I was born in Cairo, Egypt and have lived in around twenty countries in my life.  I received a degree in electrical engineering from The Johns Hopkins University and in eventually started my own company which specialized in data fusion systems built around GPS tracking - primarily for government and military customers.  After a 17 year successful run, I sold the company and retired in 2014.  I've decided to settle in Costa Rica and what started as a small station to keep my hand in ham radio has now turned into a strong contesting station.

I received my ham radio license at age 15 while in Baltimore, Maryland.  My first call was WA3ZNJ and I put up a bunch of antennas at my/ my parents QTH.  I hope I am as open to the idea of wires and aluminum everywhere if my son decides to become a ham at a young age! Hopefully I will still have my own antennas up then to share.  After graduating from college and working overseas all over the Far East, I returned to Maryland and eventually settled in Sparks, just north of Baltimore.  My station there was competitive, and built around a single AN Wireless HD-90 free standing tower.  I ended up liking the AN Wireless towers so much that I exported two of them to Costa Rica for my TI5/N3KS station.  I have since dismantled my Sparks, MD QTH and am now operating exclusively from my home in Costa Rica as TI5/N3KS and in contests as TI7W.

I am am member of the Potomac Valley Radio Club as well as the ARRL.  

I have learned quite a few things from ham radio, and more importantly from the people I have met in this hobby.  I'd like to call out a few because the were important to me.  1)  I learned from WX3B that there are people who truly love the hobby and want to share it as much as they can.  2) I learned from W3LPL that a world class contesting station can be built by hand. 3) I learned from K3LP that generosity and DXpeditions can go hand in hand.  4) I (re)learned from N4YDU that nice guys can finish first. 5) I learned from KL9A that even the most talented contesters can still work harder to prepare than everybody else. There are many other ham radio friends who I learned a lot from, and I thank them all.

Fortune smiled my way and gave me an opportunity to compete in the 2014 WRTC held in Boston.  My partner N4YDU and I essentially met just before the contest, but had a great time and started a friendship that still endures.  We will have another go at it in Germany for WRTC 2018!