When I started junior high, I made a new friend
named Doug. We were in the same class all day during the school
year and even took shop class
to gether. One day, Doug invited me over to his house

When I arrived, I met his
dad, who was in the military. In their basement, his
dad had a collection of electronics and radios. I didn’t
know at the time that he
was a ham radio operator
(Glen Galati, KA7BOJ).

When I turned 17, I
invited Doug to our
house. Later, I
participated in show-and-tell
at school (Stadium High) to share my hobbies
My sistor frend, he also took me to his electronics school
where he gave me a tour and showed me around and I took
small electronic things home to fix or play with.

One day, while walking through the hobby hall at
the fair, I stopped by the local radio club’s booth.
There, I saw Doug’s dad KA7BOJ with another ham.
We talked, and he asked if I wanted to take a Novice
class. I signed up in 1978, and that’s how I got start
ed in ham radio.

I got a ride up to the Radio Club of Tacoma clubhouse for the class. They
gave me a tour of the
building, including the upstairs museum and radio
room. I started studying and learning Morse code.
After weeks of preparation, I took the code and
written tests but failed the first time. I kept studying
and eventually passed. In 1981, I earned my Novice
license with the call sign KA7MMW

In 1985, I joined the Radio Club of Tacoma and told my
mom about a local ham radio store. My first radio
was a Galaxy GT-550, which
I bought along with an antenna tuner and dummy
load. I hooked it up to a 2-
element CB base station
beam antenna, but the tuner burned out because the
radio had an input power of
500 watts or about 250
watts output, but the limit
for Novices was 75 watts
input, or about 40 watts
output. So I smoked it!

In 1984, I took a class at Clover Park Technical College
on mobile communications. The Washington State
DVR paid for the course and the tools I picked up.
While there, I repaired the burned-out tuner and set
up a ham station with a Yaesu 901DM, a 2-meter
mobile rig, and antennas. One of the antennas (a 2-
way) had to be taken down, but we had five others.

In 1985, Glen (KA7BOJ) called me about a trade with
Hank (W7UD). I traded a scanner for an Icom 22S
with a control head and extra channels. A month
later, I traded another receiver for a 4-band base
antenna.

That same year, I started studying for my Technician
license. I took the Technician class, attended code
practice sessions at the club, and passed both the
code and written tests. Weeks later, my Technician
license arrived. I set up a 15-meter dipole with the
help of a friend and built a 5-element 2-meter beam.
I also bought a Cushcraft A148-10S VHF antenna from
Amateur Radio Supply in Seattle.

In 1992, I moved to Gig Harbor, overlooking the
bay. My brother-in-law had built the house in the fall
of 1991. While on vacation, I renewed my license
and changed my call sign to KB7QAG. My dad helped
me set up my 2 meter antenna, Lator my one of club member put up a 70cm 5-
element antenna for SSB, a Cushcraft A148-10S
(turned 90 degrees for SSB).

In 2007, I moved back to Tacoma (my current Rosemount Circle home I
share with my mom). I installed
shelves in the closet and set up my station. My mom
ordered a dual-band antenna, and we had an electrician run coax from
the desk in the closet up to the
attic and other things for $300. I also put up a 10-meter dipole.

In 2012, I went to the club’s flea market to look
around and buy a few things. During the year, I studied for my General license.
At the flea market, I took
the test but ran into an issue because I didn’t have
my Novice license with me. The examiner looked up
my call sign in an old call book and FCC records, then
sent me an email confirming I had passed. Two days
later, I ofÏcially earned my General license.

In 2018, I set up a 6-meter dipole in my closet due to
HOA restrictions on outdoor antennas. I plan to build
a halo-type antenna for 2-meter SSB and install it in Attic

Bands: 20, 15, 10, 6, 2 meters, 223
MHz

Activities: Field Day, hamfests, kit building, programming (computers),
rag chewing, VHF weak signal

Operating: Amateur satellites, contests, CW, FM, SSB,
grid squares, internet, logging programs and packet


Equipment: Computers, construction of equipment,
filters, homebrewed equipment, integrated circuits,
keyers, linear amplifiers, power supplies, repeaters,
scanners, station accessories, test equipment, TNCs,

transceivers due have:

Antennas/Propagation: Antenna tuners, dipole antennas, duplexers, measurement,
rotators, SWR wattmeters and Yagi antennas

Current Memberships: ARRL & The Pacific NorthWest
VHF Society

Publications: QST (Online), The Logger’s Bark

United States | cn87rf Active Operator Member since 2026