My name is Gerrit Speelman and I was born in Kolham on the 9th of February 1961. In April 1988 I passed the CEPT Class II exam and received my first call sign PE1MTR . A year later  I passed the CW test  for a class I license and was assigned the call  PA3FRJ. This enabled me  to transmit on all bands. My favorite mode of operation is CW  and about  98% of my HF contacts are made using this mode. On VHF/UHF  I only operate FM and Packet. In April 1993 I moved to Hoogezand with my fiancée  Margriet and we were married in august. We lived there  until 1996 when we  moved to Siddeburen, where we have a small home  with a very large yard. We have two children Emil 11 and Kimberley 8. In our backyard I put up a 21 mtr.(70 foot) antenna tower with a 3 elements beam for the 10,15 and 20 mtr. and a collinear for 144 and 430 Mhz bands. For 40 and 80 mtr. I use 40 meter long dipole. On 23 April 1999 I received my present call  PA1MT.