KK9H Donald K. 'Don' Whiteman Northfield, IL QCWA # 30253

My interest in radio began at age 10 by tuning around the AM broadcast band at night and hearing stations from all over the country. Later, my father and I assembled a Knight Kit Star Roamer receiver and I immediately became fascinated with shortwave listening. Radio Moscow, Radio Peking and Radio Havana were constantly blasting out their anti-American "Yankee Imperialist" propaganda. I also enjoyed tuning in to weekly DXer's programs that many stations offered back then. Eventually I sent away for a Popular Electronics magazine "Short-wave Monitor" certificate and was issued the identifier, WPE9IGS. I still have it proudly hanging on the wall of my shack. During that time I discovered the ham radio bands which were also marked on the face of the Star Roamer. In 1964, while in 7th grade, many of my friends and I became interested in CB radios so I built a Knight Kit C-22. My father mailed in the FCC license form and received the callsign KLK-1543. My friends and I had a lot of fun by meeting on the air at night to work on our homework together. I credit shortwave listening and CB radio with sparking my interest amateur radio.

In 1967, I was 15 years old when I passed my Novice and received the call WN9WNQ. After several months of pounding away on CW with only 75 watts, I went to the Chicago FCC office to take my General exam and my call changed to WA9WNQ. Finally in 1981, I went back to the FCC office and passed the 20 WPM Extra during a lunch break from work. From the very beginning, DXing has been a favorite pursuit of mine. I am currently on the DXCC Honor Roll and I have DXCC on CW, Phone and RTTY modes as well as on each band from 80 to 10 meters. I am also 2/3 the way done on 160. In addition I have WAS, WAZ and 6M VUCC. I have been active with two great local clubs, the North Shore Radio Club and the Northern Illinois DX Association. I also occasionally participate with 10-10 International, QCWA, CWops, SKCC and GERATOL.

My station is an Icom IC-7800 and IC-PW1 connected to either a 130 ft. inverted-L or a HyGain AV-640 vertical. I also operate an Elecraft K3 when on vacation and as a portable rig. For local contacts I have an Icom ID-880H and a Yaesu FTM-3200DR connected to a Diamond X-50. On 220 MHz I have an Icom IC-38A connected to a 1/4 wave ground plane and I am still active on packet radio with a Kantronics KPC-3+ and a Kenwood TM-281A which are used to reach a local Winlink RMS node.

I am married and we have two adult children. I graduated from the University of the South (Sewanee) with a BA degree in Economics and from Vanderbilt University's Owen School with an MBA degree. Professionally, I am a financial advisor with the wealth management division of a North American bank and I also volunteer my time with FINRA as a securities industry dispute arbitrator. In 1997 I was elected to village president (mayor) of Northfield, IL and I served in that role for two terms equalling eight years. Having grown up and lived there for most of my life made that experience both rewarding and fun. Northfield is a small Chicago suburb with a population of just over 5400 located 17 miles north of downtown. Currently, I am a trustee of the Northfield Police Pension Fund. My other interests include golf, WWII history, fishing and cheering on our Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks.

73, Don

February 09, 2017