K5ZM

Ian Parsons
Portland, OR

http://www.k5zm.com

I've been licensed since 1975 but only had a full time home station until about 1981 or so. It was one of the benefits of living at home with parents who were both understanding and supportive.

I was living in Texas and had a Drake C-line (actually, a pair of them) and an L4-B amplifier at the time. Outside, there was a Hy-gain 'hytower' and a TH3 at a whopping 50 feet! What a great time!

My initial exposure to contesting was via a trip to the local club's FD setup. After that, there was no looking -or turning- back.

Then I met a gal (named Murphy). Got married (to the RF antichrist) and reluctantly began what would ultimately become a 15 year period of QRT.

After a sequence of events (which included a move to Oregon and a divorce) around the early to mid '90s, I was reintroduced to contesting and became a member of the Rush Drake Orchestra (the W7RM team).

When Rush passed away, I was left with little opportunity in an area with a rather underwhelming contesting presence. So.. I decided to "market myself" to a larger potential host base and the result was a seat on the NQ4I 20 metre team. I've made probably ten trips in the last few years and -the occasional self induced migraine aside- every one of them has been a blast.

One of the unexpected side benefits of this has been the forming of friendships that go beyond just operating at Rick's place a time or two each year. I've been on dxpeditions to J6 and PJ2 with some of the ops I've met here.

So short of having my own home station again, it's really been the best of both worlds, as it were!