I am a husband and father. A dairy farmer by profession, a historian by vocation and a amateur radio operator. My wife Lois (N8GTI) and I have been married since 1970. We have son, Matthew (KC8ENN), daughter-in-law Susana and twin grandchildren Reyna and Dante, grandson Brayden and granddaughter Christina. Our second son Scott and daughter-in-law Jessie and grandaughter Adellyn Rose. I owned and operated a small dairy herd of registered Holstein cattle. It was a seven day a week business from 1963 until October 25, 2005 when I sold the cows. September 2007, I joined Inservco Inc. ( now STACI) a PCB and electronic parts manufacturer, I am Inservco's shipping department.

Lois is a LISW/MSSA (Licensed Independent Social Worker) She is co-owner of Plum Creek Associates, Inc. and provides counseling for troubled children, young adults and families.

Matthew is owner of North Coast Wireless Communications ISP with many access points in north central Ohio.

Scott  and Jessie are employed by Wal-Mart and he is owner of Legacy Performance who likes computers, video games, music and souping up cars. He and wife Jessie have a daughter Adellyn Rose.

Susana is the director of grant writing for Cuyahoga County Human Services (Cleveland, Ohio).

The twins are very active fifteen year olds. Reyna a softball pitcher, viola player and beautiful young lady. Dante a baseball pitcher, cello player and handsome young man. Brayden a four year old and is the apple of grandma's eye. He likes to ride, in parades, on his daddy's restored fire truck Christina a two year old, is the first girl born in our family since 1895. She also has Grandpa wrapped around her little finger.

Researching and recording family (back to 1636 in America) and local history is a lifelong project which I will never complete. I simply have followed in the footsteps of those who came before me.

I was first licensed March 20, 1973 as WB8PAT. I was into SWLing in the 1950s but never took the next step until, my friend and Elmer, Ken (K8TV ex WB8CQT) gave me the encouragement and the code practice to get my call.

The picture above shows me, the hamshack, our family farm and antenna farm. Left to right in the foregound is a small, once upon a time, chicken coop housing amplifiers, rotator controls and power supplies for the 6 (2x7) and 2 (4x12) meter EME arrays. In the backgroud is 60' windmill tower with beams for 144, 222, 432 and 1296 Mhz. Next is a 50' tower with a six meter HB squalo. Then finally a 50' tower with a 3 element tribander. Wire Vee dipoles for 160, 60 and 80 meters hang between the towers.

My interests have changed frequently over the years. VHF and UHF weak signal operation has been one constant. I have six meter WAS #410, two meter WAS #65 and WAC on both 6 and 2 meters. CQ WAZ #21 and CQ FIELD #20 on 6 meters and VUCC #231 on 6 meters now with 497 grids, VUCC #254 on 2 meters now with 423 grids, VUCC #33 on 1.25metersnow with 86 grids, VUCC#123 on .70 meters now with75 grids and VUCC #129 on .23 meters now with 33 grids. I have DXCC #442 on6 meters with 115 confirmed countries and 90 confirmed countries on 2 meters.

I was active on 2 meter EME from 1980 thru 1989 and now again starting in 2003 using WSJT JT44 and now JT65 digital. I have worked several EME stations using 100 watts and a 2x12 element array. Currently I am using 4x12 and 300 watts and have worked, in total,471 stations via EME. In 2006, became QRV on 6 meter EME using 2x7 element array and 400 watts. I have 23 initial contacts and3 new DXCC on 6 meter EME, some with smaller stations like me. I also have a few EME QSOs on 432 Mhz with a very QRP station.

My current interests are DX on 6 meters, meteor scatter using WSJT on 2 meters and up, 2 meter EME using JT65, Fast Scan TV and occasionally chasing DX on HF.

Working away from home has kept me much too inactive the past few years.

My thought to remember about Amateur Radio: It's life and death in an emergency, otherwise, It's only a hobby!