I started Amateur Radio at the age of 14 in 1967, I got the call WN8DDS. I let it elapse and I was about17 years old in 1970 before I got my Technician call of WB8LGH. Then I upgraded about 1986 to a General and on May 14th, 2011I upgraded to Extra Class Licensewhich is where I am today. After living in the South, for more than 20 years I changed to a vanity call of W4QED.I have a BSCS degree and enjoy programming when I can. My health keeps me from doing very much, but I still enjoy it.
Rigs are: Yaesu FT-100d with a Rascal, SoftRock v8.2 receive and DG8SAQ-I2C, Yaesu FT-2800m with a SignaLink, Kenwood th-7da(g), Wouxun KG-UVD1P (144/220MHz), Icom id-800h (D-Star) and a KenwoodTM-D700A in the car for APRS.
My Mother is a ham and her call is KB4OSK and still a novice hence the 220MHz rig.
I spent a wonderfull 3 years in Statesboro GA., where their is the friendliest bunch of hams but I'm now back in Orlando area, actually in Fern Park, FL. back to antenna restrictions, homeowner associations and crowds, which I hate. The busy traffic really doesn't bother me, just the crowds in stores and other places. The only time I usually over look crowds is at hamfests and if you can not make Dayton, then Orlando's HamCation is not shabby. The main reason to be in or near Orlando; otherwise, Orlando is someone's big target and I prefer not to be on someone's target list.
I really need to sell this house, but I won't give it away as I'll wait till the market returns and sell for what I want. Then I will either move up north a bit or perhaps out west to Wyoming, as I really like the area. In the meantime I'll get my bills arranged (almost done)get another car and then take a trip out west to see if I still like it there.
