I have been interested in amateur radio since I was a kid. My Dad had an old Halicrafter SX28 receiver that I would listen too almost every night. I would listen to the Ham's on AM for hours. Move time forward to 1974. I was in the USAF stationed in Korat AFB in Thailand. The Mars station on base was short staff and needed operators, so I jumped in and helped out. In 11 months I logged over 1500 hours of operation. But it wasn't until April 1987 that I became a Novice. Since then I have been having fun and enjoying the hobby.

I finally upgraded to Technician in April 1991 and kept trying for General but just couldn't get the code speed up fast enough. Finally in Feb 2001 I made General Class. It was shortly after that the FCC change the rule and there were only 3 license classes. Over the years I tried studying for Extra Class but I was not dedicated to studying hard enough.

June 2010, my wife and I retired and we made a trip across country. When we returned in September I made myself a promise that I would be an Extra Class operator before the year was over. I hit the books and used the computer to study and take the practice exams and if finally paid off. November 2010 I passed my Extra Class exam. It was well worth it and am having lots of fun.

In November 2010 I started volunteering at the VA Hospital here in Loma Linda, CA. I was able to get hooked up with the emergency services department at the hospital and got the Ham Radio station back in operation. The radios had not been used in over 4 years, so it took a little work to get the station back in shape. It has been a long process but in February of 2011 we formed a club at the hospital with 9 members. The Club is call the Jerry Pettis VA Amateur Radio Club. We are still in the process of doing several upgrades to the station but we hope to have them all completed by the end of the year.