K8EIJ James S. Hartzler London, OH QCWA # 36915 Chapter 212

My ham radio days started while I was in high school when I was licensed as a novice as KN8EIJ. That was in 1957 and can it be that it has been almost 60 years already. You know how it was back then, the novice license was good for one year and then you upgraded or lost your license. I don't remember how many months it was until I upgraded to General and then after the changes in license class I upgraded again to Advanced. I remained at that level until about 1994 when I again upgraded to Extra. I also held the call of W3GJB from 1970 to 1973 when I lived in Blue Ridge Summit, Pa.

My present station is a Kenwood TS590 which was the 3 prize at the Dayton Hamfest in 2011, FT857 plus several 2 mtr mobile rigs. I mostly run barefoot.but I do have a Heathkit SB221 linear amplifier. The antennas are a 75 / 40 meter dipole a 43 ft MFJ vertical and a 4 element tri band beam at about 35 ft, For the QRP I use a Elecraft KX1, what a beautiful rig for backpacking. I enjoy taking the rig and back packing somewhere and operating out on the trail, or going to a local state park and throwing up a wire to operate one of the 4 bands.

As a result of my interest in radio I ended up in the field of broadcasting where I have retired as the director of engineering for Clear Channel in Youngstown, OH. I am a life member of the Society of Broadcast Engineers (SBE). I enjoy building equipment and operating CW , QRP and doing some with BPSK31 . You can find me frequently on the Bible Fellowship Net which meets every morning at 0615 Eastern time on 3875 KHz. This is a group of hams that meet to study the bible and to fellowship together. The BFN has been on the air for over 45 years and you will find check-ins from all over the East coast.

In 2011 I moved from New Springfield, OH (Youngstown area) and moved to London, Ohio. London is West of Columbus about 25 miles and about half way between Columbus and Springfield, OH.

10-10 Intl #71079, FISTS #10674

December 23, 2015