Hello there!

Welcome to my hamshack in cyberspace. This page is just a brief bit about me and my station and some of the activities I enjoy and have been a part of, a sort of ham biography as it were.

I became a shortwave listener at a very early age after developing a fascination for the ham radio station of a cousin our family used to visit during the summers. The adults would talk upstairs and I would spend hours listening to the noises and voices that issued from the speaker of my cousin's Drake TR4. I was hooked! I spent many years growing up with this fascination. I had crystal radios, a small hard-wired toy morse "intercom", a multiband AM receiver, numerous low power "walkie talkies" and eventually a General Radio Service (Citizens Band) rig.

At this point I dug into the electronics theory and morse code but then was just starting college and put it on a back burner for a while but went back to it and finally passed my DOC exams and became VE1CBF with an Amateur class certificate in December of 1980. In 1984 I upgraded to an Amateur Digital certificate and again in 1985 to Advanced Amateur. In 1987, I became a member of the Canadian Forces Affiliate Radio System.

Over the years, I have participated in most aspects of the hobby and enjoyed all of them, especially the many courses I helped to teach in theory and regulations, and even some code. One of the most satisfying experiences was being a participant in the initial planning of the Marconi Memorial Museum at Tablehead in Glace Bay, NS. It is a hobby which truly holds something for everyone, even more so today with the addition of computers and digital technology. My first station was a TenTec Argonaut and a Hygain Vertical, both of which are still in use, and I worked around the world with 5 watts of power and great enthusiasm. As interest broadened and grew the station expanded. My main station is now a Kenwood TS830S with a TL922 feeding a Cushcraft A4S with 40m add-on on top of a 15m tower. I use a 6-wire cage dipole for 80m and a inductively loaded dipole for 160m and 30m. My VHF station is principally a Yaesu FT221R feeding a Cushcraft 22el array at 17m.

Related Memberships

Radio Amateurs of Canada
Canadian Forces Affiliate Radio System
Ten-X International Net
Amateur Radio Emergency Service
Emergency Measures Organization

Contest Activity

CQ World Wide DX SSB QRPp All Band - World (Canadian Record)
CARF Canada Day Contest - Single Op/All Band/SSB
CARF Canada Day Contest - Single Op/40 Metre/SSB
ARRL DX SSB VE-Maritime
ARRL Sweepstakes - SSB/CW
IRSA Can-Am 1st VE1
WAE DX SSB - 1st Canada
IARU RadioSport SSB VE-Maritime
10-X QSO Party - 1st Canada

Amateur Radio Related Publications

International Marconi Day - A Commemoration; The Canadian Amateur; 1988, Vol 16, #7/8, pp. 9.
Short Skip; Sydney Amateur Radio Club; quarterly newsletter; 1986-88.
An Introduction to Electronics and Radio; Unpublished; used as text book in Radio Classes; 1983-1988.
Canadian Information Column; 73 Magazine; bi-monthly; 1986-87.
In Response to DOC PR: Viability and Alterations; The Canadian Amateur; 1986, Vol 14, #4, pp. 8.

As the internet touches more and more aspects of our lives, for those of us who love to talk with others - and who more so that hams? - there is the allure of IRC (Internet Relay Chat). If you wish to chat with me on-line, or arrange a schedule for on-air, I can usually be found on one of the following channels at least a couple of times a week.

A complete list of radio related IRC channels, and servers can be found on the IRC Channel page under the Resources selection on the opening page.