Welcome to my QRZ.com page! I am located in rural Floyd County in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, just a few miles from the scenic Blue Ridge Parkway and Mabry Mill. My wife Leslie, KJ4WJN, and I live on our 40 acre farm which is situated on top of a 3,100 feet elevation ridge. My radio friends call it "Magic Mountain" because DX contacts come very easy here, even by working barefoot mobile parked in the driveway! Leslie and I need to retire and relocate, so if you want to purchase a mountain farm with lots of room for wires and towers, See the Details Here. We have one son, KK4DEL, one daughter, and two granddaughters. We have a general printing business and offer Custom Super-Hi Gloss Photograph Quality QSL cards at very reasonable prices. You may

Order Your Cards Here at QSLpostcards.com.

My college degree is in Aviation Technology, and I worked most of my career as an aircraft inspector, support technician, and flight line mechanic for the airlines. I am also a pilot. Other interests and hobbies are antique clock restoration, website construction, weather & instruments, antiques, and the outdoors.

I started in Amateur radio in 2010 with Technician and General in June, using KJ4WDJ for one month, and then upgraded to Extra in July with the new callsign AK4AT. I enjoy DX chasing, especially phone and digital modes, including RTTY, PSK, Olivia, JT65A, and the other modes available in DM780. There is a lifetime of new things to learn in Amateur Radio, and much more experience to gain. With only LOTW confirmations, I have accomplished DXCC Phone and 20m, and WAS Basic, WAS Phone, WAS 40m, WAS JT65, and WAS Digital. For DX, I still need some countries in North Africa, Asia, Middle East, and Oceania (see the map below). If you are a county chaser in need of Floyd County, or need the state of Virginia, you are welcome to contact me via e-mail, or if I am operating, you can find me on the frequency shown above.

My primary antenna now is a hybrid Longwire which is 2,178 feet /664 meters in length, spanning the hills and valleys of the farm. Performance is phenomenal. It has omni-directional characteristics, and is great for weak signal work. It tunes on all bands from 6m - 160m with only the internal tuner in my Yaesu FT-950. The strength of solid 14 AWG copper clad is absolutely amazing, and it's cheap (part number 502 at "thewireman.com"). I have the ends tied to insulators, and then 1/4" Dacron (also from thewireman.com) goes to and down the tree on each end through 2 pulleys, and I pull them tight with my pickup truck. I once snapped a piece of the Dacron cord by pulling too much tension, and I have pulled apart one of the plastic insulators, but that small diameter 14 AWG wire has never pulled apart. The wires span over 2,100 feet /660 meters in only 2 legs, without any middle supports, and there is virtually no sag. The Cushcraft R8 Vertical in the photo above has been destroyed by strong winds three times, and likely will not be put back up for the fourth time. I operate with 100 watts or less, and often QRP. Thanks for the QSO and visiting my webpage!