I just got back into Amateur Radio in March of '08. Before that I had gotten a Novice license in high school but never got on the air with it. I hike a lot in the NY Catskills and in New Hampshire and wanted a way, besides cell phone, to contact people in an emergency. After getting my Tech in March, all the electronic training I had in the navy came back to me so I quickly advanced to General and a month later to Extra. So now I'm a novice Extra! After joining a local club I got interested in HF, bought a used Kenwood TS440, strung up a 135' inverted vee dipole fed with ladder line and got my first DX QSO with England! Now I'm hooked and will probably go broke spending money on another great hobby.

OK, it's almost March '09 now, been doing some HF and got into the CW end of things and really love it. 

SKCC # 5033, FISTS # 13956, NAQCC # 2801,10-10 # 75108, OMISS # 6237, QCWA # 34729

Recently bought a Kenwood TS-940SAT from a fellow club member. What a great radio! It's now my primary HF rig with a Yaesu FT-957D for 6m and digital modes.

QRP I have arrived!  Been playing with QRP for a bit and picked up an FT-817ND and a Buddipole.  Mountain topping is not far behind!

73! and See you on the Air.