K7QPP Irvin L. 'Irv' Emmons Gearhart, OR QCWA # 35490 Chapter 4

I originally obtained my Novice and afterward my Technician license when I was a sophomore at Grant High School in Portland Oregon in the fall of 1961. I have had my call sign, K7QPP, for over 50 years. I have attached a picture of my HAM shack back in 1964. My radios were a Central Electronics 200V HF transmitter, Hallicrafters RME 4350A receiver, a Gonset Communicator II for 2-meter AM transceiver and a Communicator III AM transceiver for 6 meters. I actually contacted a Florida station from my Oregon QTH on 6-meters AM with 15 watts. My HF antenna was a folded dipole strung in our small backyard.

I enlisted in the US Air Force in 1965 and worked the flight line as an airborne radio maintenance technician, obtaining the rank of SSgt. I then attended Auburn University in Alabama and thanks to the USAF, earned an electrical engineering degree. I was not as active on the air while in the military as I was floating around the world, but I did obtain a Spanish license, EA4APA (now reassigned), during my four year assignment to Spain starting in 1977. I was active in my next assignment in Canada and got to be the DX when I transmitted from Alert (450 miles from the North Pole). I retired from the USAF as a Major at Kirtland AFB, New Mexico in 1989.

I moved back to Oregon in 1998 and am now very active once again with my amateur radio. I currently belong to the Seaside Tsunami Amateur Radio Society and am the Clatsop County ARES Emergency Coordinator and R.A.C.E.S. Officer.

My current equipment consists of a Yaesu FTM-350R dual band mobile transceiver and a Yaesu FTdx3000 transceiver. I have a Comet GP-9M (VHF/UHF), Cushcraft A148-10S (2 meter beam), G5RV (10-160 m) and Alpha Delta DX-DD (80-40 m) antennas. My GOKIT consists of a Kenwood TM-G707 dual band transceiver and a Kenwood TS-450sat HF transceiver, seen in the foreground; I use a End Fed antenna or a Buddipole antenna system for HF and a Diamond X-50A for the VHF/UHF. My SUV has a Yaesu FT-857D transceiver. I work slow scan, PACTOR and Packet. As we get older, we just get more expensive toys.

My contact information is above and I hope to hear from you, either on the local repeaters or on the HF bands. If you are an old friend or contact I have made over the years, you can also drop me an e-mail, I would love to hear from you.

December 14, 2015