Biography

My Journey in Electronics and Amateur Radio
I’ve been involved with Electronics and Amateur Radio (Ham Radio) since the 1980s. I can’t say for sure whether my curiosity was sparked more by the old tube radio I took apart, or by building my first FM transmitter—consisting of a single transistor, a few coils, resistors, and capacitors.

In the early '80s, after Citizen's Band (CB) and Amateur Radio were officially permitted in our country, my father bought me a CB radio. That radio allowed me to socialize through lots of "chitchat," while also learning many fascinating things about radio waves and communication electronics.

The output transistor seemed to burn out every week. I later realized it was because the driver transistor preceding it was faulty, even though it appeared to be working. It took more than 20 replacements before I figured it out, and replacing the driver transistor finally fixed the problem. In the meantime, I even managed to add FM modulation to the radio that originally operated on AM. I believe the solar cycle was in a very favorable period back then. It was incredibly exciting to communicate with many European countries (mostly Italy) via CB. This was, of course, long before the concept of mobile phones existed.

Becoming a Licensed Ham
One day, a CB friend of mine took me to the local Amateur Radio association, ANTRAK. My interest in ham radio exploded at the club; I learned so much and enjoyed every minute of it. I later passed the government exam and received my first license, a Class C permit, with the callsign TA2CBC.

I later sat for the exam again and achieved my Class A license. When it came time to choose a new callsign, I requested TA2EE instead of the suggested TA2DE—and they granted it! I now had a callsign that was difficult to pronounce but easy to send in Morse Code.

Accessing HF radio gear was difficult and expensive back then, so I mostly operated from the club station. My first personal VHF rig was a modified Teknim handheld. Şafak Akça (TA2HF) built the device; it was considered advanced for the time as it included an extra PLL circuit. I would set the frequency using dip switches accessed through a hole I cut in the side, with the frequency table prepared by my friend, Tunç Gündoğdu (TA2P).

The Modern Era of QRP and Digital
During my professional career, I kept the passion alive primarily using VHF-UHF equipment. After retirement, I ventured into the HF bands, initially with a WSPR circuit designed by my friend, Barbaros "Barb" Asuroğlu (WB2CBA). Following that, I built and operated many QRP devices he designed. At one point, I imported, assembled, and modified a uBitx 6 kit transceiver from India.

Throughout this recent period, I’ve made over 100,000 QSOs (mainly FT8 and FT4). I also build my own antennas, generally preferring End-Fed designs.

Worked DXCCs:

Equipment

I have a humble QRP HF station and some HT's
An uBITX
DX 4W and DX Pocked 500mW
Home made uSDx transceivers
Home made ADX transceivers
Home made DX transceivers
Some DMR Anytone 878
Some Chinese Handhelds
A home made Indy APRS i-gate
A tiny GS Lora satellite transceiver
A Yaesu FT-891