Hello- 

My name is Pete and I live in Finksburg, Maryland.  I first earned a Novice class amateur radio license, KN4ZQH, in 1958 at the age of 15.  At the time I lived in Staunton in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.  The next year I earned a  Conditional class license, K4ZQH, that I let expire 5 years later while at Virginia Tech. 

I moved to Maryland in 1966, married a Maryland girl in 1968, and moved to Finksburg in Carroll County in 1969.  In 1972 I passed the Extra class exams at the FCC offices at Hopkins Place in downtown Baltimore and was issued the call W3GVX.

I built a Heathkit SB303, bought a used DX60 and VFO, and erected a Hy-Gain 80-10 meter vertical in the back yard.  I was back on the air.  I soon picked up a used SB400 transmitter and was able to operate transceive with the SB303.

Kids began arriving in 1974 and my ham activity took a backseat to family and increasing job responsibilities. 

I moved to the present home in 1994, and in the late 90s picked up an Icom 746 transceiver at a hamfest and erected a Hy-Gain 20-6 meter vertical and later a 40 meter dipole.

I retired from work in 2004.  I joined the Carroll County Amateur Radio Club and had a great time with the club over Field Day weekend that year.  Ham radio has allowed me to be involved in the technology that I missed after leaving work.  The Club has members who are on the same "wavelength" as I and who share common interests and talk-the-talk.

It is now 2013 and I have retired the Icom 746.  I now use an Elecraft K3 with the Elecraft P3 Panadapter I acquired at the Dayton Hamvention this year.  The K3-P3 combination is a joy to use during CW contests.  I also picked up a Yaesu FTDX-3000 at Dayton, a great rig that I use mostly for SSB.

Over the summer of 2013 I erected a new Aluma T-50HD tower.

I welcome questions and comments you may have about this site.  I may be contacted by email at W3GVX@arrl.net.

-Pete, W3GVX
  Finksburg, MD

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