Welcome to Michael Burkhardt's Ham Radio Shacketeria

December 13, 2005 --- Looking for the Morse Code to Wave file generator? It's moved to our Geek Tools site. The source code is also available for download.

December 9, 2005 --- I've migrated to a new hosting provider. As part of the move, the structure of this site has changed slightly. In addition, all of the underlying code that makes the site go has been ported to a new language and mistakes are likely to have been made. Please let me know about any problems so that I can correct them right away.

Welcome to my website! I have been a licensed radio amateur since 1984, shortly before my thirteenth birthday. My father (K8HLB^*) was very active in those days, and I used to sit in the shack with him and listen as he banged out CW at what seemed like an impossibly fast speed.

Thus, my fascination with radio was born. I got my Novice class license (on the second try) and was rewarded with my very own QSL cards. You couldn't tear me away from the shack after that! I quickly earned my General and Advanced class tickets in 1985 and 1986, respectively.

In 2000, I earned my Extra class license with 20WPM code. To prepare for the written test, I wrote a little web based application that generated written practice exams. These were designed to closely simulate the real thing. Well, I've spent the last several years refining and improving the online practice tests, and they are the main reason for this site. There are a few other fun and interesting things here, too, so take a few minutes and have a look around.

* WB8LPN way back then