Call:    K6TBR
Previously:  KG6IKQ
Name:  Michael A. Cronan
License Class:  Amateur Extra
HAM Since:  10/24/2001
QTH:  Pittsburg, CA  94565
County: Contra Costa County

Grid Square: CM98ba
Latitude: 38 deg 0 min 57 sec N
Longitude: 121 deg 54 min 39 sec W


CQ Zone: 3, 4, 5
ITU Zone: 6, 7, 8

ARRL Pacific Division, East Bay Section

Mike - K6TBR
Ham since Oct. 24, 2001, with HF privileges since Dec. 31, 2001.  I am loving this hobby!  
It's taken me long enough to get my license... It all started back in the 70s, when I was an
avid CB-er.  My father, former K6QBJ, had been an amateur since the mid 1940s and was a
Navy Radio Operator. I was interested in working other bands, to explore DX on lower frequencies
and meeting new friends from all over the world.

Well, we had a wonderful time 'playing' on the radio back then, but it was time to move on.  
Shortly after enlisting in the US Air Force, I decided that I would like to go into the city of Chicago
to take the Novice exam at the local FCC Field Office.  I thought I would have a decent time of it,
since I had begun studies in electronics and was becoming quite confident that I could do it and
I went to the Field Office to take the test.
 I wound up missing the passing score by two questions,
and as a result, had to separate myself from the whole test 'thing' and make my main focus my job
and my family.

After the 9/11/02 incident in New York City, I became increasingly interested in radio and decided
to go for it and try the 'Technician" License.  Great choice and great timing - I passed with flying colors!  
I bought a dual band Kenwood HT and I listened very intently to learn procedural 'protocol' with the local repeaters.  I also had the time to find and program-in new repeater frequencies on the HT.

I quickly upgraded to General Class License within the first couple of months.  (I just wanted an
opportunity to use the great Yaesu FT-101E on the dipole my late father left for me to have.  Since then,
I've been able to really spin around the dial now and say hello to some pretty exotic places.  Wow!   What an intoxicating / addictive feeling!  Working mostly CW, which I feel is the essence of Amateur Radio, I'm now hoping to explore some of the many other modes of operation, mostly digital, and employ computer logging in the shack.  I'm getting close to my first WAS award with only about a half-dozen states left!

After a year of casually working the bands, I decided to upgrade to Extra Class and try reaching out to more distant places in some of more quiet areas of our allotted spectrum.

I look forward now to many years of Amateur Radio as my hobby of choice.  Enjoy the hobby for all the fun things it can be as well as have a viable alternate means of communication in times of disaster, validates the hobby as very much worthwhile.