As a young child I grew up with ham radio. My father who was an advanced licensed operator for 60 years. His callsign was W3GGJ. As I got older I did not show or have much interest in ham radio. At times I would go into my father radio room and listen to my father talk with other hams all over the world. Sometimes he would let me be a third party traffic in his transmissions. I think he was hoping one of his children would become interested enough to get a license. My brother had no interest in other than CB.

My interest did come about after I remarried my second husband George who also was a advanced licensed ham operator. His callsign was KD4WW. My husband decided to get my interest aroused by installing a Yaesu 2 meter radio in my car. The only thing is I was missing a microphone. So now if I wanted to talk with him or anyone else I needed to get a license. Well, you can guess what happened next. Yup! I got a license. I studied and took the test twice before passing. My novice callsign was KB4EQQ which I got in March 1983. As of April 15, 2000 I became a General Class Licence keeping my original callsign, which is N4OCL. My call is well known on the 2 meter frequencies. Specially on the 146.640 repeater and others in Florida. I have talked to hundreds of ham radio operators including 18 wheel drivers who hold a ham license. At home I operate a Kenwood TM261-A with a Ringo Ranger approximately 40 ft. above my roof at home. In my car I have a Kenwood TM261-A with a 5/8 wave magnetic mount on the roof of my car.

I can be heard on the 146.640 repeater which is located in Holiday, Florida and has an excellent footprint of many miles. It is also linked with the 147.225 repeater in Orlando, Florida. The owner of the 146.640 repeater is Ron Wright N9EE. When I am not working on my computer you can catch me on 146.640 repeater of 2 meters. I also at times operate other frequencies such as South CARS, 7.251Mhz and 14.302.5 on 20 meters but not often.

The ones who started me out in ham radio are now silent keys and are missed. They are both in better hands and may they rest in peace.

My Husband, Pete is a licensed Amateur Radio Operator. His call sign is WB2SUN and he is an Extra Class Licensee. He is also a VE who helps to test others who would like to become Amateur Radio Operators. We have much in common, as I plan to upgrade to Extra Class and become a VE as well as my husband.

Most of my friends that I had in Pennsylvania, or either deceased or have moved to other states. I have lost contact with those folks. Since I have been living in Florida. I have made many new friends and associates. Some of them were from my job and others from Amateur Ham Radio.

One very good friend who has always been there to give a helping hand or to give some advice when needed is Mark Caswell. He is a very nice, polite and respected young man. He is well liked with in our ham radio family. Mark has a kitty named Fred who just loves to take automobiles rides. He is an Siamese and one beautiful cat. Mark is also a Ham Radio Licensed Operator holding a General Class license.

Then there is Tim Stone and Alan Shattuck, who I call my ham radio sons. Both of these guys drive 18 wheelers, but always take time to say "Hello! or How are you doing today?", as they are wheeling down the busy highways. Both guys are married and have families. They both are Amateur Ham Radio Licensed Operators. Tim's wife Pam and there daughter Amanda have been great friends. Pam keeps in contact with me through e-mail on the computer. Sometimes having a computer is an advantage. I also have friends who I chat with on ICQ. To named all my friends, it would be hard to do as I would run out of space. With all the friends I have made, I sure don't have any enemies. Thank God for everyone of them.

I also want to thank a fine gentlemen and good friend for suggesting this site to me. I appreciate all the help and suggestions he has given me and the birth of it. Thank you for much help Robert Graham KC8IRX