Amateur Radio

Amateur Radio

More Than a Hobby

Amateur radio became the foundation of my professional career as an electronics engineer. I was first licensed as a novice in 1972 as WN9JPS, after taking classes with the McHenry County (Illinois) Amateur Radio Club. Within two years, I had my extra. In August 2014 I finally got my current vanity callsign, NA6O. Great for CW. Look me up on QRZ.

NA6O (Ex- WB9JPS)

NA6O at N6RO antenna farm
WB9JPS in 1979

My station in Crystal Lake in 1979. That’s a Drake TR-4 with all the accessories. And a memory keyer that I built that was a perfect match. It was a great rig. Photo by Randy Dunning, KC5QHH.

These days, I operate via a very nice remote station, W6SRR, located high on a ridge top where we have a K3/KPA1500 and decent antennas. The DX if fantastic.


I’m a member of ARRL, RSGB, CWops, and the Northern California Contest Club... among other things.

CWops the cw operators club
NCCC northern california contest club
ARRL american radio relay league
RSGB radio society of great britain

Some photos taken at my remote station, W6SRR, co-owned by Ian, W6TCP:

Inside W6SRR station

These are some of the “keys to my success”. A Begali Sculpture, a 1963 Vibroplex Deluxe Original, a 1938 McElroy Deluxe, and my Cocobolo hand key.


Also see my Bugs page.

W6SRR view toward europe

Regarding presentations, most of these are available in PowerPoint format upon request. I am also happy to present these via Zoom (or in-person to local clubs).