Biography

Memberships, Certificates and Awards:
* American Radio Relay League (ARRL);
* American Radio Relay Group (ARRG);
* Northwest Oregon Traffic and Training Net (NTTN);
* Washington County (Oregon) Amateur Radio Emergency Services (ARES);
* Western Oregon Radio Club (WORC);
* Net Control Station (NCS) for the Northwest Traffic and Training Net (NTTN);
* Net Control Station (NCS) for the Washington County ARES Net;
* Former volunteer ARES operator for (Oregon) Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue (TVF&R) North Operations Center (NOC);
* Certificates of Achievement: FEMA Emergency Management Institute ICS-100, ICS-200 and ICS-700;
* Basic Certificate, ACES;
* Oregon QSO Party Winner as operator of W7ESM station at Jesuit High School, 1971 and 1972, along with buddy and former Ham WA7KWV (Reggie);
* Worked All States (WAS) - ARRL.

Ham Radio History:
* Obtained my first Ham license in April of 1969 in Portland, Oregon; first call sign: "WN7LET".
* Home brew Novice rig was borrowed from my high school physics teacher, who was my “Elmer” in ham radio (his call sign: W7ESM; Father Howard Morrison, S.J., now a Silent Key).
* Upgraded to an EICO 753 HF rig when I passed my General Class License exam in September of 1969.
* Passed my Advanced Class License exam in April of 1970.
* My father bought me a Yaesu FT-DX560 as a high school graduation gift in 1971; I've been using this wonderful "boat anchor" rig ever since! It still works great, still cranks out 560 Watts PEP.
* I was an active Ham, exclusively on HF, until 1975 (Worked All States plus 67 countries); I was sporadically active until 2011, at which time I bought my first VHF/UHF rig (a Yaesu FT-60 HT) and joined WORC, took and pased the FEMA ICS courses, joined ARES, took the ACES basic course, etc. In early 2012 I shipped my 1971 Yaesu FT-DX560, which hadn't been fired up since the early 1990s, to a vintage ham rig repairman in Colorado, who dusted it off, cleaned it, checked all the components, checked the frequency calibration, and went on the air. He raved about my rig, and said it still works fine. Then I bought a Hy-Gain AV-640 multiband vertical antenna, put it up on a tree trunk 45 feet in the air (with the help of Don, KK7TN). Then I connected it to my old Yaesu, fired up the rig, and enjoyed many fine QSOs with hams from around the country! It's great to be back as an active ham.
* In December 2013 I had my first HF QSO with Christmas Island, and it was during the Christmas season!

Occupational and Hobby Information:
* Professional multilingual translator (dba LangTech International) since 1995.
* Singer/pianist at weddings and funerals in the Portland area
* Co-founder/Co-leader of pop-rock musical group OVATION, which played almost 500 gigs in three states and recorded four albums on CD.

Equipment

Yaesu FT-DX 560 "boat anchor" (purchased in 1971, still works great).
Hy-Gain AV-640 vertical antenna, up 46 feet, 10 through 40 meters.
Yaesu FT-60 Handheld Transceiver, 2 meters and 70 centimeters.
5/8-wave mag-mount mobile whip antenna.
Diamond SRH77CA aftermarket HT whip antenna: 1/4-wave on 2m; 1/2-wave on 70cm.