Ken Knaus , KK6ZHK

CWops# 2686, from Sedona , AZ , USA.---->View on Google maps

I’d like to acknowledge and thank Eric, NM5M, for sponsoring my CWops membership. We had a very nice rag chew some months ago where I casually mentioned my interest in CW Ops, and of course that started the ball rolling.

I started in amateur radio as a teenager back in the 60’s. I was based in Long Island, NY with call signs of WN2CVI and then WB2CVI. I did mostly CW, all with a straight key. When I started college, I let my license lapse (dumb decision!), but amateur radio did springboard my interest in electrical engineering (with focus on semiconductor physics), resulting in undergraduate and graduate degrees in that area. I then moved out to northern California and worked for Hewlett Packard for my whole career (36 years).

In 2015, I decided to get back into ham radio, and discovered that a whole lot had changed about the testing. But I was glad to see CW was alive and well like it was many years before! In 2017, I finally got a Kent paddle and practiced on that quite a while before venturing out on the air. Having zero familiarity with paddles and only limited experience with a straight key from half a century earlier, it was a challenge (but fun!) coming up to speed on that (no pun intended).

Other modes I enjoy are FT8, FM satellites, and occasional SSB. In spite of the low solar activity, I also enjoy running QRP with a mag loop/Elecraft KX3. After recently moving from Santa Clara, CA to Sedona, AZ, I became a member of Yavapai County ARES/RACES. I am quite blessed and fortunate to live in such a beautiful area, but it has its share of risks, mainly fires and flash flooding. Sedona is in the middle of the Coconino National Forest. See my QRZ page for some spectacular pictures of the area.

My other interests include road and mountain biking, hiking and church ministries. I have been filming and video editing all our church services due to the Covid19 pandemic. My XYL, son and myself are also involved in a disability ministry, Joni and Friends (joniandfriends.org).

I look forward to meeting other CWops members on the air. I am primarily a rag chewer but do enjoy the weekly CWTs. I primarily hang out on 40, 30, 20, and 17 meters.

This biography is what appeared in Solid Copy when the member joined CWops.

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