The Story of How It Started
In Nov of 2023 I was in a pretty bad motorcycle accident. This caused me to need to find a new hobby. While growing up my father (KB9NZL) was an active ham. As like with most, life happened and he got out of it. I have a neighbor across the street (NG4C) who is an avid radio operator and still very involved in the hobby. While staring out my window one day, I noticed his antenna towers. Having been around radio as a kid, I already knew what they were. I determined, it couldn’t be that bad of an idea to get licensed. Who knew it would turn into where I am today.
I had spoke to my neighbor about wanting to get licensed and he gave me some pointers. In June of 2024, during the ARRL hacking, I did my studying and passed Tech and General in one day. This was a blessing and a curse. It was great because I had passed, it sucked because I would not receive my license until after the ARRL got their systems unlocked. I informed NG4C of my accomplishment and he took me into his shack. It was incredible, many may see chaos, I saw an opportunity. Next thing I know, I had a handful of items (FT-857, small antenna, power supply, etc.). This was to go and start listening while waiting for my license to show up. I also built my first antenna that afternoon with Mr. Mercer. I was HOOKED.
While waiting for my license to come, I had plenty of time to complete my studying for Extra as well. A couple of weeks after testing for my Tech and General, I also passed my Extra. During this time, I received my license (finally). As soon as it ended up in the FCC ULS, Mr. Mercer came over with a Kenwood TS-590, an Astron power supply, and a manual tuner. By this time, I had also installed a 43 ft vertical, made my first contact (Ukraine), and started building the shack. I would continue to use this setup for some time. I had even begun taking it with me in the RV and using some home brew 20m and 40m dipoles to do POTA. Now I was really hooked…
POTA has become an obsession for me. During this time I have bought and sold some radios. Built the shack out to where it is today, and had a lot of fun doing it. Today’s shack leaves me quite content.
My niche in the hobby though has really become POTA. I have a job that requires me to travel extensively. I use a small kit and travel all over, my initial goal: to activate all 50 states. Building antennas has also become a hobby for me. For my club, Patriot Radio Club, I built out two Allstar/Echolink nodes as we are an online club with members all over the country. This got me into the server world and why I built this site, to continue learning. Thanks for stopping by, hit me up if you ever have questions.
You can see the shack today, and where it started with humble hand me down equipment. One thing that has not changed is my quest for information and wanting to learn more.
