My page load count at start of FD06 was 1246.

SKCC 516.

Operating with 100 watts from a TS-530S into an MFJ-945E and then to a loosely hung inverted, slanted, V-dipole.

Operating 1D MDC for Field Day! Hope to work a bunch of folks this weekend from the QTH.

I got into ham radio when my father, W2AOF, was telephoned by the local RACES group to help provide communication support for the annual South Plainfield Labor Day parade. Up to that point I thought the hobby was the dusty old Heathkit HW-32A in the corner of the basement-- it never occured to me that ham radio technology had progressed so far. I knew the minute I saw that little handheld that this was a hobby I could really enjoy.

I was licensed in South Plainfield, NJ on November 14, 1996 as a Technician class operator.

After I got my license, it's not surprising that I took so quickly to VHF/UHF public service, that being what brought me to it in the first place. I all but ignored HF work and CW in favor of tweaking my VHF station and ragchewing with the local OMs. It was like that up until moved to Baltimore MD to the University of Maryland Baltimore County. Finally around October of 1997 I joined the W3EAX club and got exposed to avid CW HF operators like NF3I who encouraged me to get on the air every week and try my code.

On August 1, 2000, shortly after I moved to Catonsville, MD, I upgraded to a General Class ticket.

My three ham family includes my father Bill W2AOF and my sister Cindy KC2BIQ.

The photo above is of myself (left) and former FCC Chairman William Kennard (right). This picture was taken by Capitol News Connection reporter Max Cacas (then of the Freedom Forum) when I represented UMBC's radio station in a 1999 on-air panel discussion Chairman Kennard concerning low-power FM community radio.

Hope to hear you on the air again soon. 73, Rob