I grew up in Hanover, Pa. I became a shortwave listener in 1966 at age 13 when I tried to hook-up a long wire antenna to an old Philco table model AM radio. I accidently wrapped the wire around the wrong terminals and started recieving short wave.

I graduated from Ryder Tech (now Lincoln Tech) in Allentown Pa. in 1973 with an Associates Degree in Electronics and an FCC 1st Class Radiotelephone license.

I worked as a commercial two-way radio field tech for Wright's Radio Inc. in Hampstead, Md. for almost 5 years. After that I went to work for Swam Electric Co. Inc., Hanover, Pa. I have been employed there for over 32 years now. I build and wire custom electrical control panels for machines and generators.

In 1979 I finally got serious about getting that amateur radio license I wanted since the mid 1960's. I enrolled in a novice class at a local radio club. I bought code practice records and tapes. Before the classes ended I made a trip to the FCC office in Baltimore, Md. and came home with a tech license. Just a couple of weeks later I went there again and passed the advanced license exam. I still didn't own a ham radio rig yet. I then aquired a used Heathkit HW-16 CW rig. Later, I bought a new Realistic HTX-100 25 watt 10 meter transceiver. I was always proud of the results I got with low power and home made wire antennas. I recently became active again. I purchased an Icom IC-718 HF transceiver and strung a new home-made 20 meter dipole in my attic.

Phil 11/10/2009

Added Icom IC-91A dual band portable 2m/70cm 09/06/2011

Added Kenwood TM-281A 2m transceiver 10/07/2011

Built 2m and 70cm ground plane antennas for attic. The 70cm

antenna is shown below: