I first got in the hobby on March 15, 1985 and was tested by Bob KD8AX and Jim WB8MSV. The band I started out on was the 220 MHz band with an Icom 03AT, an IC-u2AT for the two meter band and a 4 element beam for each band at 30'. My first contact on 220 was with Dave KD8IF who lived just west of downtown Cincinnati. I got to know Dave over the years and he would always share information about trains, steam boats and indians that lived in the area as well as indian burial grounds in the area. On one of my visits with Dave he gave me several maps of several areas that would be a great place to look for arrow heads and two pages of steam boat stamps just because he knew how much I like steam boats.

My first HF rig was a Yaesu 301 that I had picked up from Frank WB8TCU who lived in Darrtown, Ohio and then I had picked up a Kenwood TS-520S station. I remember listening to 20 meters on 14.300 and hearing someone that was calling for help because his boat was starting to sink and another station had made contact with him just as I reached for the mic. I had several Kenwood rigs such as the TS-520SE, TS-120S, TS-130S, TS-140S, TS-440S. Some Yaesu's that I have had are theFT-209R, FT-747, FT-757GX, FT-757GXII, and FT-890. I also had an Icom IC-u2AT, IC-2AT, IC-502A and the IC-735 that I did not like at all.

Do you know the history of the DODROPIN on Echolink? It was started by four guys who got together every night and talked about everything under the sun and always had a good laugh. It had been started by Paul N9OFU, Bill WD9CVP, Steve W8WFO and N8LVA who is now KD8IF. We would get on around 7 PM Eastern time and kept everyone in stitches until about midnight and even later on weekends. You might say that we should have called it the wild bunch with the fun and laughs that everyone had. Once others started to link up to the group things started to change. We had lost several regulars because everything that was being said was now going out over the air but it was still fun for many. At one point Paul N9OFU was going to send up a balloon from his home in Texas and see if it would make it as far as Cincinnati. It wasn’t long after that when I got interested in HF once again and after the large Maple tree that had been standing in my yard for who knows how long had came down and lost my wire antennas for my HF station. I then I found myself getting into D-Star and I have made many great contacts and friends around the world. You may not believe it but I have made a lot of great contact on simplex as well.

I now have an Icom IC-u2AT, IC-91AD, ID-880H, ID-51A and ID-5100A. The antenna that I use is a Cushcraft 5 element beam and the ARX2B. I will be joining Tom W5CUB while he makes his trip to Dayton, Ohio and during his stay at the Dayton Hamvention as well as his return trip. Be sure to check out the Amateur Radio Roundtable that is held on Tuesday's at 8 PM CT on the w5kub.com website. If you would like to be put on the w5kub.com email list please click on this site http://bit.ly/1DDzV9S to join Tom's mail list and receive emails when he has webcasts notifying you of time and date. Help Tom spread the word.

I made the last awesome contact under my old call N3PUG on April 24, 2016 with Mike AF6IM as he done a skydive from about 14,000 feet and during his fall he made several contacts on DStar. He was at 6,000 feet when I made contact with him and he said that it was a cold jump. I haven't received a QSL card as of yet and when I do it will be on display here in the shack. You can learn more about parachute mobile and information on past events at http://parachutemobile.com

Besides ham radio, I like to play the steel guitar. I started to play at the age of 12 years old and I have played many times with some of the best such as Buck Owens, Ray Price, George Jones, Martina McBride, George Strait, Connie Smith, Hank Snow, Charlie Pride and many more. I was also asked to play in Indianapolis, Indiana and open for Trace Adkins.

If you hear me on the air, jump in and say hello and ask how you can get free electric like i do.

Best of 73,

Bob - KD8IF