I am particularly drawn to amateur radio activities that involve interesting, unusual, and marginal propagation, and radio bands that exhibit such propagation characteristics. I get most excited by VHF weak signal operation, taking advantage of Tropo, Sporadic-E, Aurora, and meteor scatter propagation. I also love DX-ing on the HF bands, in particular the low bands. My favourite bands are 6m, 2m, 10m, 80m, and 160m, and my favourite mode is CW, though I operate SSB/AM and digital modes (mainly on VHF) too.
I am also very interested in the history and development of radio and telegraphy, and love aspects of radio operating that are rooted in that history -- casual low-band CW operating, AM operating, traffic handling & structured/formal operating, homebrew radio, etc.
I decided to get my amateur radio license when I was in grad school in 2012. I had been at UBC for about a year, and was due for a distraction. My interest in radio goes back much further, though. I can remember going to my grandfather's cottage in the summers where he had a beautiful Telefunken shortwave radio that he had bought in Germany when he was stationed there in the 50's. We would listen to stations from all over the world, and I thought it was just the coolest. I can also remember staying up late in my bedroom as a kid, listening to AM broadcast stations coming up the East coast from Boston and New York. In 2010, while doing my undergrad degree in Montreal, I got thinking about shortwave radio and had probably done some reading on the internet, and set out to buy a Grundig shortwave radio. I had a great time with it, DX'ing broadcast stations, finding pirate signals, coming across a few number stations, and eventually figuring out how to listen to the hams using SSB. I can remember a time that I brought my Grundig home with me when I visited for Christmas. I heard all kinds of ham SSB activity on that trip, and I suppose that was when the seed was planted.