I was first licensed (age 13) as KN9ZXG in the summer of 1960, a few months before starting high school in an area west of Chicago. We had a little radio club in the school of which K9KDI (N9SW) was our top DX'er; I am currently a member of the N.I.D.X.A., the A-1 Operator Club, and the CW Operators' Club. My four passions (hobbies in order of preference/obsession) are music, collecting butterflies, ham radio, and collecting agates. I have actually maintained a real connection between chasing DX/collecting QSLs and chasing butterflies/collecting specimens worldwide. I would like to hear from anyone out there that chases DX and lepidoptera (especially Speyeria).

My current setup includes a FT5000MP/TS-940S/TS-950SDX and a TL-922A/Alpha 87A (Omega) to a Force 12 20/40m yagi up only 50 feet. A Force 12 17m yagi (up 60'), a sloper for 160/80m, a K9AY loop for receiving, and a large tropical butterfly net with a 30 foot extension are also used on occasion. I have achieved 9B-DXCC, DXCC HR (ssb and cw), QRP DXCC (263 worked), and 4B-WAZ. Finally, after 47 years, I managed to work all current entities (356 total). My current projects are extending the DXCC Challenge beyond the 2600 level and attempting to get close to a 5-Band WAZ ( I'll never get it, needing 4 on 80m). Being of Eastern European descent (9A/SP), for years I have enjoyed calling CQ Europe and meeting many European operators on cw.

I am a retired Algebra teacher living with wife, Marisia and daughter, Beth. I have become a serious collector of vintage DX QSL's, having put together a collection of 250,000 strong and am the trustee of the Vintage QSL Radio Club, K9ZXG. Before my passing, my intentions are to donate the card collection to the Austrian QSL Museum that houses over 6 million cards. In the meantime, many of the duplicates will be sold/traded - not for profit, rather for the improvement of the collection.

"Good Hunting"