Biography

My first interest in ham radio came when I was 11 years old in Wahroonga, New South Wales, Australia, when my Boy Scout Troop, 1st East Wahroonga (http://eastwahroongascouts.org.au/) , participated in the Jamboree on the Air. I remember getting my turn to talk on the radio of the sponsoring ham, talking to a station hundreds of miles away and I was hooked. It took a few years but I eventually got involved in ham radio after my family returned to the United States after living in Australia for several years. My father was an engineer for Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company and was frequently transferred from one assignment to another in different parts of the globe.

I began my ham radio hobby activities in 1969 at the age of 14 when I ordered my first piece of radio equipment, a Heathkit DX-60B transmitter kit. Later on I purchased a used National NC-300 receiver and erected some dipoles for 80 meters and 15 meters. Two years later, at the age of 16, I passed my Novice Class license test with the help of code classes given by the Mountain Amateur Radio Club (http://www.hamtalk.org/) in Cumberland, Maryland and was issued the callsign WN3UHK. In less than a year, I upgraded to the Advanced Class and issued the callsign WA3UHK. Finally, in 1985, I upgraded to Amateur Extra Class during the time when one of the requirements for the Extra Class was to send and receive Morse code at 20 words per minute. Licensed now for nearly five decades, my hobby is still going strong.

Over the years I have owned and operated amateur radio stations in Maryland, West Virginia, California, New Mexico, Florida, Germany, the Philippines, Alaska, Ohio, Hawaii and Virginia. Most of these locations came as a result of my military career in the United States Air Force (USAF) that took our family all over the world and later my civilian US Department of Defense (DoD) occupation that transferred me to Hawaii then back to my homebase here in northern Virginia. Presently, I am a retired USAF officer (retired in November 2003) and am retired from my civilian job with the US Department of Defense since August 2017.

My previous callsigns: WN3UHK ~ 1972, WA3UHK ~ 1972 - 1983, DA1JF ~ 1980 - 1982, KF6ME ~ 1983 - 1996, WV4M ~1996 - 2018, WV4M/KH6 ~ 1998 - 2002, NH7L ~ 1998 - 2002. Also WA3UHK/DU2 and KF6ME/DU2 ~ 1983 - 1985, KF6ME/KL7 ~ 1987 - 1990.

In late 2012 and mid 2013, after 42 years as an amateur radio operator, I finally applied for and received my first ARRL DXCC and WAS awards. All the contacts were logged from my previous call, WV4M, in ARRL's Logbook of the World!

I am currently active on HF from Culpeper, Virginia using an Icom IC-7410/Palstar LA-1K combo, IC-9100, IC-7300, IC-9700 and an Elecraft KX-3/KPXA100/Tokyo Hy-Power HL-450B combo, and a MyAntennas.com EFHW-8010-2K end fed wire antenna. I am also on my mobile using my Nissan Frontier pickup truck with an Icom 7100, Hamsticks or Outbackers for HF and a Diamond mag mount vertical for VHF/UHF. I am digital modes capable, mainly PSK-31 or FT-8. I'm also active on D-STAR, mainly the "mega" reflector 001C or 030C, sometimes 062C, using a variety of hotspots, both at home and mobile. I am also on DMR occasionally, Talk Group 91 "Worldwide". I recently got into Yaesu Fusion and can often be found on the America-Link. I am a member of the Culpeper Amateur Radio Club (https://www.facebook.com/CulpeperAmateurRadioAssociation/).

I hope to hear you on the air in the near future. 73 from Culpeper, Virginia, located 60 miles or 97 kilometers southwest of downtown Washington, DC.

73, Dick, NA3P

Equipment

ICOM HF/VHF/UHF, Elecraft KX3/PX3/KPXA100, Palstar LA-1K and HF-Auto, End Fed wire HF. Various HTs. Work DSTAR 030C/001C/062C, Yaesu Fusion America Link, DMR talk group 91. SSB, CW, FT-8 and PSK-31.