I was originally licensed in 1963 with the assistance of W3BP of Potomac, MD.  My novice call was KN3FUG. In 1964 I upgraded to General, K3FUG, at the Washington, DC FCC offices. My station during this period was a homebrew 6L6 transmitter with three 40m crystals and a BC 455 receiver converted to 120VAC. This station was ultimately upgraded to a DX20 TX and a 75A1 RX.  In 1965 I went off to college and was QRT for 32 years.  My license lapsed in 1974 -- the demands of school, the service (US Army, Loc Ninh 1970-1971), work, grad school, family, and career did not allow time for radio.  In 1997, never having lost interest in radio communications,  I  took the Tech+ exam. The new call was KG4ADU.  By 1998 I had taken the General, Advanced, and Extra exams and the new call was AF4PP. In 2008, I applied for a vanity call with a minimal CW weight -- AE4O.  I am 99% a CW operator and mostly operate weekends, often as a casual contester either QRP or LP.  The primary rigs are an Omni 6 and a K2 both to wire antennas. 72/73, Chuck