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I
would have been a ham many years earlier but the two hams I knew in
highschool were more involved with girls and sports than "elmering" me
into their hobby. So, I had to wait until after VietNam and until I was
in college. I still remember how much I envied Cliff and Gary back in
high school. But Fate was good to me and I survived a tour through
VietNam as a Marine and was finally licensed in 1973, as WN5KHC in Ada,
Oklahoma.
My first rig was a Drake 2NT and 2C receiver
that I bought second hand. My antenna was a simple home brew
multi-band dipole hung between trees in Pecan Valley south of Ada,
Oklahoma. Because we lived in a valley under mature pecan trees I
didn't do very well getting out but I made a few contacts, learned
code and net procedures. I was frequently Net Control Station for the
Oklahoma Slow Speed Net on 3735Kc and earned my Assistant Route
Manager Certificate which still hangs on my wall. Most of my contacts
were local hams within 500 miles; I never earned WAS, WAC or worked a
DX station from my old QTH. Now that I reflect upon it; that was
probably due to a combination of my home brew antennas, poor location
and perhaps low sensitivity in the used Drake 2C receiver.
But, I had fun and learned to
love CW and
earned my ARRL 30 WPM Code Proficiency issued to me while still a
Novice. Another prized certificate that hangs on my wall.
Much of my appreciation of CW came at the fist of Hal, WN5KNK, an old railroad telegrapher who could send CW like music! I could hear 3-4 characters while tuning the bands and recognize Hal's distinctive fist and soon we would be off on another long rag chew. I lost contact with Hal when I went QRT after college. I realize now the loss of this friend. Since coming back active I have encountered 2 hams from the seventies - what a thrill it was to run into them and have them remember ME. Hams have a strong bond of friendship!
I thought I had done something when I finally went to the FCC field office in Oklahoma City and passed my General exam. A whole new set of frequencies opened up to me. I had purchased an outboard TenTec VFO to replace my crystals. I still remember the tiny knobs on the vfo that hurt my fingers when I wanted to change frequencies. CW was the only mode I could work due to my equipment but I never thought I was missing anything. All my friends were on CW and I didn't know anyone with a SSB station. Boy, I sure wish I had that old station back - brings back memories just thinking about it.
After college I took a position with an electronics company, and traveled extensively (I was "on the road" more than 300 days a year) covering 13 states in the central US. I think I knew all Holiday Inn and Ramada Inn staff by their first name from Canada to Mexico. With the pressures of a new career and many hours spent in hotels or chasing airplanes; I lost interest in ham radio. We didn't have small QRP rigs then. Oh, I tried a few times, lugging a rig and power supply and a couple wire dipoles around but it was just impractical and by the time you got setup you were too exhausted to make any contacts. I remained "off the air" except for a very brief stint into packet radio in the early 1990s. I was already into computers and the Internet so packet held little excitement for me. I neglected to do sufficient research before investing in equipment. Sad mistake that - cost me quite a sum of money and time.
But, I kept my license active; just in case I decided to return.
One day, while sitting with my wife I made an idle comment about being "bored". Sue told me I needed to "get a hobby". We discussed our options and did some research on what was available. Soon we went to the only remaining ham store remaining in the Dallas Ft Worth metroplex. I reactivated my station in July 1998 and purchased new equipment and antennas. I started with an Icom 746 and a Gap Titan DX Vertical which I installed on the roof. Never once did I suffer a disparaging remark about the antenna we put in the middle of the roof; highly visible from the drive as you approached the front door. Fact is, I could not have assembled and installed it without Sue's help.
The next year, for my birthday, Sue presented me with a new FT817 and a Outbacker Outreach antenna with the Outpost tripod. Now, not only had I returned to my favorite hobby and found it to be MORE fun than it was when I was first licensed but I just discovered QRP and the ability to work portable. My eyes were opened to several whole new facets of ham radio. I immediately joined FISTS, QRP-ARCI, the Adventure Radio Society and the Flying Pigs QRP Clubs.
I was having fun, had found and joined a local ham club and found that I no longer had to go to the FCC field office to upgrade my license. I had been satisfied with my General Class license for 27 years but by passing the Extra exam I would have new areas of bandwidth to explore. Shortly after joining a local ham club I upgraded my license to Extra Class. I am also an active VE for ARRL and W5YI.
My ONLY mode is CW. Working QRP portable or QRPp is even more of a thrill! All our antennas can be switched and used sitting outside on the patio, in the SUV on the driveway or from an easy chair under the trees on the front lawn. I work CW 99.98% of the time but do venture over to the phone sub bands to pickup a special event or a DX station a couple times a year. It takes me very little time to realize the difference between CW ops and fone fanatics. I can look at a microphone and get nervous, tongue-tied and at a loss for words. Some of those guys MUST have been vaccinated with a phonograph needle the way they can ramble on an on and on and never really say anything. But they are carrying on a QSO and someone is enjoying the rag chew. I stand in awe of some of these guys. Upon returning to the CW sub bands it is like pulling on that ragged flannel shirt; it's comfortable and it feels good! CW has always been my ONLY choice of operating mode.
My friend, Charles, N5CRC, complained at a ham club meeting that he would NEVER learn code, hated it, no one had ever followed-up on their promise to help him learn code yada yada yada .... I listened to this for a couple meetings and for some reason decided to take Charles on as a challenge. I invited him to come to my home and told him to be ready to learn code, MY WAY. Nearly everyday we would spend an hour or two me sending code characters and Charles and my XYL, Sue, copying; or trying to. I taught them the "easy" characters the first few days and ended the sessions "force feeding" them the "hard" characters and the ones they nearly always missed over and over and over till they finally got it right. I also sent characters at about 15-20 WPM. The results of this were the fun of teaching someone a new language and enjoying the time we spent sitting around talking about ham radio. Twelve days later my friend and my wife BOTH passed their code test.
Unfortunately my friend did not develop an interest in CW; he only learned it to pass his General Exam. But, in the year since earning his General, he has earned WAS, WAC, DXCC and has worked 3032 counties out of 3077 counties in the United States (I didn't know how many counties there were in the USA but Charles KNEW how many there were). My XYL is having too much fun on 10mtr SSB exchanging 10-10 numbers and hunting special event stations. Sue's call is AD5JS; she earned her Extra Class license shortly after making General.
PSSSSSST !!! There is nothing better than having your XYL carrying a ham license when you go to the "toy store". That high-end rig is not so elusive when your XYL knows she will get to play with it too... >> Sue bought the beam antenna we both use and I got her an Icom 706MkIIG for her shack.
I'm glad I returned to ham radio as it is now more exciting. There is more to do with much more powerful equipment and we now have computers to log on QSO's and to generate our personalized unique QSL's.
If you wish to make contact via the Internet, I have four Instant Messenger clients available -- ICQ is 196617, Yahoo and AOL are both WB5KHC, and MSN is WB5KHC@MSN.NET.
My equipment is better. I have more bandwidth available. But, I sure miss the always crowded bands and the many many CW operators from the early 1970's.
THANK YOU for our contact!
73 & 72
Tom,
WB5KHC
Past
Contest Manager for QRP ARCI - 2004
