Finally decided to get into ham radio after years of just listening on

my old Kenwwod R-5000. 

 

Took and passed my Technicians test in May of 2016,  went for

and obtained the General class in June and finally, went one more

time to take my, as it says is the ARRL study guide,

“the last test I will ever have to take” pertaining to

ham radio and, got my Extra class license in Aug of 2016.

Obtained vanity call sign K7VNE which replaced my original KI7EKB on 9-7-16

 

My only regret is that I waited so many years to get into the

hobby. I thoroughly enjoy everything about the experience.

Cannot believe how much I have learned since I began but, I

also see how much I still have to learn. Like a seasoned "hammer" recently

told me, if you're not learning something new on a regular basis, you're

just not trying.

 

Beings that my only radio prior to Apr 2017 ws a Yaesu 857D with a

“no tuner needed” end fed half wave wire antenna (which in reality

was tuned for none of them), I then had to purchase an LDG 100

Pro II tuner which meant that I was finally able to use the 857D.  

I now see that with this bare bones equipment,  I have many

possibilities for future upgrades but, I guess we all had to start

somewhere.   I also recently upgraded the EFHW to an Alpha-Delta

DX-CC inverted V which seems to have helped quite a bit and upgraded

the rig to an Icom IC-7300 which is a big improvment over

the 857D.  Plan on adding a vertical antenna on the near future.

73's

Hope to qso with you when the bands cooperate

.