I first got interested in radio back in High School. My algebra teacher was an active Ham and he encouraged some of us to give it a try. However, back in the late ’80s, Morse code was still required and I was much too impatient for that nonsense.

In my senior year of High School, I landed a job with the local AM broadcast station working in the evenings and weekends as a DJ.

he station played a mix of rock and country hits from the 50s, 60s, and 70s, and when I could sneak it in a few from the early 80s.

Daytime power was 5kw and we would have to dial back the transmitter power at dusk and would shut down around 10 pm.

I liked the job so much that I started out college looking to get a communications degree and work for a professional broadcast station in Boise Idaho.

However, as things do in young people’s lives, I changed my degree about a dozen times eventually getting into the healthcare industry and eventually landing in Healthcare Information Technology.

Over the years I would think back to radio and consider getting a Ham license. Fast forward to 2020. It was the year that many folks examined their priorities in life. I’m not getting younger, and I don’t want regrets – being more financially stable I could jump in and do what I wanted.

We have the ideal location on 5 acres in the country and my children are grown so I don’t have competing priorities. So I took a class and quickly ramped up to an Extra license, I’m even learning Morse code, but that is a very slow process.

In 2021 I discovered POTA and got hooked. POTA quickly helped me get over being mic shy and I’ve started to really enjoy SSB, still limited somewhat, but I’ll never be a rag chewer.

My son N7WBV joined me the last year as well, earning his general ticket and working POTA alongside me on several activations.