Jim Tiemstra was born in Ridgewood, N.J. on July 21, 1955. He obtained his first Amateur Radio license, WN9ELU, in Chicago in 1970. Since then Jim has held General, Advanced and Extra Class licenses and the callsigns: WB9ELU, N6OIK, V26JAT and 3D2TJ, as well as having operated as PJ2/K6JAT and KH6/K6JAT, and from V26DX.

At Lyons Township High School in La Grange, Illinois, Jim became the president of the Radio Club which held the callsign of W9SW and was equiped largely with World War II surplus radio equipment. Jim built his own gear mostly from Heathkits. In 1977, Jim married his wife, Lilah Greene, KE6EHD, and they moved to California. (They have twin boys, Robert and Matthew, KI6IHP, born in 1994.)

While Jim's favorite Ham Radio pastimes are contesting, DXing and DXpeditions, he has long been involved in the public service aspects of the hobby. As a member of the Oakland ARES group, Jim responded to the Loma Prieta Earthquake (1989) and Oakland Hills Firestorm (1991) disasters. Subsequently, the group successfully championed a proposal to use post-firestorm, bond Measure I funds to acquire and install amateur radio equipment in the City's Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and each of its 30 firestations dubbed the Emergency Communication Ham Operation (ECHO) system.  He worked with the group to gain RACES recognition and was instrumental in forging a formal Letter of Understanding (LOU) with the City of Oakland.

Jim acted as Oakland's RACES Radio Officer for over 14 years and was the Section Emergency Coordinator (SEC) of the ARRL's East Bay Section from January 13, 2008, to June 21, 2009.  He is a Life Member of the ARRL and presently serves as the Vice Director of the ARRL's Pacific Division.

In 1998, Jim incorporated the Oakland Radio Communication Association (ORCA), an ARRL affiliated club, was a founding director and became its first president. He currently is the trustee of the club's callsign: WW6OR.

Most days, Jim can be found anywhere from DC to light from his shack, mobile or as DX. When not on the air, Jim practices law in downtown Oakland at his own firm: www.tiemlaw.com.