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My interest in amateur radio was sparked back in the 70’s while on vacation.
The owner of the RV park where we were staying was a HF operator. As a young
kid I didn’t understand the dits & dahs, but I sure was amazed that he did and
could communicate around the world. He also worked some phone on HF to show me
what was as close as the mic if you had the interest and put forth the effort.
At 7 years old I wasn’t about to earn my ticket but his kindness and
demonstration of ham radio sure left an impression with me.
As they say, “life happens” and somewhere around 30 years later my interest in
amateur radio re-surfaced. In the spring of 2004 I spotted a newspaper
announcement that the local ARES group was sponsoring a Technician study class.
I signed up for the class, tested successfully, and was assigned the call of
KI4FAU on April 13, 2004.
I enjoy some ragchew on the local repeaters on the way to work & back home each
day. I volunteer with the local ARES group that sponsored my Tech class
(www.gastonares.org) and am serving as Vice-President of the Gaston County
Amateur Radio Society (www.gcars.org) for 2008. I am also active with the
Mecklenburg Amateur Radio Society and the Shelby Amateur Radio Club.
On May 12, 2007 I passed my Element 3 exam and upgraded to a General ticket. I
lived in an apartment until recently, which made HF a real challenge for me! I
have since moved to my own home (without antenna restrictions!) and hope to
finally enjoy the HF bands before long.
I don’t have an impressive shack to show off here with my bio, but I had to
take this opportunity to show off the pride and joy of my life—my daughter
Kelley. There’s a lot of me in her personality and it’s fun to see her eyes
light up when we go to Charlotte-Douglas International to watch the planes come
and go. We monitor the air traffic with a HT or scanner and it tickles me that
she insists on holding the radio.
73 de KI4FAU
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