also like to thank my fellow students who without their patience and support, I would not be where I am today.
This biography is what appeared in Solid Copy when the member joined CWops.