PA8E

Who is PA8E?

As a little kid from the 70's I was grabbed by the 'radio virus' in the early 80's. A friend of mine had those cheap 49MHz GE walkie talkies. Although they did not had much reach, I was amazed by this. I use to own a little transistor radio which I took with me to bed every night. Long after my bedtime I listened to local FM-pirate stations who were talking to each other over the band (duplexing). I've tried to build such an FM-transmitter myself, with varying degrees of success. My childhood room always contained some kind of radio related material like mixers, soldering iron, CB-radio's etc. I found DXing in SSB (illegal on CB at the time in The Netherlands) particularly interesting. Talking to people on the radio on the other side of the planet, that was really the most fascinating.

Then came the girls, mopeds and other teenage distractions. About ten years later the radio virus bubbled up again an this time I got into the study books to get my license.

Calls

My call-sign wasn’t always PA8E. I obtained my first (novice) license in 2003 as PD0JMW. In April 2008 I passed my Full-license. My call-sign changed from PD0JMW to PA1JIM. Begin 2017 I changed my call to a more convenient PA8E. Mainly because this call is easier to send in morse code.

Equipment

I use as main rig an ICOM IC-7610 barefoot. My main antenna is a ZS6BKW-like wire antenne feeded with an ICOM AH-4 coupler to compensate the fact that I can't hang the complete feedline. 

My favourite mode is morse code. If you spot me on the HF-bands, it most likely will be in CW chasing DX or participate in a contest.

Hope to work you next time!

73, Jim PA8E