First ham license was my Novice call in mid-1964: WN6LNT.
I was active on CW for the Novice year, but when I first took the general class exam at the FCC Office in downtown Los Angeles I easily passed the CW portion, but failed the theory portion. Then my Novice license expired. I studied up and returned to successfully pass the general exam a year or so later and became WB6ZGL.
When my younger brother Scott (N6SB) passed the Extra exam, that forced my hand, so I studied the theory carefully (my code speed was already good at 20+ wpm) and passed the Extra exam in the mid 1970’s. I then became N6UT which I picked to be a good CW call. (My pal Pete Hoover W6ZH (SK) often called me “nutty” because of that call.)
When we moved to the Pacific Northwest in 1977 I saw that K7IM had never been issued, so I grabbed it. (Kim is my given middle name which I have always used, I have never used Michael my legal first name.)
CW has always been my favorite mode. Years ago I sat down and figured out how to write down each letter as efficiently as possible (for example I do “e” as a backwards three in one stroke) I print my CW copy as I have never used cursive.
I am dyslectic so I never even attempted to learned to copy in my head so I was limited to 20-23 wpm putting all copy down on paper. I enjoyed listening in on the bands and “reading the mail” in CW. I listened far more than I actually sent
Then with the encouragement of some of my local ham pals I took the CWA Advanced class last month and with an excellent instructor Hanz YL3JD I managed to increase my code speed to the point where I was making progress on head copy and I easily passed the final assessment test.
I hope to increase my speed with more practice. I am doing words now at 28-30 wpm with reasonable success thanks to Kurt’s Morse Code Ninja which has been my go-to website for practice.
Other than ham radio I raced bicycles, sailboats and rally cars for years. I am a retired CPA who bought a commercial construction company with a partner in the early 1990s from which I retired in 2014.
My wife is KB7KHP, one of our sons is K7DKB and his wife (our daughter in law) is KF7ZVQ.
This biography is what appeared in Solid Copy when the member joined CWops.