I've been an amateur radio operator since 1967. My call (novice) was WN8WOQ. I went to Ferris State College for awhile, started to work for General Motors and became a member of the American Radio Relay League and have been a member from then to the present.
Less than a year later I got my technican license and in August of 1968, I joined the United States Air Force and went to school for a year to become a teletype technician. After graduating from my electronics and teletype school at Sheppard AFB, Texas, I went to a SAC base in Michigan. In June of 1969, I went back to school for the Air Force at Fort Gordon, Georgia (an Army base). I learned about computers and crypto-graphic equipment and combining this with teletype machines. I was then assigned to RAF Chicksands, England, a communications monitoring station, about 50 miles from London.
At Chicksands I saw my first of three AN/FLR-9 antennas, commonly called the "Elephant Cage". The elephant cage is a directional antenna system of three concentric circles of antenna elements and two concentric ring reflectors surrounding a central control building. The outer antenna ring has a radius of about 600 feet and itself is encircled by a ground screen with a radius of 300 feet. The outer array covers about 35 acres. Now, if I could have one of these for a ham radio contest!
I left the Air Force in late 1972 and went back to work for General Motors where I did various jobs including assembly, inspection, unitizing and department clerk. I graduated from R.E.T.S. Electronics Schools in 1980. In the 1990's I went to Lawrence Technical University for two years and took mostly math (passed calculus) electronics, physics and writting classes. I retired from GM at the end of 2002 with 35 years service. Now I have more time for radio and learning about making web pages. I have been a member of the Milford AmateurRadio Club (W8YDK) since 1967 and I'm the Trustee/Historian and attempting to be web master for the club's web site.
In 1997 I married Kim. She passed her technician test and has the call KC8QAT. Kim gets on the air mostly while mobile in her truck to and from work.
We have two Shih Tzu's named Mischa and Ripley. They like to be around people, play, sleep, and look cute. The fur kids wanted to be seen so I had to find a picture of them to put on this web page.
For radio equipment I have the following Icom's: IC-756 Pro, IC-821, IC-R7100, IC-2100H, IC-706 MkII that I can use mobile, and an IC-2410H. I like operating six meter SSB and would like to try 160 meters. Contesting on VHF and UHF is fun and I hope to operate in the vhf/uhf contests this year. Working a Special Event station is interesting too. But what I need to do is get back operating cw and be a real amateur.
I'm a life member of AMSAT (#244), the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation and have worked through several of the birds. I need some better directional antennas and an elevation rotor system to be more effective. However, I have worked the early Oscars with just a turnstile antenna for 10 meters and a small horizontal beam for 2 meters. To find more about AMSAT go to their web site:
As I said earlier, I like six meters. I'm a member of S.M.I.R.K. (#245), Six Meter International Radio Klub. Six meters can be fun. A few times I worked into England and some South America. To find out more about SMIRK go to their web site:
Amateur radio is fun and you don't have to have expensive equipment. I started out with an old (used) Heathkit HX-11 cw transmitter and Hammarlund HQ-100 receiver as a novice. My antenna was a folded dipole for 80 meters. I made a lot of contacts on cw. Later I made an antenna for 40 meters. My dream station then was a Hammarlund HQ-180-AX receiver and Hammarlund HX-50A transmitter. When I was a technician class I could use novice cw frequencies. I used a Drake R-4B receiver and a Drake T4X-C transmitter. I liked 80, 40, and 15 meters the best. Now I want to try 160 meters and use psk-31 on 20 meters. Even some satellite work may be waiting for me. You don't have to be stuck on just one type of operating. There are many modes to use. Even Short Wave listening is fun. Just get out there and keep amateur radio active. I know I'm going to get "radio active" and may even build a small cw rig and go QRP. But first I have to find my study guide for the Extra class license material .