I was first licensed as a ham in 1971 and my callsign then was VE3FKK. My first rig was a borrowed Eico 723, 60 watts CW only transmitter and an Eddystone 888A receiver. My thanks to Bob VE3GG (sk) and Bob VE3KZ for their patience.

When I started working fulltime, I bought the Yaesu Twins, the FR-101 receiver and the FL-101 transmitter and then, after a couple of years, I bought the FL-2100 linear.

In 1992 I was granted a two letter call.

I experimented with loops of wire and verticals. But, I finally broke-down and bought a beam and tower in 2002. The station is now:

The station is: Kenwood TS-480SAT, Heathkit SB-610 scope, MFJ-624D phone patch, Heathkit HM-2140A SWR/PWR meter and a ClearSpeech DSP speaker. The antennas are a Hy-Gain TH5-DXX on a 50 foot self-supporting Delhi tower and a G5RV up 40 feet for all of the other bands.

You may also hear me running mobile. I have a Icom 706MK2G in the car, an Icom AH-4 autotuner and a 102" steel whip. After some extensive bonding throughout the car, I can cover from 80m to 6m. If you're thinking of mobile ops, you must bond everything to everything!

I enjoy contesting and I host the Field Day festivities every year for the Nortown Amateur Radio Club. Look for us as VE3NAR. I also participate in the Canada Day Contest, BARTG RTTY contests and some others.

I work mostly 20 meters and you can find me most times on 14.300 MHz. I have been the Assistant Net Manager of the Maritime Mobile Service Network since 1993. I have been with the net since 1982, when a friend introduced it to me. Thanks to Don VE3IOR (sk)

73see you on the air