Biography

I've been licensed more than 45 years and can't remember a time when I wasn't fascinated by radio. When I was seven years old I tried to "improve" the radio in my dad's police cruiser. (You can guess how that turned out.) In my early teens I discovered Walker Tompkins' K6ATX (SK) books, CQ Ghost Ship and SOS At Midnight (both out of print, but highly recommended if you can find copies). One Christmas my parents got me a general coverage Globe Electronics model 65-320 "Globe 'Ceiver" which was a dream come true. I practiced endlessly on an Eico code oscillator, but for whatever reason (girls, actually), I didn't get around to taking the test until I was much older. I eventually got my Novice license in early 1979 and my General a few months after that. I upgraded to Advanced in 1980 and Extra in 2002.

I live in Falmouth, a picturesque New England coastal town about 60 miles/100 km southeast of Boston in the southwest corner of Cape Cod. Falmouth is known for its beautiful beaches and the warm Gulf Stream waters of Buzzards Bay and Vineyard Sound. The town is home to the world renowned Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the Nobska Point Lighthouse (shown on my QSL card) and was also the hometown of Katharine Lee Bates (1859-1929), the composer of America the Beautiful.

I retired from a 21 year career in the telecom industry in late 2016, having most recently worked on LTE network upgrades for AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile. Prior to that, I was a commercial real estate lender for 15 years and was involved with many large mixed use projects throughout the continental United States. On the personal side - much more important to me than my professional history - is being the dad of three successful adult kids. My son is an airline captain and my two daughters own multiple successful businesses). I'm also blessed to be the grandfather of eight great kids - the best job I've ever had.

My radio interests are generally ragchewing and casual DXing. I also frequently let the magic smoke out at my workbench. I'm a long time member (since 1983) of the Falmouth Amateur Radio Association (FARA), and also belong to the Barnstable Amateur Radio Club (BARC), the Southeastern Massachusetts Amateur Radio Association (SEMARA) and the Long Island CW Club (LICW).

Other interests besides radio include flying (unfortunately over the years I lost my medical) and studying the history of the Pacific war in World War II, especially where my father fought as a member of the Marine 9th Defense Battalion ("The Fighting Ninth") at Guadalcanal, Rendova and New Georgia in the southern Solomon Islands. (Semper Fi, Dad). I also played bluegrass guitar and used to jam in a few local venues with a band that you've never heard of (and probably never will). I love cats, dogs, planes, trains, guns, the Constitution, red meat, Rocky and Bullwinkle, handlebar mustaches, the Corps and the USA. My XYL, Jane, has steadfastly tolerated my shenanigans for almost 50 years.

Worked DXCCs:

Equipment

Icom 7600, Icom 746 Pro, Atlas 210X, Yaesu FT-7900, Yaesu 7800, Yaesu 1900, Yaesu FT-60R, ZeroFive 43' non-resonant vertical (with 36 radials), Balun Designs 4:1 unun, LDG RT-100 remote tuner, Palstar AT1KP tuner, Astron RS-35M power supply, Powerwerx power supply, Yaesu FT-1900 and a Uniden SDS200 scanner. Mobile equipment includes a Yaesu FT-891, FT-7800, Little Tarheel II screwdriver antenna and a Uniden HP scanner. Test equipment includes a Rigol 200 MHz oscilliscope, bench supply, DDS signal generator, RigExpert AA-55 Zoom analyzer, Simpson 260 multimeter, Etekcity MSR-1000 multimeter, Proster BM4070 LCR Meter, M6013 Capacitor meter, MESR-100 ESR meter, AmScope bench microscope, Hakko FX-888D solder station, MFJ-886 frequency counter, etc.