WRPM984

i  am a single mature man. I have had interest in radio and electronics since teen years. I served the US Marines as a field radioman, using the prc-25 field radio. My step father was a ham for many years with a nice ham shack and tower. I was impressed by the contact cards all around his walls from all over the world, he passed on in '93. Ham radio was a very expensive hobby, living in apartments i stayed in cb radio. I could mount a portable antenna on the balcony and get out a signal. I studied electronics and became a certified tech for consumer products, most notably tv/vcr, and worked as a repair tech., operating a business for a decade. I also became an ASE certified auto tech. which led me into digital electronics and computer systems. I studied a correspondence course in digital. I had a bench with oscilloscopes, signal generators, frequency counters, dvom, and more. I experienced a life change due divorce in my 40's and became a truck driver. recently i discovered the advances in ham radio by researching the term "boafeng" that many are talking about. I see that with handhelds can do so much with minimal investment, this reignited my interest in ham radio, so i am learning and pursuing this hobby, interested in setting up a gmrs node at home and hot spot for mobile use through phone in truck. I study to take tech test and advance. i own uvr5, uv5g/uv5x, wouxan kg-uv9d mate i just listen to. have learned to program radios using chirp and radio reference programmer.