My amateur radio career began in September 1969 when I obtained my general class license, callsign WA0ZRT. I was 15. Shortly after receiving my license I encountered the County Hunters Net on 75 meters and found that my county (Fremont) in Iowa was very rare. I worked all 50 states before I closed my station the next morning at 5 AM. Four months later I obtained my Advanced license, followed in 1976 by my Extra. Shortly thereafter I changed to my current call, K0ZR.

During my highschool days I used a Galaxy GT-550 ( 550 W PEP, 360 W CW ) and a TA-33 mounted on the second story of my family's garage. Propagation to the east, west and south was extraordinary so I had many enjoyable QSOs on 10m and 15m.

For a time after college I was very active. Being the poor college graduate that many of us are in our early years, I built my own free-standing, 63 foot tower and this became home for my TA-33. This was my "first and last" welding project. At the base the tower was 4 feet on-a-side, tapering to 18 inches at the top for the last ten feet. Now, some thirty years later, it is still standing in Sidney, Iowa.

A return to college and accompanying major career shift to electrical engineering kept me away from the hobby considerably until I returned in February 2006 to try out the Virginia QSO party. I had such a good time that I soon acquired an SB200 amplifier that received the customary modifications. With some power to accompany my disadvantaged antenna situation ( due to covenants and restrictions {C&Rs} ), I became further involved

I moved to a new country QTH in Oct 2010 where I am able to install antennas. Labor Day weekend, 2011 I finished the majority of the new antenna installation. The 72 foot crankup tower has a complement of a Force12 C-31XR for 10-20 m and a Cushcraft XM-240 for 40 m. When fully extended the C31XR is at 73 feet and the XM-240 at 81 feet. A pair of phased verticals for 80 m is planned as well. I will likely build a ~ 70 foot base-loaded, tunable vertical for 160 m sometime in the future.

My operating station illustrated below, was constructed with my MIG welder. I also built the tower raising/lowering fixture for the 72 ft crankup. I have plans to build a pair of phased verticals for 80m which I hope to have installed by the fall of 2012.

I look forward to our next QSO, whether at a leisurely, rag-chew pace, or in a contest. I operate almost exclusively CW.

Here I am at the operating position with my Ten-Tec Orion II and Centurion amplifier. Not pictured is a floor console Henry 3K X Classic which I use on some occassions on SSB. The antennas are rotated by aM2 Orion 2800P rotator.

K0ZR