About My Shack
Licensed in 2024 at 53 years old, finally acting on an interest I’ve had since I was a kid. Like a lot of people in the hobby, I started out fascinated by CB radios and built a simple crystal radio when I was young. Life got busy with career and family, and radio went onto the back shelf for many years. I’ve been married for over 30 years and we raised three kids who are now adults. With a bit more time these days, I decided it was time to revisit the things that first sparked my interest in electronics and communication. Getting my license was something I should have done a long time ago. I completed the RAC basic course out of Nova Scotia (via Zoom) and passed with honors, which gave me a solid foundation. Since then, I’ve been exploring as much of the hobby as I can. I enjoy digital modes quite a bit — FT8, DMR, Fusion/C4FM — and I’m slowly working on CW. I like understanding how things work, not just using them. Most of my station has been built or assembled on a budget. I enjoy building antennas and experimenting far more than buying shiny gear, and a lot of what I run is simple wire and homebrew projects. My primary VHF/UHF antenna is a Diamond X50 vertical mounted about 45 feet in the air. Even running just 5 watts, I can reliably hit the VE3YRA repeater from roughly 100 km away, which still surprises me. I also enjoy experimenting with homemade antennas, including a homebrew half-wave dipole up about 40 feet that performs surprisingly well. For HF, my main rig is a Yaesu FT-991A, with an Icom 756 (non-Pro) serving as a secondary base radio. A good ham friend recently added a Kenwood TS-50 to the lineup, which has quickly become my go-to mobile HF and POTA radio. Most of my HF antennas are simple wire antennas. The main antenna is about 160 feet of wire configured as an end-fed half-wave with a counterpoise. I also run a resonant 40-meter wire dipole. Nothing fancy — just simple antennas that get on the air and make contacts, which is really what the hobby is all about. I’ve also experimented with SSTV and weather satellite reception, which reminded me why I was drawn to radio in the first place. There’s something satisfying about pulling signals out of the air and knowing you built part of the system yourself. I’m still learning, still experimenting, and still surprised at how deep this hobby goes. If we make contact, feel free to reach out — always happy to talk antennas, digital modes, or whatever project I’m currently tinkering with.