I was born and raised near Cincinnati, Ohio and spent thirteen years in the US Navy before landing a job at the Air Force’s (now Space Force) western test range at Vandenberg, north of Santa Barbara.
After a few years there, I ended up at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, home of the Huntsville Hamfest. It was there that I received my Novice, Tech, and General ticket in 1988—back when CW was a requirement on the exams. The seed was planted.
It was more recently (2021) that I became an Extra and determined that I wanted to pursue CW more seriously as a prepping measure. Of course, in the beginning, I was sure it just wasn’t going to happen. It was too hard. But every day, I became more comfortable than the day before. I got over the hump.
I’m now retired and living in California’s Central Valley between Fresno and Bakersfield and operate a Yaesu FTDX10 through an EFHW wire from the house (Buzz’s favorite) and a Yaesu FT-891 and ATAS-120A in my truck for mobile ops. CWA was the perfect opportunity to be held accountable and to validate my seriousness. It’s an honor to be nominated and sponsored into CWOps and I want to say thank you to all those who make CWA happen. I also want to thank my advisor, Buzz, AC6AC and his co-advisors for their commitment to the cause and their constant encouragement. It’s been a blast!
I look forward to continuing with my proficiency training and gaining more and more experience through CWops.
This biography is what appeared in Solid Copy when the member joined CWops.