Thank you for the kind welcome into the group and to my nominator and sponsors. I have wanted to become a member of CWops for several months now and it has been an incredible experience going from learning Morse code, to first on air ragchews and contests, and eventually to becoming a CWops member. The CWTs have really helped me with my CW contesting and are a nice break from school, in the middle of the week.
Having become licensed in September at age 14 I have been immensely enjoying amateur radio. From first contests and award chasing, to ragchewing with friends it has been truly incredible. I first got into radio because of my dad (EI3KM) who took me along to our local club’s events which led me to see some interesting and exotic places. Starting to become intrigued, I decided I wanted to get licensed. Following some quality training from the National Shortwave Listeners Club (NSWLC) in Ireland, and several months of learning CW I took first the Morse exam, followed by the radio exam to get my callsign EI5LA.
After a couple of months of mainly SSB, I eventually started ragchewing with friends in CW and this got me hooked. This year over 80% of my QSOs are in CW. Due to being busy with schoolwork with big exams coming up I have little time for radio, but I find it’s a nice break from school and everything else when I do get to turn on the rig.
While my main interest is contesting, I also like award chasing and am currently trying to get my DXCC. I love the social aspect of this hobby and meeting people that I met through radio in-person. It’s always a very special moment.
I had a huge amount of support from many people to get my path in amateur radio started and this has really shown me what a great community this wonderful hobby has and just how willing hams are to help each other out.
Thank you to everyone for being so welcoming!
This biography is what appeared in Solid Copy when the member joined CWops.