Comparitively new to the world of ham radio, I've been jumping right in. I received my Technician license in December 2014 aftering taking a class by John Tucker WB8ZVV at the Red Cross in Kalamazoo. Soon followed with my General upgrade in March 2015 at the Crossroads Hamfest in Kalamazoo. I'm currently studying for my Extra - might as well knock them all out.
Since being licensed I've had several really great folks in the community elmer me along. I don't think I would have experienced as much in radio without the care and oversight of some very fine people. I now call many of these people friends and I look forward to making many more in the years to come.
Recently I've been delving into the world of digital radio with a Raspberry Pi 3 + MMDVM modem. Paired with that I'm using an Icom ID-51 Plus and Yaesu FT1DR to access both the D-Star and YSF networks. For FM I'm using a Wouxun KG-UV920P (suprisingly a very good little radio) and Kenwood TM-281.