WZ4K Howard A. Waxman Newport News, VA QCWA # 33503 Chapter 119

I participate in LoTW and very much appreciate confirmations there. I upload all QSOs to LoTW and to QRZ on a regular basis.

Licensed in 1976 as WN4GNE, Novice, I was introduced to the hobby by Richard Weisshaut, WA4MKN in Miami Beach where I was raised. Living in a highrise apartment building right on the Atlantic Ocean, I had Europe at my fingertips but, alas, a missed opportunity! WN4GNE became WA4GNE and eventually my license lapsed without much activity. Moving and then college and Navy served as a distraction from radio exploits.

In 1989, I was a Nuclear Machinist's Mate in the US Navy, stationed in Charleston, SC. I had recently reported to USS Sam Rayburn(SSBN-635) after 5 years onboard USS Henry M. Jackson(SSBN-730) and we had just completed Sam Rayburn's conversion from a Fleet Ballistic Missle Submarine to the Navy's first Moored Training Ship(MTS-635) at Nuclear Power Training Unit (NPTU) Charleston, SC. We were at our new home at the Naval Weapons Station and I was enjoying a bagged lunch in the breakroom where I heard Danny Groover, W9PW, and Scott Chippendale, WB3EFS, chatting about Ham Radio - soon after that I had my Novice licence as KC4OOQ and upgraded to Technician as N4YJX. Next, I upgraded to Advanced as KO4GS. I finally picked up Extra Class on 8 JAN 2011 after 20 years as an Advanced Class - it's nice not to worry about odd band limits! Received vanity call sign WZ4K on 5 April 2016.

Yaesu FTDX3000 powered from an Alinco DM-340MV power supply. An 8-position antenna switch connects an inverted G5RV @ 35' to one of two HF rigs. The FTDX3000 listens and transmits through an LDG AT-100PRO external tuner. The FTDX--3000 is also connected to a SingaLink USB and an ASUS Desktop i7-4790S Quad Core Processor running at 3.2 GHz with 12 GB RAM and running Windows 10 64 bit. I chat through a Heil PR781 station microphone mounted on the Heil Boom. I also have a Yaesu FT-950 and a Kenwood TS-440SAT with a matching PS-50 20 Amp power supply - still works extremely well after over 26 years in service, both mobile and fixed station!

Ham Radio Deluxe 6.3 suite including the logging and DM-780 modules provide integrated rig CAT control and digital mode support as well as contact logging and awards tracking. Additionally, HRD serves as the DX Spotting tool by connecting to one of many DX Clusters.

On the wall is the DXCC with Phone endorsement, the vast majority worked on 10mtrs, Worked All States with 10 meters and SSB endorsements as-well-as WAS Triple Play Also, hanging is the CQ WPX Mixed w/North America; the IARU Worked All Continents with Phone endorsement and the IARU Region 2 Award - a nice certificate for 20 countries confirmed in - you guessed it - Region 2! I did mixed WAS again exclusively via LoTW - North Dakota was the holdout! 2014 was great fun with the ARRL Centennial QSP - I earned WAS Triple Play thanks to all the dedicated stations participating in the Centennial events.

See alot more at qcwa.org

July 18, 2017