First licensed at age 16 in 1954 as WN7ZRT, my first transmitter was a homebrew one tube (6L6) CW rig.  My receiver was a Hallicrafters S-40.  In a few short months of practicing CW on the air I obtained my General license, dropping the N from my call.  As a General, I obtained a surplus ARC5 transmitter and after adding a modulation transformer and making the necessary circuit changes I was able to operate on AM phone.  In the next several years I operated with a Heathkit DX-100 transmitter and later with a Globe King 500 transmitter.

In 1966 I made another trip to the local FCC office and took nine hours of tests in one day, obtaining my Extra class license as well as a First Class Radiotelephone License with Radar endorsement.  I was only interested in the First Class license to see if I could pass the tests, and never used it to obtain a job.

My first transceiver was a Kenwood 440S, which provided many great experiences for me on HF with the addition of a home built tri-band quad antenna on a 30 foot tower.  By this time, I had moved to California and received a W7JQC call sign.

I spent 24 years in the aerospace industry as a quality engineer before retiring.  Since moving back to Oregon in 1997 I was able to get my current vanity call, and I usually operate mostly on 20 meter phone using an ICOM 756 driving an Ameritron ALS-600 solid state amplifier with about 500 watts feeding a homebrew 20, 17, 15, and 10 meter hexbeam antenna.  I QSL via eqsl.cc. 

I am involved in teaching amateur radio classes and in assisting new hams in their endeavors to progress in the hobby.  Locally I act as one of the net control operators in a technical net on a local 2 meter repeater.

Visit the website of the ARRL affiliated CTR Amateur Radio Club on my website.