Hi Howard,
Thanks for the welcome, I almost said thanks for the QSo. When I first got 
on I was a tech.  my first radio was a Drake TR22 C I think.  that was back 
in the 70's. it was a crystal rig, I think they called them rock bound.  I 
might be wrong about that.  I later moved to a moble home where I had a 10 
meter antenna and the sun spot cycle was in my favor.  I later upgraded to a 
general class liscense and I got a Kenwood. TS 440 I think it was.  that was 
a wonderful radio.  I really enjoyed working 40 meters.  I have tried 
recently to work some on 2 meters and some on 440 but haven't found to much 
going on.  I now live in an apartment.  so I am quite restricted.  also, 
back in the days of doss, I was using a speech program called ASAP. it had a 
built in feature called ham calls I think it was.  I had a t&c hooked from 
my computer to my radio where I worked some RTTY.  That was a lot of fun to 
be able to do that.  I am looking forward to trying some of the new opsions. 
I will have to admit I have a lot to learn.
well, again, thanks for the welcome.
Bill Deatherage