Hi, my name is Eddie, your HAM radio Friend!

I thought of telling you a little bit about myself, my story, who I am, where I’m from… 

I was born in Miami FL in the mid-50s

I was raised by my Mother and Father.

I grew up with two older brothers and a younger brother.   Yap…. no sisters! LOL

Miami until  mid-teens

During my first school years, I was going to a public school, then transferred to a catholic school for the 5th and 6th grades, in Florida

Ham Radio curiosity.

I was always interested when I saw people communicating with a radio

I was thinking maybe someday I would have my own radio.

Moved to NY late teens 

My father moved to NY to get work

The following year my mom and my two brothers and I moved to NY in the Long Island area to join him (one of my older brother passed away at a young age… ).

I Graduated  from Bohemia NY high school in 1974.

Then in September of 1974, I attended  Suffolk Community College, Selden, NY “where I did not graduate… I know… bummer! “

I played a lot of ping pong in the school and campus games room. That was then my main hobby (and I was pretty good at it !!!)

While there, I noticed security personal communicating with their radios on the college campus

Again my interest for radio communication was renewed’

Taxi driver 

While in NY, I was a taxi driver for a few years

I used their radio in the car to communicate with the dispatcher.

Wow, that certainly kept my interest HIGH for radios, CBs and all that was related to communication through radios….

Met CB radio friends

I remember meeting a friend at the top of a high hill overlooking the lake.

He had a CB radio.

This radio was Am with Upper and Lower sideband

I sat in the car with him while he was making contacts on AM and upper and Lower sidebands. Again my interest was renewed and intensified…and I decided to “get into it”!

Bought my first CB radio.

I remember my first CB radio very well, it was an Hr 2510 for 10 and 11 meters 25 Watts, also with upper and lower sideband like my friend had

This was fun because I was listening and making contacts locally and in different parts of the Us.

Assistant Manager at a “quick oil change” company.

I left the Taxi driving job and went to work for an oil change company as a lube technician.

Then I was promoted to Assistant Manager within a few months.

Got married

I got married to my then girlfriend.

We lived in Long Island for a years while I was continuing to work as an assistant manager

Moved back to South Florida

We moved to South Florida, in Boca Raton, because she wanted to be near her sister & sister’s husband.

And because of the warm weather and better job opportunities.

I was transferred to South Florida by my job, still as an Assistant Manager.

Ham radio license 

I studied hard, got my first technician ham radio license

Within 2 months I got my general class license

And then 1 month later I got my extra class license

First Ham radio

I bought my first ham radio which was a DualBand handheld Radio.

Ham radio meetings

I attended ham radio meetings every month, It was great to meet other ham operators, exchange, learn, and just plain have a good time!

Divorce

Sadly, we got divorced 2 years later. We have always remained good friends, my ex-wife is a terrific person.

At the time, I was still working in Management for the same company.

I met my second girlfriend after that, and we moved to Miami..

Two years later I moved out and we went each our own ways

I was now then living with my brothers in Cooper City FL… one bit with one and one bit with the other one while I was looking for a place of my own!!!

Remarried

This is when I met Kim, (now my wife) on an online dating service.

Within 6 months we were married.

Interest in DMR radio

I was watching videos on DMR ham radio and I got interested.in digital communications wich is part of ham radio.

First DMR radio

In December of 2009, I opened a Christmas present box from my wife and it was a Baofeng 1801 DMR Analog ham radio

Learning curve

I spent the next several hours that turned into days learning ALL there was to learn about my new Communication system, programming it, first contacts, so much new “stuff”, I could now TALK, not just only listen!!! 

Yap!!! Lots of time spent online searching for Websites, and lots of time chatting with other Ham operators, to learn and make friends!

Ham radio Blog

Later on, I started writing reviews on handheld ham radios and exchanging with other ham operators that were just getting started..  They all had lots of questions about CBs and Hams, so 

I decided to start to blog about it to help them out the best I could.

Ham Radio Website

Now you know the rest!  

Here I am, with a Website, trying to answer and help as many operators as I can…

I hope you will get your questions answered and if not.. Please please send me your questions and concerns through my email.  

I don’t pretend to know it all, I keep learning… but what I don’t know I will find out and get back to you, one way or another!  

If you do already have your call sign, PLEASE SHARE SO WE CAN CHAT !!!

My call sign is N4VZY,    I hope to talk to you soon!

Enjoy!

Eddie your Ham Radio Friend!  🙂