Gregory Drezdzon is a Federal Communications Commission licensed amateur radio operator who holds a General Class license as WD9FTZ.

Having earned his license while in high school, Drezdzon learned Morse code with the aid of records, plus he built a code practice oscillator from scratch.

Always thinking that “fast” code was out of reach, Drezdzon did manage to improve and up his code speed to 13 wpm, thereby elevating him to the General Class license he holds today.

In the early days of computers, Drezdzon wrote a database utility that assisted him in contests, and was able to print out log sheets long before commercial logging programs became popular. Not only were his logs more readable than handwritten ones, but Drezdzon was also able to parse the data for any duplicates thereby aiding in accuracy.

Drezdzon’s favorite modes are digital data including radio teletype (RTTY), FT8 including others. Drezdzon also uses analog along with Digital Mobile Radio (DMR) for voice communications.

Drezdzon has mentored others earn their amateur radio licenses, and assisted fellow operators embrace newer technology such as DMR, including helping with codeplug writing.

For several years, Drezdzon has been a contributing author to the American Radio Relay League’s (ARRL) Ohio Section weekly newsletter including writing and photography, plus has generated dozens of story ideas of interest for the radio community.

Drezdzon has also placed and set new radio contest records, and is a life member of the ARRL.

Drezdzon is a news photographer and a Federal Aviation Administration certified commercial pilot, flight instructor-instrument, and advanced ground instructor.

On a side note, Drezdzon’s ham license and radio experience aided Drezdzon in obtaining a full-time staff photographer position at a state-wide newspaper after college. Having a 2-way radio on the Press Relay frequencies, at the time, this set Drezdzon apart from other applicants for the job.

So, one never knows what opportunities being a ham radio operator can bring!