I was first licensed as WN6JZC in 1963. In 1964 I upgraded to general class and received WB6JZC. I kept that callsign until the 1970's when I was issued KB6SX as an Advanced Class licensee. I kept KB6SX for about 30 years. In the 1980's I upgraded to Extra Class when I passed the 20 WPM CW test. In 2004 I applied for and got W6LG as a vanity callsign. I figured I had been licensed for over 40 years and it was time for a two letter callsign.

I have been very active for over 47 years. Most of that time has been spent on 20 and 15 meters. I am a Life Member of the ARRL. I am also a life member of QCWA. I enjoy chasing DX from home and the car.

I am the President of Heath Tech Inc. here in California. We manufacture High Sierra Antennas and have about 350 other products on our websites. In recent years, Heath Tech Inc. has had dramatic growth. We run full page color ads in QST as High Sierra Antennas and NewHamStore.com. 

We currently have three popular websites:  www.hamcq.com , www.newhamstore.com , and www.powerpolehq.com .  As of this writing, we are creating several new powerpole products.  Some of those products are in the protype stage.   

My mobile station is a High Sierra HS-1800/Pro and an Icom IC-7000. I also have an SGC Power Cube in the back of my 2006 Honda Pilot.

At home I have two Yaesu FT-2000Ds with the Digital Memory Units for each, Yaesu FT-450, an Icom 775DSP and now a new K-3 from Elecraft. The Elecraft K-3 is my favorite transceiver.  I have five Drake L-4B's. During 2006 and 2007 I restored the Drake amplifiers. I installed Peter Dahl Transformers, bias, new relays, caps, diodes.a bunch of parts. The amps look like new and run an easy 1200 watts from 30 year old tubes. The Drake restoration projects were very rewarding and a nice break from work.  Over the years I did build many amplifiers. 

I have three towers with two monoband yagis for 20 meters.  There is one yagi for 15 and one for 10 meters.  I also have several wire antennas and homemade verticals.   

I am the trustee of W6UP; the High Sierra Amateur Radio Club in Grass Valley, CA. The original W6UP was a neighbor of mine in Burbank where I grew up. I thought it was a neat callsign so we got it for the club.

On January 14, 1998, I fell about 14 feet backwards from a roof. I landed on my head and righ shoulder.  I broke my neck; C-6 and most of my ribs.  At that time I was doing inspections of residential construction and appraisals.  I would ocassionally testify in court about construction defects in lawsuits.  Needless to say, that did come to a crashing halt.  With the help of my family and friends, I have recovered better than most.  I am very grateful for the help that I did receive. 

I've enjoyed ham radio for more than 47 years. And given my slightly limited physical condition, it has really been wonderful to be able to build a business with the help of so many.

73, Jim Heath W6LG Licensed Since 1963