Fine Business

[K7RNO]

Great idea to start a forum not in the USA. As it shows now, that means instant diversity.
I am a diverse person myself, being a German expat living in the USA, with close ties to Italy as well. As a ham, I consider myself to be brand new, in business since February this year 2013.
I do have some radio background as an op in the West-German Navy, which gave me a wonderful education in Morse code about 40 years ago. Today, that is my preferred (actually, my only) code on HF. I do have a mic but have never used it on HF, only on VHF.

I can only work portable, so my antenna situation is never as ideal as I would like it, but I am making contacts. For June of next year I am planning to visit some of the Greek islands, will bring my gear and hope to talk to many of the European hams here.

My HF rig is a KX3 and I use either a ZS6BKW up in some tree or the AlexLoop (which I will bring to Greece). I am only using a straight key (Junker).

73 to all, and hopefully a contact here and there before next June!

Arno, K7RNO

[W1SFR]

Hi Arno,

Good to see you here on the forum. Look up my bio on QRZ. VERY similar to yours. Hope to work you some day soon.

72
Steve, W1SFR

[LB6BG]

Hi Arno.
Nice to meet a German expat on this forum. It could be hard to meet you on the bands with QRP, but you never know.
I am also a German expat - and I was also in the German Navy (1965 to 1977), amoung others I was a "Segeloffizier" on the three-mast bark "Gorch Fock".
I got married to a Norwegian girl, and we emigrated to Norway in 1977. I worked as the Safety and Security Manager on the Ekofisk Oil Field in the middle of the North Sea.
I am qrv 90% in CW, whereof about 30% with QRP or QRPp.
You can see/read more about me here:
http://www.qrz.com/db/LA5SAA
and:
http://www.hundehobby.com/mike/miket.html

Herzliche Grüsse und ein frohes Weihnachtsfest!
Mick, LA5SAA ex DJ8EP 

[K7RNO]

Hi Steve, thank you for the welcome. I've seen your wonderful goodies for the KX3 before. Nice work!
I posted some pictures on the KX3 Yahoo group (my album is Tinker, tinker) with an idea to hang the KX3 on the spreader bars of my tripod. Might give you some ideas (or not).
I just built a high-tech straight key, almost as precise as my Junker (DBGM), hihi. It is also in my album on the Yahoo group.

I envy you for your post on that island there. Man, a dream! And yes, would be great to work you some day.

Grüß dich, Mick, thanks for saying Hi. We were together in the Navy at the same time then for a while, me from 67 to 71. My father had also been with the Kriegsmarine (radio op on torpedo boat) and he was always raving about the Gorch Fock. I had seen her in Kiel but never set foot on her deck. I was on two destroyers (Z2, and commissioning crew on Rommel), two landing craft and at Glücksburg DHJ58. Also ex DBOV, DDYR and others that I forgot. Good times.

Frohe Weihnachten und bald einen guten Rutsch!
73 de Arno K7RNO

PS: Mick, you were just two numbers ahead of me on SKCC (11131 here). Small world! I recently had a QSO with SKCC #10000, K9DLT. What a lucky guy!