First of all, thanks to my intermediate CWA advisor, Mark, K5GQ, for the nomination and for the work that he does in his CWA teaching, as well as my associate advisors, John “Kilohertz”, N4KHZ, and Ken, KD2KW.
I have always been around or at least aware of ham radio in some form. My dad, WB4WWD, used to let me tune around on the shortwave bands on his old Hallicrafters S-38 while he would work at nights. Then he started teaching me the code when I was in late elementary school. The first actual rig I ever saw was his old Heathkit HW8 that he set up in my bedroom so that I could listen to code. I got my technician license with the 5 wpm code endorsement in 2006, the summer after I finished 6th grade. My dad bought a used IC-751 from another Elmer and good CW op, Mike, K4GU. My first contact was on 40 m CW in the old Novice band (This was before the FCC opened up the CW bands to everyone.) Within a few months, I upgraded to my general.
I operated very little during college, but last year, I decided to get back on the air. After a few weeks of getting back into CW, I decided that I wanted to really get serious about improving my code speed. I signed up for the CW Academy Intermediate class and had an outstanding experience with Mark and got to meet some other great hams.
Besides CW, my main interest in ham radio is homebrewing. I am slowly in the process of building my ideal CW station, based largely on the work of Wes Hayward and Charlie Morris. My goal is a completely self-built homebrew station. I also operate QRP exclusively.
Besides ham radio, I enjoy gardening, film photography, woodworking, and music. I’m also involved at church and enjoy helping out there.
I’m thankful for the opportunity to be a part of this organization and the work they do to promote CW operation
This biography is what appeared in Solid Copy when the member joined CWops.