18AUG2022

Growing up, I had never heard of amateur radio. I recall meeting one at a family reunion in my youth, but he was neither inviting nor eager to share with a loosly-related kid he couldn't recall the last time he saw was.

While serving as a Navy Diver, I saw some radios. Apart from the actual diving and playing around in small boats as a part of my job, playing with the radios was some of the most fun, to me. Upon returning home, I found something like a 15w marine radio in a truck stop that had CB frequencies on it. Oblivious to any rules regarding such devices, and thinking it would be nice to have a radio to do both with; I installed it in my car as a CB and began squacking away. That lasted about 3 days until the police arrived to inform me of my error. Luckily, he was generous enough to let me go with a half-laughed warning about reading the rules first along with a new moniker that sounded something like "dummy" to me.

I don't recall if I ever found those rules back in the day. I was promptly distracted for about the next 30 years until I saw a video ad for Ham Radio Prep on youtube. That led me to my Technicians license as an effort to determine if I had a genuine interest, or just intense curiosity. Less than a week into my journey as a Technican operator I knew I needed more. Not just a little more, but I wanted the maximum privileges available. That drove me to achieve my Amateur Extra operators license a month after I started.

As big as my hurry to upgrade was, one might think I immediately began tapping out CQ on every nook and cranny I could find. One would be wrong to think such a thing. I had a few phone QSOs, but was never accurate enough in my logging efforts to earn confirmations. Que sera` sera`, live and learn. The path that led me to that determination was right into the digital modes; which I am currently avidly exploring; while I still enjoy phone contacts, I hate QSOs that just hang there unresolved. I will do my part to keep an accurate record to the very best of my ability; please confirm our QSO whenever you're able. I thank you in advance for that courtesy.

Speaking of which, while I enjoy receiving paper QSO cards (who don't?), my life currently facilitates reception and delivery of digital versions more readily. My current call sign is a vanity, and I had some printed as a gift to myself when I upgraded - but  I took an automatically generated call sign and only hopped into the vanity lottery to get one while they were free. Now I have a box of unusable QSO cards and two paper cards received in more than 600 QSOs. Did I mention I'm somewhere around 500 QSL's?

I'm still working out some of the finer points of this hobby. Truth be told, I may be working on some of the less-refined points as well, in many ways. Your patience is appreciated and constructive criticism always welcome as I strive to improve in every way possible on every day plausible. Thanks for your interest in seeing what I'd tell ya about me - that's what you get for now.

73s to all and hoping to run into you on the air somewhere.

Scott, KC9SP