About Me

I've been a Ham Radio Operator near 30 years. Most of the time has been spent on CW but I've been playing with the digital modes for the past year or two. My main interest is in ragchewing but I also enjoy contesting and a little bit of paperchasing.

I'm a member of the Straight Key Century Club and manage their Straight Key Sprint. SKCC has re-introduced me to the fun of operating with straight keys and bugs. My desk currently has 11 different keys ranging from a 1921 Vibroplex Original through the 2006 Morse Express Christmas Key. My current favorite is a camelback mounted to a purpleheart base. This key was made for me by Dewey, KG4AAU. I could talk about keys forever.

My rig is the Yaesu FT-1000MP Mark-V Field. I run up to 500 watts through an Ameritron AL-811H fitted with 572B tubes. This feeds through a Palstar AT1500CV antenna tuner to a 125' doublet fed with 600 ohm ladderline. All this in a small apartment in Shawsville, VA.