I was first interested in amateur radio when I was a kid, after seeing a segment about it on a TV show, "Big Blue Marble" I think it was.

 

I was always interested in taking things apart and "experimenting".  One Christmas I got a "150 in 1" from radio shack.  It had 150 different wiring diagrams, everything from sirens to sound amplifiers.  Included in that kit was a basic CW key with Morse code printed on it.  That was were my fascination with CW started.

 

When I got out of the Army I decided to get my amateur license.  I learned code in the military so all I needed to do was study for the written test.  I passed the 20 wpm code (that made me very popular) and General exam at that first test session.

 

I got into amateur radio with one thing in mind, Homebrew, QRP/CW from remote locations.

 

After being out of the hobby for many years I was pleasantly surprised to Find SOTA (Thanks to a presentation by Steve, KY7K).  SOTA embodied everything I always wanted to do in the hobby and I dove right in.