Biography

I am generally known by my middle name, Wyatt.

I am just a brand new ham trying to find my way. I toyed with the idea of getting licensed for about 40 years, even buying study guides every few years and just reading a few pages before setting the book down. Eventually, the day came when I just kept reading until I finished the first book. I took my Tech exam 3 days later. I then read the second and third books and got my General license 7 days later, and my Amateur Extra license 14 days after getting my Technician. This all began in February of 2023, so I am still very new to the practical aspects of amateur radio.

The very first time I tried using HF was with a Chameleon MPAS vertical whip stuck in the backyard with 50 feet of RG58 that I ran into the house to my Icom IC-7300 perched on the dining room table (luckily, my wife was out of town at the time or that would have been prohibited). My very first QSO ever was to a guy in the smack dab middle of Australia on 10m. I was hooked. During the next several hours I had QSOs in the Netherlands Antilles, Italy, Canary Islands, Turks & Caicos Islands, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Brazil, Peru, and 2 stations in Russia! Unfortunately, my first QSO in Australia didn't count because the other station never verified it through LOTW, meaning that my first OFFICIALLY confirmed QSO was with UA9MA in Asiatic Russia (20m) on March 5, 2023. Since then, I have joined a few local radio clubs and have been active at meetings and on local nets on 2m. I am hooked and look forward to learning more each time I turn the radio on.

Worked DXCCs:

Equipment

Current Equipment:
--Icom IC-7300 (base station)
--Yaesu FT-891 (portable HF, in sling bag)
--Yaesu FTM-300DR (portable VHF/UHF, in sling bag for vehicle use without mounting)
--Icom ID-52A (HT)