Now that the ARRL Centennial QSO Party is over, and while we wait for new software releases, please indulge me for a thread just for fun. I hope it will not be objectionable.
Reflecting upon the FLEX ad/picture depicting the thrill of discovery in amateur radio, my question is.... What have been some of your greatest thrills in amateur radio?
I will begin with some from my own list...
1) Building my own Knight Kit Star Roamer II shortwave receiver kit as an 8th grader before I got my license. Listening to the Voice of America's "Breakfast Show" at night was a thrill that lit the fire of my interest in Ham Radio.
2) Discovering how to use the BFO and bandspread to listen to some local hams on 75 Meters.
3) Running home from school 1/2 a mile each day during lunch hour to check the mail after taking my novice exam. After 6 weeks finally getting the letter with my new call - WN9OAG - age 14, freshman in High School.
4) My first contact... 80 Meter CW in the afternoon after school. I still remember the name - Ettie Wells (Same last name as mine, no relation) Hattiesburg, MS. I was using a borrowed ARC-5 Transmitter and my new Allied A2516 Superhet receiver ($99 at Allied Radio in Indianapolis) My used Globe Scout 65 that I bought while studying for my ticket had a bad resistor in the 6L6 oscillator circuit. I fixed it myself with guidance from my "elmer" over the phone.
5) Busting a pileup with a C6H on 6 Meter SSB as a sophomore using a 4 element beam I had made myself out of electrical conduit.
6) Doing code practice in my college dorm on a military surplus R-392. Guys in the dorm thought it was cool, if not a bit weird.
7) Finally passing my General as a Freshman at Indiana Central University and making my first contact on HF (10 Meters was HOT in 1978) using a used Hallicrafters SR 150 and homebrew two band 10/15 dipole.
8) setting up my new hamshack in a spare bedroom as a newlywed, working the world on a Kenwood TS-120S and a Mosely TA-33JR beam on a chimney mount just above the roofline. (I got the beam for $50 from a ham who was going through a divorce needing to liquidate his stuff). I only used it for 6 months and had to sell the antenna due to a move. Nothing but wires & verticals for the next 30 years after that.
9) My first experiments with solid state, building a 250 milliwat single 2N2222 transmitter. Trying to squeeze out a little more power and blowing the plastic cased transistor up, leaving nothing but three wires sticking out of my solderless breadboard! It only cost a nickel, and helped me lose my fear of dealing with solid state.
10) Hearing Owen Garriot from the Space shuttle on my IC-2AT handi talkie. I was driving on I-37 between Corpus Christi and San Antonio and had the HT in a cup holder by the window. I pulled over and jumped out of the car, waving the HT around to get a better signal. I didn't get a QSO, but got my first Satellite/Shuttle reception.
11) My first homebrew QRP QSO using a two transistor 1.5 watt transmitter, still in the breadboard, keying it by tapping the wires together because I couldn't find a jack for my key. Indiana to Florida on 40 CW.
12) Playing with Packet Radio in 1985 from Vincennes, Indiana, linking all over the state via the packet network, downloading messages and for-sale swap ads. -- long before the internet got to be popular.
13) Helping start the Orange County ARC in Paoli, Indiana and building their first Amateur repeater, designing a record & playback IDer/Message board using a chip from Radio Shack.
14) Getting my first "Quality" or "competition level" rig - a Kenwood TS-850SAT - and doing some more serious contesting on SSB and CW. I kept it for 20 years 1993 - 2013 until I got my FLEX-6500.
14) Being on the receiving end of a pileup on 6 Meters from a rare grid square in a campground in Yellowstone National Park. Using a homebrew full wave loop quickly cobbled together when I found the band open.
15) Getting my first FLEX radio, a 1500, for Christmas two years ago. It opened the world to a whole new experience in amateur radio. I hadn't had as much fun in a number of years, in spite of all the other thrills I have shared.
16) Three weeks later, ordering my new FLEX-6500 and receiving it the following August (It was a tough wait) WOW! and I got a new update every quarter for a year and a half, even getting to help beta test a SMALL piece of the CW improvements...
17) Using the new 6500 to earn DXCC, WAS (4 bands so far, and three more almost finished) and score very high in the Indiana state ranking of both the W1AW/p and ARRL Centennial QSO Points Challenge using SSB, CW and RTTY, and busting several major DXpedition pileups that I wouldn't have even tried with my other rig and the moderate antennas I currently have.
18) I hope.... this spring to get my T-11 Log Periodic up at 58 Ft. which will be my first major beam antenna at an effective height.
The new rig has put a lot of joy into an already joyful hobby for me. Thanks FRS.
Sorry this post ran on longer than I planned, but the memories just kept coming.
Now What are some of your favorite thrills in Amateur radio?
Ken - NM9P
Reflecting upon the FLEX ad/picture depicting the thrill of discovery in amateur radio, my question is.... What have been some of your greatest thrills in amateur radio?
I will begin with some from my own list...
1) Building my own Knight Kit Star Roamer II shortwave receiver kit as an 8th grader before I got my license. Listening to the Voice of America's "Breakfast Show" at night was a thrill that lit the fire of my interest in Ham Radio.
2) Discovering how to use the BFO and bandspread to listen to some local hams on 75 Meters.
3) Running home from school 1/2 a mile each day during lunch hour to check the mail after taking my novice exam. After 6 weeks finally getting the letter with my new call - WN9OAG - age 14, freshman in High School.
4) My first contact... 80 Meter CW in the afternoon after school. I still remember the name - Ettie Wells (Same last name as mine, no relation) Hattiesburg, MS. I was using a borrowed ARC-5 Transmitter and my new Allied A2516 Superhet receiver ($99 at Allied Radio in Indianapolis) My used Globe Scout 65 that I bought while studying for my ticket had a bad resistor in the 6L6 oscillator circuit. I fixed it myself with guidance from my "elmer" over the phone.
5) Busting a pileup with a C6H on 6 Meter SSB as a sophomore using a 4 element beam I had made myself out of electrical conduit.
6) Doing code practice in my college dorm on a military surplus R-392. Guys in the dorm thought it was cool, if not a bit weird.
7) Finally passing my General as a Freshman at Indiana Central University and making my first contact on HF (10 Meters was HOT in 1978) using a used Hallicrafters SR 150 and homebrew two band 10/15 dipole.
8) setting up my new hamshack in a spare bedroom as a newlywed, working the world on a Kenwood TS-120S and a Mosely TA-33JR beam on a chimney mount just above the roofline. (I got the beam for $50 from a ham who was going through a divorce needing to liquidate his stuff). I only used it for 6 months and had to sell the antenna due to a move. Nothing but wires & verticals for the next 30 years after that.
9) My first experiments with solid state, building a 250 milliwat single 2N2222 transmitter. Trying to squeeze out a little more power and blowing the plastic cased transistor up, leaving nothing but three wires sticking out of my solderless breadboard! It only cost a nickel, and helped me lose my fear of dealing with solid state.
10) Hearing Owen Garriot from the Space shuttle on my IC-2AT handi talkie. I was driving on I-37 between Corpus Christi and San Antonio and had the HT in a cup holder by the window. I pulled over and jumped out of the car, waving the HT around to get a better signal. I didn't get a QSO, but got my first Satellite/Shuttle reception.
11) My first homebrew QRP QSO using a two transistor 1.5 watt transmitter, still in the breadboard, keying it by tapping the wires together because I couldn't find a jack for my key. Indiana to Florida on 40 CW.
12) Playing with Packet Radio in 1985 from Vincennes, Indiana, linking all over the state via the packet network, downloading messages and for-sale swap ads. -- long before the internet got to be popular.
13) Helping start the Orange County ARC in Paoli, Indiana and building their first Amateur repeater, designing a record & playback IDer/Message board using a chip from Radio Shack.
14) Getting my first "Quality" or "competition level" rig - a Kenwood TS-850SAT - and doing some more serious contesting on SSB and CW. I kept it for 20 years 1993 - 2013 until I got my FLEX-6500.
14) Being on the receiving end of a pileup on 6 Meters from a rare grid square in a campground in Yellowstone National Park. Using a homebrew full wave loop quickly cobbled together when I found the band open.
15) Getting my first FLEX radio, a 1500, for Christmas two years ago. It opened the world to a whole new experience in amateur radio. I hadn't had as much fun in a number of years, in spite of all the other thrills I have shared.
16) Three weeks later, ordering my new FLEX-6500 and receiving it the following August (It was a tough wait) WOW! and I got a new update every quarter for a year and a half, even getting to help beta test a SMALL piece of the CW improvements...
17) Using the new 6500 to earn DXCC, WAS (4 bands so far, and three more almost finished) and score very high in the Indiana state ranking of both the W1AW/p and ARRL Centennial QSO Points Challenge using SSB, CW and RTTY, and busting several major DXpedition pileups that I wouldn't have even tried with my other rig and the moderate antennas I currently have.
18) I hope.... this spring to get my T-11 Log Periodic up at 58 Ft. which will be my first major beam antenna at an effective height.
The new rig has put a lot of joy into an already joyful hobby for me. Thanks FRS.
Sorry this post ran on longer than I planned, but the memories just kept coming.
Now What are some of your favorite thrills in Amateur radio?
Ken - NM9P
Posted 5 years ago
Ray Andrews, K9DUR, Elmer
Ken,
I see you were in Vincennes in 1985. So was I (actually Monroe City). What was your call back then?
73, Ray, K9DUR
I was WB9OAG back then, from 1975 - 1986. I used to talk to you and Dave Crockett, WA9ZCE, some back then. Also with WA9SZL and the Marion County ARES/CD storm spotter's net in Indianapolis on .16/.76 repeater before that when I was in college and as a newlywed living in Greenfield.
I upgraded to Extra in 1986 and received the NM9P call. It took about three weeks to learn how to say it without stumbling all over myself. But it does sound nice on CW!
I upgraded to Extra in 1986 and received the NM9P call. It took about three weeks to learn how to say it without stumbling all over myself. But it does sound nice on CW!
KY6LA - Howard, Elmer
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In 1954, using my Heathkit AT-1 feeding a too short and mistuned end fed
wire up 15', calling CQ 80 for many days with the only xtal I had, I heard
my call coming back on that little Philco bedside radio with a
loopstick detuned for 80 Meters. There was no BFO of course, but my call WN0ZSR thumping out of the speaker was unmistakeable. It was my first contact; 140 miles and into the next state. Ham Radio doesn't get any better than this!
That flame burned hot for 40 years producing all the thrills that go with it. Then last year, after a 20 year hiatus, I tossed a random wire out the window and dug out the old TS-530S to try and receive some PSK-31 whatever that was. WOW! Look at that waterfall on the screen! Things must have changed in the past 20 years. The flame was lit again!
That flame demanded a rebuild of the old broken G5RV in the barn to try and send some PSK-31. A Peaberry V2 SDR soon appeared, then a long overdue Extra Class License. Then a FLEX 1500, and a FLEX 3000, and now a FLEX 6300.
It looks like the old Quad in the barn is about to be reassembled and that old 10' roof tripod rebuilt and repainted to hold it. The thrill is back!
That flame burned hot for 40 years producing all the thrills that go with it. Then last year, after a 20 year hiatus, I tossed a random wire out the window and dug out the old TS-530S to try and receive some PSK-31 whatever that was. WOW! Look at that waterfall on the screen! Things must have changed in the past 20 years. The flame was lit again!
That flame demanded a rebuild of the old broken G5RV in the barn to try and send some PSK-31. A Peaberry V2 SDR soon appeared, then a long overdue Extra Class License. Then a FLEX 1500, and a FLEX 3000, and now a FLEX 6300.
It looks like the old Quad in the barn is about to be reassembled and that old 10' roof tripod rebuilt and repainted to hold it. The thrill is back!
(Edited)
Thank you Ken for the wonderful history tour - well done and interesting!! I have only been a Ham for 3 years - loving learning from a Veteran!! In my short history I have tried quite a few radios and then sold them - bought 2 6500's and I know these are keepers. All the best and 73 Jim KK4JTW
KY6LA - Howard, Elmer
Back in ZS land when I was young I used to hide a small portable radio under my pillow and listen to the then infamous springbok radio.
I used to listen to Radio South Africa and lots of other short wave stations in the 1940-50's from Iowa on a large tabletop RCA cathedral style radio. Will never forget the nice theme song with the chirping birds...
That was known as the english service. Springbok radio was a family radio station and the SABC archives service has restored thousands of tapes and can be heard at this streaming link http://www.springbokradio.com/AudioStream.html
I also listened to LM radio and radio 4. Those were the days
I also listened to LM radio and radio 4. Those were the days
Site seems to be down now. Do you know the name of that radio theme song with the birds? (Carousel?) Can't seem to find it on the net...
Jay -- N0FB, Elmer
I remember my first contact across-the-pond with my little 6AG7, home brew transmitter running 5 watts input! My call back then was W3ZIG. I was crystal controlled (had 3-4 crystals for 80, 40, 20). Back then if you called CQ, you would tune the band up and down to see if you were being called on a different frequency. I guess that was split operation at its finest,
Tim - W4TME, Customer Experience Manager
My Novice RX was so wide that I didn't have to tune to find the station responding ;-)
So many neat stories here, a joy to read and see the many parallels of experiences.
One of my biggest thrills in my 60 years of ham radio experiences? Wife just grabbed me by the ear and said: You pick up that phone right now and order that Flex 6500!!
So I did, today, another experience added. Old kid in new candy store.
First rig, used Heathkit AT-1 Homebrew plate modulator with carbon mic and two - 6L6's.
Now a 6500, whew!
King of Jordan QSO JY1 and K7UGA (Barry Goldwater), contact with Mongolia.
73
Chuck-w9nwr
One of my biggest thrills in my 60 years of ham radio experiences? Wife just grabbed me by the ear and said: You pick up that phone right now and order that Flex 6500!!
So I did, today, another experience added. Old kid in new candy store.
First rig, used Heathkit AT-1 Homebrew plate modulator with carbon mic and two - 6L6's.
Now a 6500, whew!
King of Jordan QSO JY1 and K7UGA (Barry Goldwater), contact with Mongolia.
73
Chuck-w9nwr
You're not pulling our ear...er....leg are you? hi hi.
Seriously... I remember the thrill when my wife said "Go ahead and order the 6500!" three weeks after getting my 1500 and seeing how much fun I was having with it.
What a woman!
Seriously... I remember the thrill when my wife said "Go ahead and order the 6500!" three weeks after getting my 1500 and seeing how much fun I was having with it.
What a woman!
Good woman are hard to get especially now days. Mine is also a darling who puts up with the shack in the lounge (small houses in the UK) and antennas outside. She says it keep me off the streets and out of the pub ! and she is right.
Ken - NM9P
I should have also added to my list the magical experience of hearing stations for the first time on my first home-built receiver. Home-brew is cool!