I can find no photos of two other ham shacks between the third mobile home and my present shack.
In 1976 I bought my first house, abandoning the mobile home life for good. I insulated and finished the attic in the two-story cape cod, and built a shack in one of the rooms. I sold my previous equipment and bought a Kenwood TS-520 transceiver.
Around 1978 I applied for a 1x2 call sign, and received N4CF, giving up WA4HQW I'd had since 1962.
I sold the house in 1983 when I married Louise and moved to the Chicago area, where she lived. We were both pursuing careers, so ham radio took a back seat.
In 1987 we moved to Raleigh, NC, and I set up the TS-520 in our house there, along with an inverted-vee antenna for 40M and 20M.
That shack lasted until 1990, when we adopted daughter Michelle. Miranda's adoption in 1992 ensured my time was largely devoted to raising a family, so the TS-520 went into a box for the next 20 years. I sold it around 2012, thinking that ham radio had been replaced with other hobbies. Little did I know! This website is proof that the ham radio bug bit again.
Updated March 27, 2024