The world of electronic circuitry was a mystery to me, and my desire was to know more about the secrets of radio communication. This basic drive led me to studying and later passing my first amateur exam in 1969. At this time I was in the process of building a Heathkit HR-10B Receiver. When my Novice license WN7LNV arrived in the mail, a friend of mine gave me a very well used Heathkit DX-35 CW Transmitter. Along with these two pieces of equipment and a dipole I was up and running and on the air. Oh happy me.

It wasn't long after receiving my Novice license, the local radio club (SNARS) was offering classes in Amateur Radio basics with the opportunity to upgrade. This was perfect timing for me, as I was eager for more information with a chance to reach a higher license. I passed the exam for Conditional, at that time was equivalent to a General as WA7LNV.

In the years that followed I improved my station by scratch building a 90 watt crystal-controlled CW transmitter that used a 6146B as a final. Later I built a Heathkit HW-101 transceiver; this rig allowed me to operate CW and SSB on all bands 80 through 10 meters. I soon found out that I didn't care much for SSB. During this time period I also built a variety of station accessories.

My first QRP rig was a HW-8 by Heathkit. This brought my operating to a new level (or should I say a lower level). I found operating QRP very challenging--it took a lot of patience. I became interested in participating in the numerous QRP contests. I found them friendly and filled with radio activity. Topping off the joy of contesting, was the opportunity for operating in the field, but what I needed was a light-weight five-band QRP rig.

About this time a new company "Elecraft" introduced an all new transceiver in kit form. The QRP community was esthetic; the company was flooded with orders for the K2 long before it was even ready for the market. I wanted this new rig very much, so I put my name on the waiting list. Finally the day came when my first K2 (SN #00187) arrived and I immediately went to building. I was not disappointed with the K2, in fact I love it. This little rig did everything I expected it to do.

If you haven't done any field operating your missing out of a lot of fun. Putting wire up in trees is not as easy as it looks, there are a lot of pitfalls that get overlooked until the problem occurs. Field operation also demands other considerations, one is backup equipment. The slightest equipment malfunction will put you out of the contest. If this happens I hope you like looking at trees and birds; this is not a bad thing, it just isn't what you came to do.

As for the present, my hamming activities are QRP CW with field and home contesting my favorite. Followed by rag chewing and DX if and when it is attainable. I hope you and I have a QSO together sometime in the future.