History: licensed as VK2YVY (Yankee-Victor-Yankee) in Sept 1980, upgraded to VK2KFJ in Sept 1982. First introduced to the
hobby at North Sydney TAFE college in 1978, while studying Electronics & Comms Certificate, where I met Dave VK2YME
( now VK2JDS) and Brien VK2XTC and Peter VK2PJ, who were also interested at that time, Dave was in the same class at the
TAFE, where we met Owen VK2AEJ, who was a teacher and operated the TAFE club station VK2YY, which we would go to the top
floor radio shack room of the TAFE collge and operate HF as 2nd operators. This encouraged Dave & I study and obtain our
licenses, after a few muffed attempts, finally completed the "Regs" (Regulatory exam) in August 1980. The exams back then
were run by the ACA or DOC or whatever it was known as back then and were very infrequent, certain exams only run twice
a year and sometimes hard to get a booking.
In those early days of being licensed, just started with 2m FM, then 6m FM on 52.525, later buying a Plessey C-42
tunable 36-60 Mhz tank radio, I guess 1960's classification of a mobile transceiver, just needed a Centurion tank to carry
and power it, but it gave me many pleasurable hours of introduction to 6m DXing. Dave VK2YME bought an IC-202 for 2m SSB,
I later bought one too and started on 2m SSB DXing, we would go mountain topping regularly, examples are seen on my Field
Portable pics page, when we were getting more serious. Further on I bought a Yaesu FT-480R 2m multi-mode and a FT-680 6metre
multi-mode where I started playing on 6m SSB, back then we only had 52.050, as we were not permitted 50 Mhz then, now we have
access to 50 Mhz, but I dont have the equipment anymore.
1982 I upgraded to VK2KFJ, worked about 100 JA stations, then thought is this all there is to 10 metres. Soon after I became
involved in packet radio we did do the odd portable DX, but mainly spent my time with packet radio, in recent years I
have become more interested in DXing and hope to get some equipment to do HF through to 70cm DXing again, in the interim,
I only have 6m 2m & 70cm FM for general drivetime chit-chat.
Since 2013 taken a keen interest in microwaves, after borrowing a Yaesu FT2311r from Dave VK2JDS, so that I could play with 23cm
in and around Sydney, as a few new 23cm repeaters now active, so now Dural and Chatswood and Somersby operational. Playing
with monitoring of beacons seeing interesting propagation effects. This inspired me to get more involved in microwaves, then
expanding into 9cm and 3cm activity, after obtaining a Geelong ARC 3.4 GHz transverter panel. Now also doing 10m,6m FM mobile
and getting a taste of 23cm EME and using WSJT.