User data

KW9D

First name:

Andrew

Blessing

Address:

3906 Watertown LN

61705

United States

QSL via:

Bureau, Direct mail, LOTW, QRZ

User info

From: QRZ.com

www.qrz.com/db/KW9D

Last Updated: Jan 3, 2025

I was raised and grew up in southeast Indiana, just outside Brookville, Indiana. I graduated from Franklin County High School (FCHS) in 1996. I went on to study at Indiana State University and graduated cum laude with a double bachelor's in Mathematics and Computer Science. I work professionally within Information Security at a large financial services company.

I ended up taking a late interest in amateur radio and was originally licensed as KC9TAL in 2010. After completing the General Class test, I applied for the vanity callsign KN9YEA in 2011, which was my father's novice callsign in 1961.  In the spring of 2016, I passed my Extra classes exam and applied for KW9D, my late father's call sign for 20 years.

My shack has been an ongoing project for the past couple of years, with it constantly evolving to a more mature setup as I explore the hobby.  I enjoy portable QRP operation, operating digital weak signal modes like FT8, and chasing some light DX chasing in the evenings after the family has retired for the evening. I hope to eventually learn CW at some point in the future. 

I am an Assistant Scout Master (ASM) for Boy Scout Troop 920, located in Bloomington, IL. During campouts and other troop activities, I try to find opportunities to share the fun and excitement of Amateur Radio.

For the past few years, I've been involved with High Altitude Balloon (HAB) launches in the spring season (before planting) through a STEM mentoring program. We custom build and launch payloads up to 100,000+ feet containing go-pro cameras, data loggers, and other experiments.  We track the payloads throughout their flight using APRS on 2m. 

I am married and have a set of boy-girl twins (born 2009) with my wife. We have friends and family (non-military) in South Korea.

73 de KW9D, Andrew