This is a picture of sunrise out my window, looking over  morning fog in the Rogue River valley, taken during Dawn Patrol.

I have been licensed since 1956, and have been active the majority of that time, mostly doing CW DXing. I am the author of "The Complete DX'er", as well as "A Year of DX", co-founder of Bencher, Inc. and founder of Idiom Press, now being run by my son Rob, W7GH.

After being raised in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, I spent 30 years in the northern suburbs of Chicago, then moved to rural Sonoma County California for 10 years, finally moving to Grants Pass, Oregon in 2004.

I have been slowly assembling the best station and antenna farm I have ever had, and am enjoying the results. Special  thanks goes to my neigbhbor K7ZV.

My shack at the moment is an Elecraft K3, a Bencher BY-4 paddle, a CMOS-4 keyer and several amplifiers. Antennas include a  40 meter yagi, a Bencher Skylark, which is a duoband yagi for 12/17 meters, a Bencher Skyhawk tribander, and a very effective Butternut vertical. In late 2010 I added a 3 element 30 meter yagi and am having fun learning propagation for that band.

I would especially like to thank my wife Judy for her support and understanding.

The adventure continues! 73 - Bob Locher W9KNI