I got my first license with the call sign KØCND when I was 15 in North Dakota and held it for about 15 years before life events caused me to let it expire.
Then years later I took the test and got another license with a different call sign.
I held that license for about another 15 years, making contact with other hams in over 100 countries around the world.
I operated with a provisional license and a call sign of XE1HFB when we lived in Mexico.
(I used phonetics of Half Full Bottle with that call sign.)
Back in Arizona again, I went with a local ham to the national convention of the American Radio Relay League in San Diego.
And then Judy and I opened our bookstore ten years later and before I knew it that license had expired.
I've never gotten back into the hobby as the Internet has taken over my life.
But you know me . . I've still got the badges!
I wonder how popular Ham radio is now that the Internet exists. I mean, part of the attraction was communicating with people all over the world. Now, we can do that with no effort whatsoever!
ReplyDeleteMy grandfather was Ham radio enthusiast. He had similar licenses posted above his workbench back in the '70s.
I met an old station group owner (he was pushing 80, back in the 70s) He'd been a ham operator since hams were invented. The old boy lived a very high-end community. His home office looked like the communications bridge on an aircraft carrier. There was no antenna on the house, he pushed a button on one of the control panels and a 50-foot mast rose out of the roof. The HOA wouldn't allow antennas in his neighborhood, so he installed a stealth antenna.
ReplyDeleteMy brother-in-lw is still big in Ham radio. His a member of a emergency response group in Big Bear, California. If electricity ever goes out and there is no internet or phones; he has solar panels and ham radios ready to communicate emergency messages.
ReplyDeleteSteve Reed - I think the effort is actually what makes it interesting! I never got into ham radio, but back in the middle to late 1970s I was involved with a group of about 20 people in the recently mentioned Carmel, Indiana who were all into CB radio. We'd all talk for a couple of hours every evening. Most of us were constantly "tweaking" our equipment. We could have just gotten together at someone's house and done the same thing face-to-face (which we actually often did as well), but it was just more fun to do it over the radio.
ReplyDeleteOne of my uncles had that for years.
ReplyDeleteFound your blog over in the right-hand column of Red's Hiawatha House. The call sign caught my eye. Interesting story here about your experience with ham radio. You've clearly been a ham for a lot longer than I have and I'm getting close to eligibility for that Quarter Century club. A while back I tried to figure out exactly the date of when I was first licensed but gave up the quest when it just seemed too convoluted. I know it was in the late '90s but, still not sure of the exact date. My original call was KK7AF and currently I'm KC7JR. I have not been active in the hobby the last few years as I'm living in an apartment in Seattle and my landlord will not allow any antennas that would allow me to "get out" reasonably well. :-) I'll be moving to another location someday and a place where I can get back into radio will be one of the requirements. I got a kick out of your comment that, recently, you haven't been into the hobby "as the Internet has taken over" your life. That made me smile. I know what you mean. I got into blogging about 10 years ago with John's Island. Right now I'm sort of at a turning point. Took a long "blog break" last fall and can't seem to get the enthusiasm up for routine publishing again. Part of the issue I'm having with the Internet has to do with how it has become a sort of overwhelming thing and has so much negativity involved with it. Too many ads and so many sites want me to "subscribe." Have been following Red for years and I do enjoy Hiawatha House. I think I'll add Oddball Observations to my follow list. My own oddball observations are usually interesting. Anyway, that's my story for now. 73s
ReplyDeleteI took a shortwave radio with me when I went to Saudi Arabia. Didn't work as well as I'd hoped, but I got some stations. Not a ham, but receiver.
ReplyDeleteThat's something I know nothing about, but I bet a lot of people still do it, just to be ready, in case there's a catastrophe.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if my dad ever listened to any of your conversations. He used to listen on his ham radio quite often. I don't remember if he had his own license but I bet he did.
ReplyDeleteYou don't need a license for the kind of ham you remain, and perhaps have ever been. :)
ReplyDeleteMy father was a ham-radio operator, K4OLT. When he was working on getting his license our household was awakened at 2am by the da-dit-dits of his practice. He was made the Civil Defense captain (1950-60's) with the one generator and a gas can residing in our back yard and his ham radio in the basement. Our small Kentucky town's defense against the Russians. After he died we found a box of postcards from other hams but we don't have one of his. Phillis Patmor
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