My interest in radios and Amateur radio started as a child growing up.  My earliest radio memories were during family road trips which always involved citizen band radios.  My father Ronald L. Karcher, Shortcut, and my grandfather Louis F. Karcher, Shrimp Mate, were always on their CB radios while traveling.  I also became involved in Citizen Band radios as a child and teenager.

My grandfather worked as the chief radio engineer at a local radio station WJBW in New Orleans between 1936-1946.  He was also the announcer when the station went on and off the air.  While at WJBW he worked with Ted "The Old Redhead" Andrews.  He worked for a short time as a radio operator on a banana boat that traveled between Mobile Alabama and Cuba. During WWII he also worked as a radio operator and CW operator for the Port of Embarkation in New Orleans.  During WWII he also worked as a civillian radio operator and CW operator for the Navy and Army.  My father has since given me my grandfather's Bunnell Martin Flash Key which he used during WWII.  My enjoyment of CB radio, hearing about my grandfather's radio experiences and seeing pictures of my grandfather at the radio station all furthered my interest in Amateur radio, but I never made the effort to get licensed. 

In 2015 my son David and I saw a Amateur radio demonstration at a Cub Scout event at the USS Kidd in Baton Rouge Louisiana.   My son loved the radios and the CW keys.  That day my son asked me to get an Amateur radio.  That made up my mind and I started studying, in 2015 I passed the Technician and General exams.  I passed my Amateur Extra exam in 2017. I took my Technician, General and Amateur Extra exams through the Jefferson Amateur Radio Club, W5GAD, http://w5gad.org/.  After testing I became a member of the Jefferson Amateur Radio Club.  I am an ARRL accredited Volunteer Examiner (VE)  and help with testing when I can at the Jefferson Amateur Radio Club which is a Volunteer Exam Coordinator (VEC).  I am also a member of PODXS, Amerian Radio Relay League, AMSAT and the Delta Dx Association.

My wife, daughter and son attended Field Day 2016 with me at the Jefferson Amateur Radio Club.  At the time my daughter was 13 years old and my son was eight years.  During Field Day 2016 everyone in my family made their first HF QSO's with the help of Michael C. Coulter, K5DKQ, Jerry Burg, N5GKJ, and Nicholas D. Frederick, W4NDF.

After her great experience at Field Day 2016 my wife Liz Karcher decided she wanted to become licensed.  In July of 2016 she passed the Technician exam and got her call sign KG5ONB.  She has also become a member of the Jefferson Amateur Radio.  My wife is active on local nets, 2 Meters, 70cm, D-STAR and occasionally HF.  

At the age of 14 in 2017 my daughter Ellie signed up for an "all the way in a day" Technician study group offered by the Jefferson Amateur Radio Club.  She prepared for the study group, attend the study group and then passed the Technician exam.  Her sequential call sign was KG5TQK, her call is now N5LIT. She has become a member of the Jefferson Amateur Radio Club and a member of Y.A.C.H.T. Young Amateurs Communications Ham Team.  She stays active on local nets, 2m, 70cm, D-STAR and Echolink as well as HF. 

In July of 2017 my wife and my daughter both upgraded to General license class.  

At the age of 10 in 2018 my son David passed the Technician exam.  David was given the squential call sign of KI5BEY, his call is now KG5DRK.  David has become a member of the Jefferson Amateur Radio Club and a member of Y.A.C.H.T. Young Amateurs Communications Ham Team.  David is active on local nets, 2 Meters, 70cm, D-STAR.  I am so happy to see my son get his license, he was the one that pushed me to finally get mine.  I am very proud of my wife, daughter and son on thier accomplishments in Amateur Radio so far.

Our HF sation is made up of an Icom IC-7300 with an MFJ 994B automatic tuner going through a homemade End Fed multiband antenna with 71 feet of wire.  For working 6 Meters we have an M2 Antenna Systems 6m HO Loop mounted at 30 feet.  Our station to work 2 Meters, 70cm as well as D-STAR and Yaesu System Fusion is made up of an ICOM ID-5100, Yaesu FTM-400XD and a Diamond X300 antenna.  The End Fed and Diamond antennas are mounted at 27 feet.  We have a Radioddity GD-77 to access DRM.  My Yaesu node number is 51905 and my DMR ID is 3122177.  Inside the KG5GJT Command Center I also have SharkRF openSPOT 1, ZUMspot RPi, DV3K and a ThumbDV Dongle for access to the D-STAR, Yaesu System Fusion and DMR networks.  I also run a Flight Aware ADS-B Ground Station with a Raspberry PIi and a homemade 1090 MHz antenna mounted at 25 feet.  I have a Hamshack Hotline in the KG5GJT Command Center as well, my number is 14167.