Field Days provided a great opportunity to learn many aspects of amateur radio, and it was an awesome training ground for learning and honing contesting techniques. I had the added advantage of working Field Day next to some of the world’s now-best-known DXers and contesters, who I’m still proud to call friends and role models.

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After a few years’ absence from amateur radio, I got back in the saddle with a 100-watt Kenwood TS870S, and a Mosley TA53M + 40 meter add-on dipole on a 48-foot HDBX tower in east central Phoenix, Arizona. I was fortunate to be invited to guest op at the QTH of K8IA, Bob Epstein, a seasoned and enthusiastic contester, and former Contest Coordinator for CADXA. My first-ever 80 meter and 160 meter contacts were made from his QTH. Little did I know, those first years of experiences at digging out and working weak-signal stations with my modest first rig and antenna would pay off on 80 and 160.