I was first licensed in 1961 as WN4CGA and later as WA4CGA and had a family station with my dad, W4WQZ. We were active on 80-2 meters from east Tennessee. After a brief activity from New Jersey, I moved to Idaho in the late 70’s but was not active. In 1986 i married the love of my life , Joice, and between family, work and fishing, radio lost out and I let my license expire. After retirement created more spare time, the lure of Ham Radio drew me back into the hobby. After passing the Technician and General test in the fall of 2015, eleven months later I passed my Extra class test and achieved a goal I had since my Novice days.
Currently, we live on the west facing slope overlooking Long Valley outside of Donnelly, Idaho. From this location, you can find me on 160 through 2 Meters and 70 centimeters including the ham satellites. Active modes include CW, SSB, Digital (FT8, FT4, MSK144-meteor scatter) and a little Slow Scan TV. My current projects include powering the low power part of the station by solar and building a 70 centimeter Moon bounce capable station. I am a member of ARRL, AMAST, CIARC, SKCC, and Idaho Mountain Amateur Radio Society.
I enjoy contests and recently have been participating in national and international contests using QRP power (<5 watts). It is amazing what you can do with less than 5 watts! I enjoy chasing DX and have earned a DXCC Challenge Award, In 2018, I achieved a 23rd place finish world wide in the year-long ARRL International Grid Chase contest.
I enjoy building antennas from 160 Meter inverted L’s to Yagi antennas for VHF and UHF frequencies. You will find me always looking for a new antenna to try out and the trees behind the house are filled with wires and unused Yagi’s are hanging from the ceiling of the carport. To me, Ham Radio is an interesting, exciting, and sometimes frustrating hobby that is always presenting new communication horizons to explore.
ARRL Plaque
New Antenna System a Hex Beam
