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