The picture was taken in Feb. 1960; I was 17 years old and a Senior in High School. The equipment was: a WRL Globe Scout 65A transmitter with a Bud VFO, and a brand new Hallicrafters SX-110 receiver with the R-48 matching speaker. My start in Ham Radio came at age 11, when I built a "Cat-Whisker", crystal radio receiver as a Boy Scout project. I listened to the local AM broadcast station, WLSH on 1410 Khz, but also heard the local Ham Operators in the area who were transmitting on "AM Phone". I got to meet a few of them and I was hooked on the hobby.

I got this callsign as a Novice (WN3EEK) in 1955, at the age of 12, and have been active on the bands with it since that time. I upgraded to General class in 1956, passed my Advanced in 1968 and Extra class in 1972. I also hold an FCC Commercial, General Radiotelephone License. I joined the U.S. Navy in October of 1960 and served on active duty as a Communications Technician (CT-2) at "NSS", (the Naval Communications Station, in Washington, D.C.) until December of 1964. I also did "Sea Duty" assignments, during that time, on board the U.S.S. Tanner (AGS-15), (a geodetic survey ship) for 3 months in 1962, and in 1963 I became a "Plank Owner" on the U.S.S. Jamestown (AG-166), (a communications research ship) and served on board for 7 months while we were deployed in the Carribean. I returned to "NSS" in 1964 to set up and operate a high power Moon Relay (Moon Bounce) station to communicate with our moon relay equipped ships at sea.

In 1970 I graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Electrical and Electronic Technology and worked for Pennsylvania Power and Light Co. for 37 years in the Electrical Engineering Department and retired in 2003. I'm active on all bands, mainly on CW. I also enjoy operating QRP, when band conditions permit. I belong to several radio clubs, including: (SARA) Schuylkill Amateur Repeater Association (Founding Charter member, First President  for 8 years and club trustee for 25 years), - (TAARA) Tamaqua Area Amateur Radio Association (Club Trustee of W3SX), - (TARC) Tampa (Fla) Amateur Radio Club, - (ZAARC) Zephyrhills (Fla) Area Amateur Radio Club, -CW OPs #972,- EPA QRP Club (Member #37), and also a Life Member of ARRL. During the Winter months you may hear me operating, (Portable 4), from my other home in Zephyrhills, Florida, located in Pasco County (EL-88) near Tampa. My FISTS No. is 11,559. I have 5 Band DXCC 80 thru 10 meters, plus DXCC on 30 and 17 Meters, QRP DXCC, and my DXCC total is 331 entities confirmed.

My XYL is Mary Lou (WB3EID), we have 2 grown children, a son in Los Angeles and a married daughter in Tampa (also 3 grandchildren).

The station equipment: Icom IC-7600, IC-746 Pro, IC-7000, TS-50S, TS-830S, TS-130S and an FT-817ND (QRP XCVR). Amplifiers: Drake L4B, Ameritron AL-80A, and Heath Kit SB-200. Antenna Tuners include: (2) Johnson KW Matchboxes and a Dentron MT-3000A .I still have several Hallicrafters receivers including an SX-110, SX-71 and an S20R (Sky Champion). Antennas: Multi-band, center fed,Double Zepp fed with 450 ohm ladderline and a Telrex (TB5-EM) Five Element tri-band yagi on a 50 Ft. tower. Hope to hear you on the bands soon. 73 Carl W3EEK