Hi! My name is Marvin (Marv) Haagsma. I live in Edmonton, Alberta. The top picture shows me on the right, my son Julian on the left.

I have been a licensed amateur since 1970, first as VE6APH (Medicine Hat, AB), later as VE1BBE (Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia). Graduated from the Royal Military College in 1976 with a BA(History). Was a Canadian Navy Sea King helicopter pilot from 1978 - 1997. After years of scouring the North Atlantic and the Pacific for Russian submarines, I retired and switched to writing software in '97. I now write web applications, using Java (JSP), HTML, .NET (C#) Javascript, VBScript and PHP.

My primary interest in ham radio is DXing. I focus on 40 and 20m, but when the propagation gods smile, I also lurk on 80 and 160m using the K9AY. I really enjoy the excellent sensitivity of the Flex5000 for working those distant, weak-signal contacts, especially on CW. I like building antennas. The picture on the left shows the tower with a pair of stacked yagis.

Lower in thepicture gallery is a Merlin - a bird of prey from Alberta, guarding the antenna farm.

I recently upgraded my station, after 32 years of using an ICOM-701.

• Transceiver: FlexRadio 5000
• Amp: QRO HF2500DX QSK
• 160/80/40m receive only - Array Solutions K9AY
• 160m - linear loaded sloper (coat hanger special)
• 80m - Wermager sloper
• 40m - Force 12 - 2 element Yagi @ 18m
• 20/15/10m M2 KT36XA 6 element Yagi @ 17m
• 6m Diamond Collinear vertical
• Tuner 1: Drake MN-2000
• Tuner 2: Heathkit SA-2060
• Rotator: CDE Tailtwister T2X
• Tower: Delhi DMXHD48

And some Old stuff: Icom 701, Hammarlund SuperPro SP-600 JX, Hallicrafters S-76 and a few vintage BC receivers: Marconi, RCA Victor, Phillips (Netherlands), General Electric

• My location on the map

My son Julian assisting me with erecting the tower in December 2007. Yes, that's frost on the window. It was pretty cold, -18C. That's me on the top (right) putting up the antenna.

The summery picture shows my canoeing partner (and wife) Jopy.

Lower down is a picture of a Merlin - a local bird of prey - guarding the Force 12 Yagi, keeping the Magpies away.

Further down - a pair of mooses munching on weeds in Astotin Lake, Elk Island Park, Alberta.