Biography

New to the whole radio thing—something else atop my already-extensive list of hobbies.

=== Places I’m active ===

Depending on my QTH, I’m often monitoring either HamTalk, the Appalachian Repeater Association System or the WVU ARC repeater. You might occasionally hear me on the two-meter call frequency in Clarksburg as well.

DXing and simplex in general is gonna be kinda hard from my home QTH without some kind of preparation, as my house is in a valley right by a river. Soon, I’ll get my General and/or AE and be able to try out HF phone, though!

=== Furry ===

Firstly, if your first reaction to that word is stuff you can't say on the air, check out this website, What Are Furries? (https://whatarefurries.com/), for a good overview on how we’re not… whatever you think we are.

Anyway, especially if you’re a ham furry, you might have seen me in various circles as Sterling, the red-bellied woodpecker (more info: https://www.ssterling.net/furry/). I even run a statewide furmeet group, Mountain State Furries, and you might have picked me up on some simplex frequencies talking to fellow local furs during camping meets and such.

=== Outside ham radio ===

I’m a jack of all trades and a master of maybe one-and-a-half. I teach music as a profession, but I dabble a lot in a whole bunch of other stuff: avian ecology and rehabilitation; wildlife and nature photography; low-level computer programming; trail and urban cycling… yeah, I keep myself occupied.

I occasionally pop up on GMRS as WSLR222, though that call sign is also used by my wife, Myrtle.

More general info about me can be found on my website (https://www.ssterling.net/). 73, and thanks for checking me out.

Equipment

· Baofeng AR-5RM, 2m/70cm HT
· Super-Elastic Signal Stick, 2m/70cm Dual-Band 19″ whip
· Homemade transmitter based on SV3ORA’s EMTX, 30m base
· Random wire antenna, currently