I was a communications / broadcast Journalism major in college. I became very interested in the technical side of broadcasting, and I studied for and earned my First-Class Radiotelephone license in 1976. I didn’t stay with that vocation, and my license eventually expired.
Fast forward to 2012 or so, and I took note of the hams working as support on a multi-day bicycle ride that I was participating in. I passed my Technician test in 2013, followed soon with General and Extra (thanks in part to the electronics theory I studied in the 1970’s). I concentrated on emergency communications, and volunteered as Team Leader of the Auburn (WA) Emergency Communications Team.
The CW virus bit me in May 2016, as a result of the ARRL National Parks on the Air program. Thanks to that, and the start of Parks on the Air, I had “Worked All States” by 2017. My CW wasn’t pretty, but the limited exchanges between hunter and chaser made it possible.
I took CW Academy Beginner class twice, and didn’t feel confident enough to step up to Intermediate (this was before the Basic/Fundamental class was created). I stepped back into the Academy last spring, and have graduated Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced classes. To cement my efforts on CW, I deleted software for digital modes from my shack computer, and put my Heil microphone in the closet in April 2022. I’m not sure if/when I will return to those modes, since I’m having so much fun right where I am!
I’m currently working on completing my DXCC – CW (I only need 12!), and chasing Parks on the Air. Once my back is healed from surgery, I hope to get out and start activating parks as /P.
I’m eternally grateful to the advisors and classmates of CWA, and hope to pay-it-back by helping other students become proficient at CW.
This biography is what appeared in Solid Copy when the member joined CWops.