Biography

Greetings from Wilson, North Carolina, United States of America!

    I was a DX listener on the AM broadcast band at age 9 searching for and listening to the clear channel stations in the US!  One of my favorites was WABC New York.  Other favorites were WCKY in Cincinnati, Ohio and WLS in Chicago, Illinois.  I got the electronics bug too.  There was an electronics kit advertised in the Popular Mechanics magazine.   One of the things I assembled was a vacuum tube based 100 milliwatt AM broadcast transmitter.  I could be heard on the family AM broadcast receiver.  Later on we used E.F. Johnson Citizens Band radios between the house and the pickup.  After high school graduation I married my high school Sweetheart and began college.  After college graduation I started listening to Amateur Radio operators on a Radio Shack model DX-440 shortwave receiver.  In 1977 - I took the National Radio Institute correspondence course in radio-electronics.  While taking the course I passed the exam for the 1st Class General RadioTelephone operator license with ship radar endorsement at the FCC field office in Norfolk, VA.  I also passed the General Amateur Radio exam and received the call WD4RPR.  Later that year I passed the Advanced Amateur Radio exam and received the call KB4KN.  I assembled several electronics kits including a Heath Kit grid dip meter which helped in tuning a newly constructed 10 meter four "element" delta loop. I completed contacts using a Ten-Tec 540 (Triton IV).  After passing the test for the N. C. Electrical license I began electrical contracting.  Two years later I got a position at the local telephone company working in the Central Offices, microwave and associated multiplex systems, carrier routes and and associated systems.  In my spare time I learned microprocessor 6502 Assembly and Interpreter Basic.   Six years later I needed to move to stay employed.  I accepted a job 90 miles away in mainframe computer programming.  For over 30 years I worked in Information Technology moving several times to fulfill job requirements.   In 2017 I began logging FT8 contacts using a Flex-1500 and Hardrock-50 HF+6 meters amplifier.  In 2017 I began using an Alinco DX-SRT8 on HF SSB. In 2024 I began using a Yaesu FTdx10 on HF SSB.

See you on the bands!

73.  Sandy KB4KN
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Worked DXCCs:

Equipment

HF Transceiver: YAESU FTdx10 and matching speaker SP-30.

HF Transceiver: Alinco DX-SR8T with Alinco EMS-14 Desk microphone and Alinco EM-330 MVT power supply.

HF Transceiver: FlexRadio Systems Flex-1500.

HF Power Amp: Hardrock-50 HF+6 meters amplifier - used with the Flex-1500.

MFJ DELUXE VERSA TUNER MFJ-949D.

VHF Transceiver: Icom IC-2300H.

VHF/UHF Handheld Transceiver: YAESU FT-65R.