My interest in radio amateurism started when I was just over 10 years old in the late 1970s and early 1980 when my Dad showed me the CB (yes, I started on the “dark” side). From there I quickly got licensed in 1982. The requirements at that time included 20 wpm CW for the HF band license which I managed to learn in a couple of months through a course on the local repeater (there was no internet at the time). And after I got my license I promptly forgot the CW as it was not my interest at the time. I was also not allowed to have my own call sign and I had to work under my Dad’s.
During the 1980s I was quite active on the 2 m band — these were the pre-internet times when the packet radio came out and, of course, I played with it. My dream was always to get on the HF, however due to our financial situation I was not able to get a station and building one was also not an option due to time requirement and difficulty in getting parts. The only option I had was using the club HF station. Attending school and using the club station was a combination that worked only occasionally.
In the 1990s I moved between countries and the licenses were not transferable at the time. Family also took time so I was not able to spend time on the radio. I got sick and tired of repeating the licensing process and I abandoned the hobby for around 30 years.
Roll forward to 2020. I reconnected with an old friend from the university who remained active in the hobby. I realized that the ham world still exists. It took me almost a year to revive my license and I have two call signs now: I was able to pick a Slovenian call sign S50TT (it sounds nice in CW) and a Swiss one HB9HKN. Funny enough, as a contrarian by nature I was not and I am not interested anymore at all in digital communications now. I went to the mode that I completely ignored in the 1980s — the CW. I started to learn it again on my own and then I discovered the CW Academy. I immediately signed up for the intermediate class and got into more serious training. I was lucky to get Buzz AC6AC as the advisor. His patience and focus on quality of the CW rather than speed immediately resonated with my quality standards. CW must be music in the ears — it must be rhythmic and easy to copy and not a “machine gun” streamed sound without proper spacing. Great work, thanks, Buzz, please keep doing it.
I am absolutely not a contester and you will not hear me in the CWT (sorry, CWops). My focus is communication and the “matej 3620” is not really communication – it is too predictable. Communication means that useful pieces of information or messages are exchanged. Send me your QTH, send me your name, your rig, talk about your hobbies or weather or projects in CW. And I much prefer your code is of high quality CW at slower speeds rather than crappy (or even worse computer generated) code at 40 wpm.
I have a rather marginal setup at home due to antenna restrictions, but I’m getting involved in SOTA and portable (rapid setup) antenna development. Another part of my interest are the modern RFI problems which I also have to deal with at home.
I hope I hear you on the air.
This biography is what appeared in Solid Copy when the member joined CWops.