About Me



Rickie Traeger

rickie, traeger, rick, ricky, rickie, ricki, trayger, treager, hike, rock cut, state park, park, nature, hiking, illinois, 2018,

Hike at Rock Cut State Park, March 2018. 28 degrees and me bundled up in layers and enjoying nature. Gopro 6 style!

Welcome to the ABOUT ME page on my website.

Mottos I Live By: 

  • Never Bite A Hand That Feeds You
  • Trust No One  (By Fox Mulder on X-Files)
  • Don’t Give Up, Don’t Ever Give Up
  • Don’t Raise Your Voice, Improve Your Argument
  • Try Not To Be A Person Of Success, But A Person Of Value
  • Without Hard Work, Nothing Grows But Weeds
  • Opportunities Don’t Happen, You Create Them
  • Be A Voice, Not An Echo
  • Confidence is Silent, Insecurities Are Loud
  • You can strip a man of all his belongings, but you can never strip a man of his knowledge

Hike at Rock Cut State Park, March 2018. 28 degrees and me bundled up in layers and enjoying nature. Gopro 6 style!

As you probably already figured out my name is Rickie. My ham radio call-sign is WX9RLT.  I like to storm chase, photography, hiking, stargazing, paranormal investigating, listening to music, watching some of my favorite TV shows, reading non-fiction, ham radio, etc…  I guess I do have a lot of hobbies.

I am into the paranormal. I have had a few experiences over the years. I have an open mind to things. I created a paranormal investigating group many years ago and have done numerous paranormal investigations over the years.  I think my highlight just happened recently. I got to meet and briefly chat with Jim Penniston.  I was awake a looooong time, so I was extremely tired. But I wasn’t about to pass up that up, and I was able to meet him. He also autographed his book for me. Which I am currently reading, and highly recommend.

I created (still working on it) the paranormal page ~ CLICK HERE

I like doing photography! I love photographing nature and aircraft. I don’t think of myself as  a pro photographer. But many of my peers feel that I am. I do know many people admire my photos and some of them have been posted literally worldwide. As I sit here writing this, I am thinking about just how honored I am to have had my stuff posted worldwide. I don’t think much of it, I just know I love doing nature and aircraft photography.

Some of my photos at – CLICK HERE

I love storm chasing and the weather. Probably the only thing I have yet to experience is a hurricane. I have enjoyed the weather for as long as I can remember. I got into storm chasing to help others. I enjoy helping others and I just long the sheer beauty of a good severe thunderstorm! The smell of fresh rain, the sights of the clouds building as the storm develops, the lightning stretch across the sky/or crashing into the ground, the sounds of a thunderstorm is pure soothing.  I am a apart of SKYWARN and am a net control operator if I am not out chasing.

Storm chasing page at – CLICK HERE

I am into ham radio. My callsign is WX9RLT. I am usually am on 146.520. I enjoy a good long ragchew. I like to trade qsl cards while on hf. I am simple, as they say 100 watts and a wire. I figure I would keep it simple. I have broken many pileups on hf with just a 100 watts and a wire. Then again, not able to as well, LOL.  I don’t hear much dx, but I have worked Antarctica before! I think of all my most memorable contacts, it would of been my very 1st hf contact which was an airshow on Halloween, and then the Antarctica contact.  I enjoy ham radio and ragchewing. Look forward to talking to you on the air!

Ham radio page at ~ CLICK HERE

I am going to stop writing, and I will continue later on. So be sure to check back later!