Biography

Hello--All:

I work in health services for many years.

Please get your updated Covid-19 booster and influenza vaccine. GET YOUR BOOSTERS!!! If over 60 get the RSV and Prevnar 20 pneumovax vaccines.

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First of all, with the winter upon us in 2026, it's time to reflect on how I got started in ham radio over 20 years ago. My grandfather, Joe, had a large floor radio back in the day. My mom told me it was used by the family from the 30s right up (until TV came onto the scene in the 50s) to listen to shortwave stations but also to listen to the many radio plays and comedy shows including comedies like "Fibber McGee and Molly," "Amos 'n' Andy," and "The Jack Benny Program" and "The Burns and Allen show." Drama and adventure shows like "Gunsmoke," "The Shadow," and "The Adventures of Superman" also captivated audiences. Additionally, soap operas such as "Ma Perkins" and "The Guiding Light" were popular daytime listening.

I saw the radio as a kid and listened to shortwave broadcasts but also hams talking away on 40 and 75. I'm sure this had an impression on a little boy of 6 or 7 who was fascinated with the sounds and lights on the radio rcvr. I think it was a Hammarlund or Hallicrafters?! It had large speakers so listening was easy on the ears.

When I was 8, my dad lent me his Zenith Transoceanic rcvr and I listened to shortwave broadcasts from the BBC, Radio Tirana, Radio Moscow, HCJB, Radio Netherlands, Israel Radio, VOA, RCI and others.It was very frustrating when they gave out their QSL info while fading...Pse write your reception report and time in GMT and send to Box 145, crackle, crackle, noise and... then you'll get our beautiful full colour QSL for your collection...UGH!

And then my first Elmer, Bill Still, W2GJR/VE2 (SK- RIP). Bill was a friendly guy on my street back in Dollard des Ormeaux (DDO). He had a zillion antennas on his roof--yagis, loops, wires, verticals, dishes, eggbeaters--and more.

He was a kindly man in the neighbourhood, a gem of a man really. He fixed radios,TVs, tape-recorders for the suburban residents. He was the go-to guy for quick and reasonable repairs after warranties expired.. He also fixed walkie-talkies for the Police, EMS and Firemen. The Cops would just bring over mobile radios and HTs and he had them back in good working order in a few days. Sometimes, he didn't charge them bubkas, especially around the holidays.

He showed me how to troubleshoot these radios, so I learned from a young age how to fix them. Then to see if they were indeed working, he would push the mic and call in and they would say yes, Bill, seems aok.That was thrilling for me!

I know that he had a large contract to do the sound and light for EXPO 67. My Dad said Bill's work was a very important part of the success of hosting EXPO 67 to the world! This was our equivalent of the World's Fair--Man and His World or Terre des Hommes.

EXPO 67 Montreal Also information about Expo 67 in Montreal, Canada

More about Bill: He had movie night in his garage/driveway for all the kids in the neighborhhood every other Friday in the summer--and it was FREE!!! All you had to do was show up with a lawnchair and enjoy. And of course, it didn't hurt to get there a little before 7/1900 for a good place to put your chair. He even supplied the popcorn! He was a gem of a man! Such a good role model and example of integrity, honor, trust, respect and decency.

From those humble beginnings, a friendship ensued and I became Bill's helper. He was divorced with no kids and had lots of errands and chores to do and lived alone in a big house. He gave me a few bucks to help him out. One day, he needed some help cleaning up the basement. When we went downstairs, I saw that it was filled with radios. I mean, it was like being in an airplane cockpit--radios wall-to-wall. I was just 10 years old and was instantly fascinated with the lights, dials and sounds coming from his Collins, Drake, Swan, SBE, Pye, National, Heathkit/Griefkit, Hammarlund and Hallicrafters rigs. He also made a lot of his gear built to his specs. He used to say, if you want it to be rugged and durable, then build it yourself. So, he had lots of homebrew amps, receivers and xmitters that filled the basement and within easy reach from his work bench filled with scopes, meters and operating desk. I remember a spectacular ham shack! He had his first radios, the Drake 2C, 2 BQ, 2CQ, 2NT and Hallicrafter's HA-5 VFO-- all shiny and put them on the air from time to time to show me how much fun sending cw was..

While I was sweeping the floor and emptying boxes, he turned on his minty Collins 51J4 with matching speaker (I found a minty one with matching spkr and grabbed it!!!) and I heard my first sounds of cw. I was hooked after that and did as many odd jobs for Bill just to get a listen here and there to those melodious sounds of cw. After a few weeks, he saw that I was keenly interested in cw and began to teach me code and electronics. And of course, he gave me odd jobs to do-- but only after I listened to the Collins 51J4 and read back to him what I copied from W1AW. I got better and better at my cw and made a few bucks here and there to get tools and supplies to make go-karts-- but none of this would have happened without him nurturing, encouraging, cultivating my interest in cw and giving me hands-on experience in electronics. None of this would have happened without his patience, time, effort, understanding, sensitivity, morale boost and support. Nada, zip. zilch, zero and squat. For good Elmers, it's important to make a connection and build a rapport or relationship.Bill was a great Elmer!

I was lucky to have another Elmer who was a senior engineer for Radio Canada International (RCI) and did work on their xmitters in Sackville, New Brunswick and relay xmitters in the Caribbean and Middle East, my dear friend, Don, ve3rm, SK-RIP. He lived in the city during the week and hit the country house on weekends just across the border in Ontario on a lovely spread with towers and no pesky neighbours nearby. He had some nice antennas out back and a classic oldie, but goodie, an Alpha 87A. Don taught me electronics at what was then Westhill High School in the evenings, as part of the Montreal Amateur Radio Club's ham radio classes. Together with Ron, ve2kw (SK-RIP) who taught me cw, I was able to get my first ticket, then my advanced soon after. I was also a member of the West Island Club (ve2cwi) and some guys in the Club lent rigs to new hams, so I was able to get a rig and get on hf and 2m FM quickly. My first HF rig was a Heathkit or fondly known as Griefkit, dx-60/hr-10b/hg-10 and then advanced to Heathkit hw-100 and for 2m, we had converted taxi cab PYE crystal controlled tube rigs.

I had several (3) paper routes 7 days a week at the time to earn some bux. My Dad didn't believe in allowances-- but he was very wise. His philosophy was, let the kids earn their own money and they will be more apprecative, understand the value of hard work and earning money and be grateful to have earned it. He taught us to save it too. After several months of saving, I got a used Heathkit sb-300/400 combo.

Then I remember being invited to a friend's house for a contest and he had an ICOM 701 solid state xcvr and that was the cat's meow of rigs back then.Wow! I thought that was very sweet!

I had 3 paper routes with about 125 subscribers each and delivered papers 7 days a week. The Montreal Gazette, The Montreal Star (defunct for ages now) and The Sunday Express (also long defunct.) Wednesday and Saturday were the killers bcuz newspapers added extra ads, magazines and the comics. I started carring a canvas bag and graduated to a wagon and bike. That was quite a relief off my shoulders and back! Xmas/Chanukah/Kwanza and Easter/Passover were my biggest pay days when subscribers gave me a few bux in tips. Some doctors, bankers, lawyers, dentists, surgeons and judges gave me $10-20 bux each! I put the bulk of it towards school, but was able to get a hybrid rig and that was a treat!

My first commercially made rig that I bought was a Japanese made, Yaesu ft-101ex, which was barebones, no options. After trying that I waited until one of the Clubs had a bulk deal in Texas at the time and we youngsters were able to get a new Kenwood ts-520s and SWL Kenwood r-1000 rcvr for a good price. (No general coverage receive feature at that time in the 520.).That was 6-8 months of savings and tips from 3 paper routes! That was my greatest rig combo for several years! Then I sold the 520 and upgraded to the ts-530s, when the warc bands became assigned to hams. I also remember my pals, Aaron, ve2egq/ve7vni, Harvey, ve2bqq, Peter, ve2edq, Jim, ve2dkk, Alex, ve2dku, Mitch, ve2bab and Chuck, JH3OII, a student of chemical engineering at McGill. Chuck was a super cw op bar none. Chuck and I had a sort of reunion not long ago. It was wonderful to touch base with him! Then later, Mike, ve2dub now ve6tc set up ve2cua at Concordia University downtown campus. I remember helping to plan which antennas to acquire and then also helping to install them, especially the beast, the KLM KT-36a at 14 stories above the ground!!! I was active from McGill, ve2un on the Collins S Line driving a big Alpha 77SX to monoband yagis for a bit but health science studies came first and along the way, more graduate studies.

Another person or persons who influenced me and helped me learn electronics were Norm, ve2bqs co-inventor of packet radio with Bob, ve2py and then they developed Data Radio. I used to visit Norm at his qth where he had a Heathkit sb-303, Sb-401 combo and a 3el yagi and make QSOs on ssb and cw.It was quite a kick to hear a pileup after me!

Jim, ve2dkk spent lots of time visiting with me when I was ill and really confined to my home. I will be forever grateful to him. Jim is a wonderful fellow and helped me set up a few stations or two. Years later I helped two hams get rigs and be on the air right away.Karma...What goes around, comes around.

My passion is to: Have my trusty Elecraft K3S, MC-60, Alinco 30A pwr supply and THP 1.5 and go to some rare iotas and grid squares to give other hams a QSO treat!

Funniest antenna story: Picked up a broken 4 el yagi (Cushcraft atb-34) with 2 or 3 breaks in several elements and made nail fasteners inside the elements to get them snug together, working again and then glued them with crazy glue! It did the job and lasted for a few yrs. That made all the difference on hf...

I also loaded up two bed box springs on the roof as a dipole on 10m and it worked fb!

About my Elmer DON: Don was a dear friend right up until the end and remains a constant inspiration and a role model as I journey through work, life and more studies--I tried to visit him as much as I could to listen to his lived life experiences, vast knowledge of electronics and wisdom.. He had a place out in Alexandria, Ontario with an FT-2000 to an Alpha 87a--and antennas at 80 ft were a HYgain TH5 and stacked on top, a Cushcraft 2 el 40m yagi. On another tower, he had a Bencher Skyhawk and 160m sloper strung from the tower.

I raise a glass to you, Bill, W2GJR/VE2 (SK-RIP) for inspiring me to study and get my ticket, Don, ve3rm (SK-RIP) who taught me electronics and made learning fun and Ron, ve2kw (SK-RIP) who taught me cw. Cheers buddies! You are all smiling and watching over me from above. You are always in my heart, thoughts and prayers.

I lucked out with Ron, ve2kw now (SK-RIP), he was an ace among men who taught me cw and really prepared me well for the Industry Canada exams. He used lots of exercises to make learning cw faster, easier and more fun. One exercise was to say out loud the word or number of street signs in cw every time I saw one. It worked. I aced both cw exams and the electronic theory exams too! The examiners were surprised this little kid could do so well. I remember seeing their jaws drop!

I lost another Elmer and dear friend not long ago, wa2bah, Stan (SK-RIP.) He was a really kind, generous and self-less ham who taught others to become hams. Stan will be greatly missed but not forgotten.And my dear friend, Ralph, KD1R (RIP) also an inspirational figure in my life.

God bless all the Elmers out there! You may not realize how much of a difference you make in people's lives. You inspire the next generation of hams!

This year I will see (Dave, James, George) W2IR and W1KOO, w1hrg, Dave this year for Field Day. Hello to new ham DXCC Charles KG5osx, and dear friend, Don, WB6BEE and XYL, Wendy.

Plz get your latest Covid booster, influenza and pneumovax. If over 65, get the RSV vaccine.

73, dx, good health, happy, safe and healthy holidays! and god bless,

Mike, ve2xb (Catch you in the pileups...)

Funniest dx pedition story: Was en-routte to Belize City and then the Cayes of Corker and Ambergris and had to overnight in MIami. We arrived very late in Miami and got to the hotel which had two bottles of water , but only half full?!

Two trips planned for the 2026 season: One is to Barbados in Feb., 26 as 8P9XB and one to Ambergris Caye, Belize in March as V31ZY (to remember and honor on eof my Elmers.) and possibly to the Faroe Islands /OY in the summer.

Radio setup: Kenwood ts-890s, Elecraft K3, K3S, several KX3s, ts-590, ts-870, LNR-11, KX2 and various amps; THP 550fx, 1.1, 1.2, 1.5 and Alpha 87a with Palstar autotuner. Some meticulous Drake B and C lines, novice setup, 2C, 2NT, 2BQ, HA-5 VFO, Kenwood twins, Yaesu twins, and Icom 775 loaded.

73, dx

Mike, VY0ZOO

I do qsl dierct with CDN stamps or 3 IRCs or $4 USD greenbacks. I am NOT qsl mgr for any other calls!!! Planning trips to 8P9XB, V31ZY, Thanks a lot/Merci bien/Taima/Nakumi/Gracias/Toda/Salam

Equipment

I am using my trusty fully loaded K3S and will be putting up yagis for 10, 15, 20 with a TH5 tribander and stacking a 2 el 40 and warc tribander, 4 el for 12, 17 and 30m. Full wave Loops, delta loops, Bobtail Curtains and a RHOMBICs are going up on a mountain up 750 ft or 250 meters above street level when wx warms up! If you take your gloves off for a few seconds, your hands freeze and start to hurt.