My name is Reed!!! I actually go by my middle name if you notice a discrepancy.  I first received my ham license on November 19th, 2014. I started of with simple handy talkies on UHF and talked to new found friends on the way to work and on the way home.  After  a few years I purchased a DMR radio and made some more friends.  I don't recall the year, but I traded some equipment for an ICOM IC-7200.  I purchased a simple 10M dipole from Ebay and tried to make some contacts.  I did not have much luck but I did participate in Field Day activities in June of 2018.  I set up my 10M rig but ended up on the club contest callsign making contacts on 40M.  So I managed to pass the General exam on the the first go around.  I missed more questions on my Technician exam.  So as of October of 2021, I am on the HF airwaves.  I am primarily using FT8 but I will expand to other forms of communication on HF as time goes on.