Biography

Passed the novice exam in 1987 but was on active duty in the Army so I never used it then and let it expire. Passed the technician exam in 2004 prior to going to Iraq and was able to purchase an IC718 and Ventenna HFp antenna and was able to receive HAMs from all over Europe, unfortunately Iraq did not allow foreign HAMs to TX. The antenna survived many mortar and rocket attacts and high winds and thankfully so did my radio. I was unable to take my little station to Afghanistan. In 2011 I retired from the army and set my station up back home in Tucson, AZ and passed my General exam. Here I use an Yaesu FT450D running into a stealth dipole cut to 40 meters that is hidden under my roof. My commo preference is CW and I work the primarily in the 40m and 20m bands but also will listen for QSOs in the 17m and 15m bands and I have an Icom 2m handheld that I will use while on trips or just listening to local nets.

Equipment

FT450D
MFJ816
40M dipole
Bencher straight key