Hello; thanks for checking my biography. I was first licensed in 1957, than relicensed in 1960. My family moved to Bristol England in 1957 so I had no means to upgrade till we came back to the states. I have held this call since 1977. Previous call was K8TLX. I retired to florida in 2005 from the Grand Rapids MI area. I operate primarily CW on 10 thru 40 meters from this QTH. I am a life member of QCWA #18713, member of TEN-TEN #3043 and SKCC#10580T. I live in a restricted HOA community so I can not have a tower/yagi but Iike constructing wire and vertical antennas. Currently I am using palm tree phased verticals on 40 and 30 meters, a 40/20 meter horz. sky loop roof mounted at 18 ft , Hy-gain  AV-620 and Cushcraft R5 verticals for 10 thru 20 meters. and various other wires and verticals that go up and come down. The rig is an old ICOM IC 725 that I purchased at the Dayton HamFest in 1992. I have recently added an IC-835 that I rescued from a sailboat that has been sitting unused for 17 yrs. The tranceiver had been modified for marine band use and does work on 60m. I made my first 60m cw contact using this rig with an inverted L antenna. The qso was with K8JD.

My other hobby interests are motorcycles, old cars/hot rods, fishing, old radios, and cooking. I like a good cigar, red wine,wiskey neat, and a cold draft beer. Up north I liked gardening vegtables and growing fruit trees.Here in Florida I've had poor luck trying to grow vegtables, so I go to the farm market to get them. Its's fun. I have been asked what motorcycles I ride. HD fxdx Dynaglide sport, HD xls Sportster sport, 1968 & 1978 Triumph Bonnivilles, 1967 BSA Lightening, Ural Barvarian w sidecar, Kawasaki KLR650, and my favorite A Chinese knockoff of a Honda 50 step thru that I bought in 2004. The step thru is my grocery getter and gets about 100 mpg My hot rod is a 1923 bucket T w chevy 350 ci engine. My fishing boat is a ocean going pontoon boat w two outboard engines. One engine is a kicker for trolling and emergency back-up. I have 16 old broadcast type radios that I have restored and enjoy listening to. I'm no cheff, but enjoy prepairing meals and experimenting in the kitchen. I make a mean stuffed turkey meatloaf w craberry sauce glazing that even my kids like. So does the dog!

My YL's handle is Katie. She doesnt like the X. Shes a good strong woman who tolorates my hamming, cigars, motorcycles. and eats my cooking.  I have five kids, 4 boys and 1 girl, between the ages of 44 and 16. Yes, my daughter Amy is 16 and a blessing. .Also have a dog named Hoover, named after Hoover Dam, how ever his last name is Hoover, and his first is D---! 73 and catch u on the bands. U can e-mail me, or call me at(386) 366-0685

Palm tree vertical for 30 and 40 meters, Half wave vertical for 10 thru 20 meters, 40 meter horz. sky loop feed support

D. Hoover working 30 meter cw, Miss Katie and the Old Man

73 FROM SUNNY FLORIDA