I first became a ham in 1981, when I received my Novice license, and the FCC-assigned call -- KA8JXG.  Two years later I upgraded to Technician. I remained a technician until April 2000, when I made an administrative upgrade to General by virtue of the new FCC requirements of a maximum of 5 wpm Morse code needed for all license classes.  My XYL, a college professor, calls this "ham grade inflation." Nonetheless, I was very happy that this new standard allowed me to upgrade to General.  At that point, I began rather serious DX work, compared to my earlier sporadic DX activity.  I'm now approaching mixed mode DXCC and have all the states for WAS and am awaiting confirmation of the last few contacts.  When I upgraded to General, I also became quite active on that newest of modes -- PSK31. About half of my DX contacts have been on BPSK.

In April 2002, I took the written exam for Extra and passed with a score of eight wrong answers.  I used the Gordon West study materials (book and computer program) and the online sample tests and flashcards that are available at W8MHB.org.  I highly recommend all of these study aids to the aspiring Extra class operator.

On May 18, 2002, the FCC website showed that my application for the vanity callsign -- N8VZ -- had been approved.  Thus began the next chapter in my amateur radio "career."

My station equipment includes: ICOM-756Pro, Kenwood TS-480 SAT, LDG AT-1000 Autotuner, an Ameritron ALS-600 amplifier, a KPC-3 TNC, and a Yaesu FT-8800 144/440 rig.  My portable and mobile equipment includes a Yaseu FT-817ND, FT-897D and two 2 meter transceivers -- a Kenwood TH-F6 HT and a Kenwood DM-700A mobile rig. I am the proud owner of a "built-it-myself" K-2.  After an almost two year construction period, with a number of delays and periods of "downtime," my K-2 (S/N: 03116) finally had its first QSO in the summer of 2004.

My ham radio interests include: PSK31, Packet (HF & VHF), SSB, RTTY and QRP. I have done some (small gun) contesting on SSB and RTTY.  I still enjoy working 6 and 10 meters, when band openings allow.  I'm a member of 10-10 International (72675), the ARRL, the Christian Amateur Radio Federation (www.carf.net), the Athens County Amateur Radio Association and the Capital City Repeater Association.