Please note our new address, 30 miles west of where I lived and operated for 24 years. It's not far in airline miles, but it's a world away. There will be no tower for a while, but I have some great trees. Remarkably, the first antenna went up two days after we moved, with my first shot clearing the 100 foot tulip poplar.

There are a number of other pictures on www.k4so.com.

I've also got way too many pictures at picasaweb.google.com/kfoursoand also at picasaweb.google.com/kfourso2.

My father, N3ADT, Fred Killmon, on either Saipan or Tinian in late 1944 or 1945.

He was a radio operator on B-29s there in WWII.

There are new pictures, just found as we packed to move, at:

https://picasaweb.google.com/kfourso2/DadSWWIIPhotos

I began in the hobby as a SWL, WPE3ICO, issued by Popular Electronics magazine. I recently found the original certificate, which had been stashed away in an envelope andis still in perfect shape. My father, N3ADT,brought home a BC-348Q and I strung a non-resonant antenna from my bedroom window on the second floor to a tree out back. It was probably only about 50 feet long and about 15 feet off of the ground. With no real idea where the bands were, I just cranked the spinner on the receiver and clunked the bandswitch until I found stations. I was hooked. I listened to international shortwave broadcasts for years as a "DXer" with the hardest thing often being listening for the exact frequency of the broadcast to obtain a QSL. I had no digital readout and the entire 49, 31 or 25 meter band was about 1 inch of tuning dial. It was a long while before I got hold of a World Radio and TV Handbook to look for broadcasts. Instead, I favored tuning the bands at about 20 minutes past or 10 minutes of the hour, listening for a new interval signal, then hoping the broadcast was in English. There were pilot lights (with filaments) and the smell of the tubes and components that carried hundreds of volts. It was magic.

My buddy just up the street, Mark, later WN3OYA also chased SWL DX with me and a few years later he found a ham to explain the requirements for a license to us. Our elmer was WA3KZX. Joe was an auto frame repair guy by day and he taught us the basics and gave us our novice tests. Mark got his license first, but I became nominally proficient with CW prior to being licensed, so I did a little operating from his station (I think the statute of limitations has run out on that infraction, at least I hope so.) A bit later, I was licensed as WN3PHG in Wilmington, DE in 1970 (my novice station, consisting of a Hammarlund HQ-129-X and Heathkit DX-40 is shown below, left). In the 1974 Field Day, operating as WA3LXK/4 in Nokeville, VA, my current QTH, I met other contesters that went on to enjoy real success in the sport, including K1AR (then WA2LQZ), N2IC (then WA2ICU), W2PA (then WB2AEH) and my now neighbor and friend, KT3Y (then WB4SGV). The ham who found the site for us was Will, WB4MRI, who is now Bill, KC7YWC, a pediatrician on the Navajo Indian Reservation. (That’s me using my Drake B-Line in our operating tent, below right.)

I caught the contesting bug early with 64 Qs in the Novice Roundup in 1971. I was active as WA3PHG/4 from my first college dorm room at Chowan College in 1972-1974 using inverted vees, high in trees behind the dorm, with feedlines running out of our window. I ran a Drake B-Line and Eldico SSB-1000 from my desktop (the amp used a pair of 4CX250Bs and I bought from the father of a student at Chowan.) I even took the same room for both years, put the feedlines on the roof over the summer, and retrieved them when I returned the second year. My thanks to my roomate, and later best man, Matt, for putting up with my station.

I operated from the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) club station from 1974-1977, using a TA-33 (first HF yagi I had used), a Henry 2K-3 console amp and a Collins S/Line. That convinced me that DX chasing was something I'd like to pursue. After graduation I set up my Drake B-Line in our first apartment, much like I had in college, but on the ground floor, rather than the third. This made a more obvious installation, but I got away with it for a year. Thanks to KT3Y, (then /A41), I added a Heathkit Warrior to the mix and even ran RTTY. The Eldico amp had been sold to buy a set of tires for my Triumph Spitfire (1967 model). Newly married, the Drake station (as setup in our apartment, shown below) was Diane’s first real introduction to ham radio. Thirty-four years later, she still indulges my involvement.

Nine years in our first house gave me a chance to put up my first tower (40 feet of Rohn 25), first tribander (a TA33 and later a TH6DXX), a wire beam for 40M and a 160M dipole, half of which was in my neighbor's yard. I got my first pair of 3-500s (Kenwood TL-922A) at that location and my first taste of serious SS contests as well as beginning to chase DX.

Now, after over 24 years at my last QTH, I’ve added more amps, a bigger tower and more antennas including some monoband yagis. I wasactive on VHF since 1999, especially 6 meters, but most of the VHF gear is now gone. I have worked DXCC on 6M and awaiting the last few cards. I also chase band countries, especially on 40, 80, and 160M. Due to a shift in my time priorities to my wife of 34 years, Diane, and our church, I don’t seriously contest very often or get up in the middle of the night to chase DX. It’s not a hardship. I had years of over-involvement, and it can still be a struggle not to allow the radio and related activities to consume too much time and energy. Currently, I’m trying to find a way to combine my hobby and work experience and use it in The Lord’s service. If you have ideas in that regard, please share them with me!

This is the tower I left behind in Nokesville. The new homeowner is not a ham, and the labor to remove the tower would have been about the same as its value, so I opted to convey it. I will sure miss the 40M yagi, but I had a blast with it for 24 years. The side-mounted antennas, rotators, and side-mounts were removed for sale or reuse, and KA4RRU, Mike, climbed up to the top of the tower to remove the 2M antenna for me, which was lowered in excellent condition. It was placed on a temporary "tower" on my deck, fabricated from a stepladder, and some other items. A real McGeyver special!

I’ve turned to some equipment building, including a couple of monoband amps for 6M and 160M with pix on my website. In the last few years, I’ve been bitten by the vintage radio bug, and added a Drake B-Line (built in the 1970s) and a Collins S/Line, which recently celebrated its 50th birthday. I was able to use it to work stations at various Collins Radio locations during the commemoration of 50 years of the S/Line. (See photo at the top of the listing above). An Elecraft K3 is now the primary "modern" rig, and it’s an amazing piece of gear, which continues to improve with firmware and hardware updates.

Now, the station above has been taken apart and moved to Amissville. The photo at the top is representative of the first version in the unfinished basement. It's was fun to build and use the antenna system and station at our last home, with thanks to many who have helped me. Without their assistance, paid for or simply given, I would never have had this setup.

If you’re checking this site because we had a QSO, thanks for the contact. Enjoy this hobby, it’s been a great one for me.

^{73, Mark}