Took the novice test while in the U.S. Army Signal Corp at Fort Gordon, Georgia in 1960 (KN3ROJ), then took the conditional General exam in 1961 which meant we were too far away from the FCC office in Atlanta and could be called in and retested by the FCC at anytime.  Was discharged in 1962 after being extended for 6 months when President Kennedy attempted to have Castro assassinated which would have caused another war.  Returned to Baltimore, MD. and was lucky to find a good job at the Lever Brothers Company who at the time were hiring only veterans.  Took early retirement in 1999 after working there for 37 years as a process technician and am enjoying amateur radio along with gardening,  Canada fishing trips and general taking it easy.  Was involved with some radio operating during the years I worked but after retirement, amateur radio opened up a whole new world for me.  I received a Yaesu FT-847 as a retirement gift and right away began working through satellites, expecially the Russian RS-15 analog transponder, listening on 2 meters while transmitting CW on 10 meters.  After visiting the Ham Radio Outlet in New Castle, Delaware, I saw a radio being demonstrated, the ICOM 756 PRO with it's spectrum display.  It fascinated me since being able to see signals above and below my frequency should make it easy to locate stations, especially during contests.  Elecraft transverters were used with the 756 PRO so that stations on the 144 and 220 bands could be seen which worked out very well. 

Recently in December, 2008 I happened to talk to a station on 20 meters who had outstanding audio and said he was using a new SDR (Software Defined Radio), the Flex Radio 5000A. After checking their web site in February, 2009  I discovered they had a special sale if the Auto Tuner and second receiver RX2 were purchased.  Was told they had them in stock and in just 3 days, it was delivered via UPS.   A new Quad 4 HP A6700Y was recently purchased rather inexpensively since the graphics was integrated into the mother board.  A new GFORCE 9800 graphics card and new 500 watt power supply made it a powerful computer for the Flex Radio software, especially now that 2 monitors are used.  The FT-847 and ICOM 756 had to take a back door to this new radio which became my best friend, being able to work stations which could never be heard (or seen) using other radios.  There is absolutely no other radio on the market that can eliminate electrical noise such as the 5000A.   Contest operations are a breeze, actually being able to monitor 40 meters for example while operating on 20 meters.   It has been many years since I was able to operate full QSK using a now vintage Mosley CM1 receiver and Globe Scout transmitter but  the Flex 5000A makes it easy.   By using a second antenna, dual diversity reception makes for some good operating using CW.  There is no limit to transverter switching since the 5000A has it all and can go from 40 meter CW to 2 meter operations with a click of the mouse.   Another great feature is having an external 10 MHz reference input where we use a Z3801A GPS locked unit which gives the 5000A laboratory grade frequency stability.  The 5000A works very well using SSB with a dynamic studio type (Heil Heritage) balanced microphone but I prefer operating CW which is my favorite mode using an Italian Begali Graciali key.  We enjoy giving out points in contests where most operators, especially DX stations use 30 to 45 WPM.  Our Government (FCC) attempted to dumb down Amateur Radio just as they have the nations schools but CW is going stronger than ever, just listen on the low end of 20 and 40 meters.  You may hear me around 14.015 or 7.010 MHz daily, especially in the early mornings on PSK31 at 14.071 MHz since the 5000A is the perfect rig for digital modes using virtual audio cables (VAC 4.9) along with virtual null modem software (Com0Com).   If there happens to be a pass by the AO-51 satellite, you may find me in the back yard holding an ARROW portable antenna and handheld S band receiving antenna using a dual band hand held Yaesu FT60R 145/445 MHz transceiver.  Perhaps someday the Russians will build another great analog transonder satellite for amateur operators.