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
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!