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NS4P Steven E. Phillips Venice, FL QCWA # 31515 |
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Thanks for stopping by!
I picked up my interest in ham radio from my father, Tom (N1CBD, ex WA2JHM) who chatted with my Uncle Pete (K1BXE, SK).
I was licensed in 1976 and was assigned Station Call WA1ZKN. At the time I was attending University of Connecticut and spent a lot of time playing with all kinds of homebrew antennas with my very good friend Mike (WM1KE, ex WA1PTC, SK).
I picked up Tech, General and Advanced in sucession during 1976 (several trips to the Boston FCC Field Office with my buddy Mike).
In 1978 I moved to Pittsburgh, PA to accept a position as a contractor at a US government research laboratory, where I stayed for 38 years.
In 2017 I retired and moved with my YL Patti (N4IGI, ex N3IGI) to Florida, where I've become active with the Tamiami Amateur Radio Club.
In 2018 I upgraded to Extra and became a Volunteer Examiner for the ARRL VEC.
Current station is an Icom IC-7610 driving a "drunken snake longwire" matched with a 9:1 UNUN on the roof of the house. I have recently added an Elecraft KPA500 amplifier and a KAT500 Antenna tuner which has made a big difference. I am putting up a flagpole vertical in the near future, so hopefully more DX!
Mostly FT-8 and SSB but I really am going to get my CW skills back one of these days :-)
I also operate VHF/UHF from the house and mobile.
When I'm not operating ham radio, I'm teaching folks to SCUBA dive (NAUI and SDI instructor ratings), keeping my 1980 MGB roadster running, or riding the motorcycle.
73!
Steve
November 11, 2019