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I was born in Bristol, PA and moved to Florida when I was 6 years old. Grew up in Hernando County about 50 miles north of Tampa bay area. I currently live in Sumter county. Both parents were Hams but Dad did most of the Ham stuff. Mostly CW. Since I was raised around radio I decided to get into it myself. Finally received my license when I was 25 in 1995. My original call was KE4YFJ, changed that to my current call many years later.

I started in CB and it was not enough and I wanted more. In January of 1995 I injured my right shoulder and that required surgery. I was out of work for about 3 months. During that time, I started to study for my No Code Tech license. Back then I had to take the Tech and Novice written exams to get my No Code Tech license. I passed both tests and in March 1995 I received my call. I kept studying and was able to pass my 5 WPM code exam. That gave me my Tech Plus license. Tried and tried to get up to 13 WPM and could only get to about 10 WPM. While I was studying, I found that I really loved the electronics theory, so I went to college and received a degree in Electronics and Computer Engineering in 1997. For many years I was very active in Ham radio but than life got in the way.

A few years after the FCC dropped the code requirements, I got back into Ham radio. Upgraded to General and a few months later to Extra. I think they should have kept the 5 WPM test. I became a NCS for South CARS and that lasted a year or two, it was fun but at times it was hard. I have always been active in 2 meters. Have done many nets and still do one about once a month for RACES. Have been active here lately on FT8 and I am having a blast with that. That is what makes this such a great hobby.

Currently use a Yaesu FT-450 with MFJ Tuner for PSK-31 and FT8. Also have a Yaesu FTDX-1200 with an MFJ Tuner for Voice. Yaesu FTM-400DR for VHF/UHF. I really like that C4FM mode.