Greetings from De Soto, IL. My XYL, Stephanie, and I are located in the southern part of the state near Carbondale, the home of Southern Illinois University. I am very pleased to become a member of CWops. Many thanks to those who made it possible!
I have been licensed since 1970 at age 15. My Novice callsign was WN9EBE. When I upgraded to General class, my call became WB9EBE. Ever since I was a kid, I wanted an “OT’s” call, so I dropped the “B” in the prefix and became W9EBE in the late ‘90’s. Nowadays, the “WB9” prefix is rather OT (hi). When the long-awaited envelope containing my freshly minted Novice license finally arrived, I wasn’t sure I liked the EBE suffix. I didn’t think it would be easily copied on phone. But I soon discovered it had a nice rhythm on CW.
I absolutely hated having to learn Morse code when I was studying for my Novice ticket. Much to my surprise, shortly after getting on the air my first few times on 40m CW, I became hooked; CW has been my favorite mode ever since. I am currently CW-only on HF. But I do enjoy operating a little 2m FM ‘phone with local friends.
I am semi-retired and work at home, so the ham shack is never too far away. I’m not much of a contester anymore, but that’s always subject to change. Ragchewing has always been my favorite on-air activity.
If you’re interested, please check out my QRZ page for more in-depth ‘EBE history along with past and current station information. I hope to catch you on the bands!
This biography is what appeared in Solid Copy when the member joined CWops.