David Saylors WK4DS - CW enthusiast who also happens to make precision CW keys and loves mobile operations and really loves activating POTA parks as of late.
My Ham Radio Journey (WK4DS)
My first time seriously considering amateur radio was in trade school with my life long friend Roger (KG4WBI) who was also interested, but life got in the way for the both of us and we wouldn’t get our tickets for almost 20 years. When we did, we went together and got sequential callsigns. I was KG4WBH and he got KG4WBI. He has kept his call but when I passed my Extra class, I chose a vanity call.
When I got my technician ticket, at that time you still had to pass a CW proficiency test of 5 WPM to get your General class or greater license on top of passing the written test. So I learned CW well enough to pass and also got my general, well not too be held back from anything, I immediately set out to pass my Amateur Extra next and passed it shortly thereafter. I have been on the air alot over the years ragchewing late at night on 80 meters or chasing my own version of WAS by getting all the cards from all 50 states.
My favorite things to do in radio are CW first and foremost. I just like using it if at all possible. I also enjoy making simple things for my radios too, up to and including things like band pass filters and simple circuits for stuff. I like to make CW keys as well and have made some really nice ones in the past. As of late, I have started to explore FT8 some and have activated several POTA parks using this mode as well.
Something of note about me that I find interesting is that I fell in love with morse code pretty much right away, then found that there were “high end” morse code paddles out there. I wasn’t financially able to afford one at the time so I decided to make my own. I made 15 of these keys ultimately and they are still highly sought after to this day.
My current primary interest in amateur radio is POTA and portable operation. Another thing I work on regularly is simple antenna ideas and things to improve group operations like band pass filtering and such. I have recently also taken up using a radio for is FT8, on a radio called the sBitx V3. This radio has this mode built into it so that you no longer need an additional computer to operate with this mode while activating POTA parks.
My vision for Ham Radio Today is to share my meager knowledge with the community and to foster an interest in radio with new hams and maybe to motivate veteran hams to try new modes and activities. A side benefit of this is the ability to elmer the newer hams along the way as well.
My other interests involve things like study of the bible, photography of a wide variety of subjects, firearms, as well as spending time with my wife and daughter.
If you would like to ask me something just hit the red button below and fill out the form and I will reply as soon as I can. I also have a blog on my personal site as well that documents most of my POTA adventures, if you would like to read about my adventures then hop on this link below. I usually document the activity and most of the time I will share some nugget of information that I figured out on that day as well.
