Biography

Active now on 40,20,15,17 and 6 meters FT8 and cw, occasionally ssb

Trenton, Michigan
First licensed as a Novice in while in High School in at age 16 in 1964 as WN8MCJ, although have been interested in Amateur Radio since being a prepubescent. I had a good friend Raymond K8ILO (SK.) while growing up in our neighborhood. We were 12 or 13 at the time and I acted as his logger, assistant and antenna rotator. I had to go outside and rotate his home made beam 6 meter beam by hand on top of his mothers laundry carousel. We worked a lot of DX that way ,everybody’s TV set within blocks and blocks...

A year or so after High School I entered the USAF, and let my Novice license lapse. In 1971 after my discharge from the service to my country, I re-licensed as a General Class, ( WB8RVG) and quickly caught up with my beloved hobby. I was very active in traffic handling in CW, RTTY and SSB. Obtained my Extra Class ticket in 1975 and then applied for a call letter changed in 1976 to K8VA, and have been that call now for over 40 years..

Worked DXCCs:

Equipment

TS-870S
FtDX3000D
TS-590S
Michigan Antenna
Double Bazookas for 40, 20 and 17 meters
VHF/UHF:
3 El verticle polarized beam at 25 ft
4 El 6 meter beam (HyGain A64dx) at 24ft.
Florida Antenna:
OCF Windom multibands
Begali Magnetic Classic
Hiel boom mic.