I became interested in ham radio as a teenager back in the late 50s & started as an SWL in high school. This led to my first ticket - KN3NGN. Couldn’t get my code speed up to 13 wpm (ironic as I now work nearly 100% CW!), so went QRT for a few years. Got re-licensed as WA3DJN while in college in the mid 60s, but then married, started a career and family, etc. & let the ticket lapse due to lack of time. Again, in the mid 70s, the bug became active in me again & I became WA3ZXI. I decided to apply for K3NGN as a “former holder” of that call & low & behold I got it! The late 70s & early 80s saw me as primarily a traffic handler - PTTN, EPA, 3RN, EAN & TCC. I also was somewhat active as a QRPer, but most log entries show me as QRO handling traffic. Again, other personal things got in the way of ham radio & I was QRT from 1991 until earlier this year.

So, here I am now in 2001, not only with the ham radio bug active in me, but also the QRP bug having bitten real hard. The current rig is an Omni D which I run at about 4 watts output. Soon, I hope to be building an OHR 100A for 30 meters and if that goes well, I may try my hand at an Elecraft.

David Deem, K3NGN