First off, thanks to Theo PA3HEN for nominating me, along with Rafal EI6LA, Danny M0SDB and Megan EI5LA, aka Mach 1 Megan for sponsoring my membership in CWops.
I had learned a little Morse during my time with Scouts, several hundred years ago, but never really progressed beyond spamming “dididi dahdahdah dididi” on kid’s handy-talkie sets. The interest was reawakened in 2021, however, when I found myself at home recuperating from illness and climbing the walls with boredom. I ventured down a YouTube rabbit hole on the topic of Morse code and the next thing was I found myself downloading Morse apps to my phone.
I soon realised that Morse code and amateur radio go hand in hand, and thus opened up another rabbit hole (I really need to do something about those rabbits). I joined the National Short Wave Listeners Club here in EI-land and enrolled in one of their online HAREC courses. I passed my Morse test in April of 2022 (it’s no-longer a mandatory requirement but here in EI it does grand a 2-letter call sign suffix) and went on to get my Class 1 ticket in July of 2022.
In January of 2023 I took an Intermediate CWA class under the tutelage of Bob WR7Q, and while I’m not a contester, I love to chew the rag in CW. I also run a QRS net on Wednesday evenings called “The Nervous Novices CW Net”, aimed at getting (you’ve guessed it) nervous beginners and those still finding their CW chops to get on the air and make QSOs in a friendly environment. In the short time I’ve been a licensed amateur, I’ve fallen in love with this hobby, and in particular this wonderful mode of communication, so it’s mainly for selfish reasons I’d love to see more people get into CW, as it means more people to QSO with. As well as that, net procedure in any mode is an area of radio that interests me greatly.
Having two small boys, 7 and 5 years old means I don’t get to spend as much time between headphones as I’d like (let’s be honest here though, who of us really does get as much time on the key as we’d really like), but I’m blessed with a very patient XYL named Lorraine who really doesn’t understand this hobby but still sticks around.
Outside of radio, my other hobbies include sailing, (I keep a Hurley 22, a 22-ft fin-keeler which really hasn’t seen much salt-water since the kids arrived), gardening and choral/harmony singing and for my bread-and-butter I work in healthcare.
Thanks again for accepting me as a member of CWops. I hope to work many of you dwn log.
This biography is what appeared in Solid Copy when the member joined CWops.