Biography

Licensed in January, 1957 as WN3KYN, Upgraded to General late 1957 and used W3KYN (upgraded to Advanced and Extra in 1983) until 1996 when I 'upgraded' to K3GW - a vanity call and my initials.

I like CW rag chewing and contests, but I have discovered RTTY and RTTY Contests... Hearing problems limit my SSB copying capabilities....

I grew up hearing CW in my highchair as my dad (SK - 1997) was W8NVS, licensed in 1935, and was issued W3NVS after WWII. I learned to use a sideswiper key consisting of a block of wood and a hacksaw blade!

ALL of my QSO's are on LoTW from 1983 to present.

Equipment

My current equipment consists of an Icom IC-7700. My antennas consist of a KLM/M2 KT-34A at 62 feet for 10-15-20, a HyGain DB-1217 for 12-17, a 40 meter dipole and a 30 meter dipole.

I also have an Ameritron (before MFJ) AL-1200 and an Alpha 76A. I use them very infrequently as the 200 watts from the ICOM gets me through most of the time, except for contesting, then they are definitely in-use.