I have been a Ham since 1989. Picked up my Novice, Technician, General and Advanced tickets that year. I managed to earn my Extra Class ticket in 2000 (yes, I AM a LOW CODE EXTRA).

My wife, Loree (KB7VIW), is also a Ham (no-code Tech but I'm working on her) and her call is KB7VIW. I have a daughter Heather (KE7EIO), son Corey (KD7TPS), daughter Wendy and a beloved grandson named Nikolas. Hopefully Nikolas will become a Ham some day . He now lives near Medford, OR and says he wants to become a Ham! Yay!

Rig is presently an Icom IC-706mkIIg with an OCF dipole up 30 feet. Having just recently relocated, it is a sparse station, but once we get a new  permanent home with some acreage, things will change. I am also active on psk31, working towards "DXCC" and "WAS" using www.eqsl.cc exclusively. In other words, if I don't get the qsl from eqsl.cc, I won't submit it for the award.

I am presently using an MSI gaming laptop, I-7 Quad with 16G memory running Windows 10 as FL-Digi. I started out using a P200mmx with SuSe 6.4 Linux, with Ted Williams' (WA0EIR) Linux-based psk31 program called "twpsk". He's a great guy and was very helpful with my setting-up problems. I am now using JT65-HF for jt65 and, as mentioned, FL-Figi for the other digital modes (mostly PSK31).

I have been a not-so-active member of Lane County Sheriff's Amateur Radio Operators (LCSARO) over 20 years, as well as a past Vice President of the Valley Radio Club of Oregon (www.valleyradioclub.org). I am no longer active in LCSARO as I moved to Oklahoma and the commute would be brutal (HI HI). I know they miss me (but their aims are getting better!!). I am also an Honorary Lifetime Member of the Peak Radio Association, Corvallis, OR, Emerald Amateur Radio Society, Springfield OR, and Valley Radio Club  of Oregon in Eugene, OR.

I am also a new member of the Fort Smith Area Amateur Radio Club in Fort Smith, Arkansas.

And I firmly subscribe to the tenet that "A Clean Desk is the sign of a Dirty Mind"...

I am most active on the FSAARC repeater 146.640, which is located at the top of Cavanaugh Hill in NE Oklahoma (which according to the Guiness Book of Records is the highest hill in the world).

I am also on 3970 Khz on Tuesday nights trying to finish my 4 strikes for Southern Country Cousins!

Look for you down the log!

73 Jim Darrough, KI7AY