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Bill Hicks, VE7DGM was first licensed while living in Baden Sollingen, Germany in Feb 1976. He had passed an extensive Amateur Radio course at the Lahr Amateur Radio Club and due to the distance from Canada, was issued with a provisional license, pending his availability to take the Canadian Government tests. 

He operated in Germany as DA1MH, under a reciprocal licensing agreement until he left in 1981. During this time, in the summer of 1978, the Department of Communications was invited to visit and test about 20 Amateurs holding provisional licenses. Bill was successful in receiving his Amateur license and was invited at the same time, to take his Advanced Amateur test.
After his 5 year stay in Europe, he moved to Chilliwack, British Columbia , located in the heart of the Fraser Valley, about 100 km east of Vancouver. Bill was a member of the Chilliwack Amateur Radio Club until his departure in 1988, when he once again, returned to Europe.
This next tour was from 1988-1993 and during this time he held the Reciprocal Call DA2HK (he tried for DA1MH but it apparently was not available). Once again, Bill became a member of the Lahr Amateur Radio Club. In his second year with the club, he took over as the Club President and retained that title for 3 years. 

Hamming in Europe was great fun and gave Bill the opportunity to participate in many Ham related activities such as; the largest Ham Fest in Europe, at Friedrichshofen, Germany, Canada Week in Knokke-Heist Belgium operating the special event station ON4CLM (Canadian Liberation March), mini DXpeditions to Liechtenstein and other countries, Christmas dinner with the German Club from Lahr and many, many more interesting events.
Just before Christmas 1990, Bill left for the Gulf War and was stationed in Doha, Qatar where he operated as VE7DGM/A7. Bill was accompanied by two other Amateurs (VE4AIR & VE7GCK) and during the three months that they were operational, thousands of contacts and many local ham friends were made. A71CD Ahmed Alsayyed, was a frequent visitor to Bill's location at Canada Dry 1, likewise Bill was always welcomed at Ahmed's home and made visits there as often as possible. Ahmed was just starting in Packet radio and had many questions, Bill likewise had many questions about Amateur Radio in the Gulf region. Bill was one of the last returning soldiers from Qatar, arriving in Lahr Germany and home on 21 April 1991.

In the summer of 1993 Bill and his family returned home from Canadian Forces Europe for the last time, saddened at the fact that Canadians were pulling out of a lengthy commitment to NATO and they would no longer have the chance to return. Two of Bill's children were born at the Canadian Forces Hospital in Lahr and that would be remembered forever.
At the end, the Lahr Amateur Radio Club moved to a new location (the Old Airfield Fire hall) from it's home of almost 20 years in the Gutenberg Junior School annex. The Hams from the local Lahr German club would sorely be missed, they had been a part of Bill's social surroundings for a total of 11 years. They were a vast source of technical knowledge and there were some warm friendships that would be missed. But, the world keeps turning and life continues.
So, back to Canada and the capital of British Columbia - Victoria. Stationed at Rocky Point, Bill soon became a member of the CFB Esquimalt, Base Amateur Radio Service (BARS), where he has held the positions of President, Secretary and Treasurer. Bill has participated in many activities while in the club, some of which were; The Special Event Station (CG7V) celebrating the Commonwealth Games, Field Days at Mary Hill and many contests from the excellent Club facilities. (see the photos section)
Bill's first ham shack when he returned to Canada in 1993 was located in Colwood just minutes north west of Victoria, British Columbia. He would remain in Colwood for a couple of years before finally retiring from the Military and moving to Sidney, BC (by the sea). Again only minutes from Victoria, only this time due north about 20km. 

Now living in Sidney, Bill had to leave his post as the PEP Municipal Amateur Coordinator (MAC) for Colwood but was talked into taking over as PEP's Regional Amateur Radio Rep (RARR) for Southern Vancouver Island. The following year, Bill had to make some personal changes and PEP lost him, but it did give him more time to spend with BARS. He became their Newsletter editor and Web Master. You can view the BARS web page and see the results for yourself.
In April of 2000, Industry Canada changed the process by which they license Hams in Canada and as there would be no more yearly license fees Bill decided to request a second call. Bill had been a Regimental Quarter Master Sergeant (RQMS) or as they were commonly called RQ, several times during the latter part of his military career. Because this was a very prestigious position, he became attached to the nickname RQ. So, when requesting a secondary call he was delighted that VA7RQ was available and scooped it up quite quickly. Bill plans to make a gradual change to his new call and will probably keep his old call for his packet and E-mail addresses.  

In October 2002 Bill was elected the President of the Base Amateur Radio Service and re-elected in Oct 2003. 

After many years of cajoling Bill took over as the MACC for Sidney in 2005, he is a member of SPARC (the Saanich Peninsula ARC), a communications volunteer with PS&EPC and an active member of the Canadian Forces Affiliate Radio System. 

During an Annual trip to Alberta in February 2007, Bill and his wife Doreen spotted an acreage just west of Chauvin Alberta that they thought would make an excellent retirement home and "Ham Radio Paradise" (5 acres of antennas, yes!) Bill and Doreen purchased the land and left for Chauvin and the wilds of Alberta on the 22nd of June 2007. Bill exchanged his VA7RQ call sign for VA6RQ, hopefully there will be a mess of VE6's to talk to in the local area. Sure enough there are, Lloydminster is a hotbed of Ham Radio activity and in no time Bill becomes a member of the SARC, Sask/Alta Radio Club. Hopefully, Bill will be able to bring some interesting new perspectives to SARC in the coming years. 

At the same time, the village of Chauvin has asked Bill to become their Director of Emergency Managment and although Bill would have preferred to be the Emergency Communications Manager, he has accepted the DEM position until they can find someone better qualified, at which point he will concentrate on the Emergency Communications side of things.

More to Come, I hope.

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