CHarchive.com ... Ham Radio County Hunting History/Archive

K4EXT/WA9WZV

Gary Beam (Carter County, TN)

Prev Listed CH'er     Next Listed CH'er

I was first licensed as WN9WZV in 1968 while serving time as a high school sophomore in Indianapolis. Later that same year, I passed my General exams and became WA9WZV.

My first station was a Johnson Adventurer 50-watt transmitter and an Army surplus BC-348 receiver. Soon to follow was an EICO 753 AM/SSB/CW transceiver kit. Later rigs included a lot of QRP and QRPp stuff including the Heathkit HW-8 and Kenwood TS-130V transceivers.

I operated 100% code for nearly 25 years. In the beginning, it was straight key CW. Later I managed to grasp the swing of a semi-automatic bug. In the early 1970's, I built my first electronic keyer using TTL IC's. In the early 1980's, I made my Commodore VIC-20 computer crank out some serious Morse code in between games of Centipede and Gorf.

I foolishly let my license expire in 1995. In July of 2002, I tested again ... this time with my sons Josh/KG4VBJ and Justin/KG4VBK.

I retired from my own software business in 2003 and began county hunting in 2007. My son Justin/KG4VBK and I enjoy passing out counties on CHN while mobile as well as participating mobile in the MARAC Contest and state QSO Parties.

de Gary, K4EXT
MARAC Historian


K4EXT (ex-WA9WZV) Home Station Decades Ago - Courtesy K4EXT (1970)


Running Crenshaw County, Alabama - Courtesy KG4VBK (2009)


Copyright © 2009-16 by K4EXT & KG4VBK
In Conjunction with MARAC Incorporated