How did you get into Ham Radio?

[KE4EST]

I thought I would make a thread just curious to see how people got into Amateur Radio.

I will start. I got a Shortwave receiver when I was 13. I loved that thing, I thought it was so cool to listen to all the stuff around the world. I would pick up hams and listen to them talk. I thought man I got to do this. It took me until I was 18 to find what I was looking for. I finally got a book and studied it and got some code tapes and stared to learn the code. I went in June of 1993 and passed my novice written test and then took the technician and passed it. I took the General and passed it. This was all the same day. Now back then they only gave tests every six months so I had already studied the novice and tech and got with still a couple of months to go bought the General book.

Ok then it was time for the code tests. When I took them they were old school around here no multiple choice. So I took the 5wpm and passed it with flying colors. Then I took the 13wpm and you were only allowed to miss 3, I missed four. So I left a tech+ and with a General test thing showing that I passed it and had one year to pass the 13wpm code.

So I left but kept right on studying. I got an advanced book and an extra book and read read read, and kept on with the code. I went back in November and well the rest is history. I have been an Extra class since then and had to pass the advanced and Extra written and 20 wpm code all fill in the blank. I also have had the same call-sign since then I could have changed to a 1x2 or 2x1 but loved the one I got so kept it.

So I have been going for 19 years. Also back then you had to wait for weeks and weeks to get your new license in the mail, no on-line stuff then. So I went to my first field day and was waiting on my ticket still.

I would like to hear from other hams and what your story is.

 

[Cham]

Hi Mike,
Been in ham radio for about 25 years. Took me a while to get my license, an Uncle of mine gave me a push back in the early 80s and I finally went in to the big government building to write the written test and code test. Was funny they had trouble finding the 5wpm tape so they gave me the 12wpm test instead. I thought it would be intimidating but the IC (Canadian equivelant of FCC) people were great. Only copied half of it but I got my CW Hf capabilities right off the bat. Wish I had of studied more code I might have gotten full privileges as the written test was not too bad. A couple years later they changed the licensing and I got full HF voice. Took my advanced test a few years ago, took a long time to think about it enough to go get the full privileges.

Yes the old tests were long hand and you had to show all your math and explain the legalese... Not quite like it is these days. Always glad to hear new ham operators on the air. One of the most interesting hobbies, and it goes along well with satellite tvro... unless you are actually working satellites via ham radio!
ve4gls

 

[VO1ONE]

Ham for 21 years here. Two uncles and a great uncle all have their tickets but I was the first in my immediate family to get mine. I had seen my one uncle's radios before when my cousin took me into the shack. He didn't know much about them either but we turned one on and picked up some signals. I didn't really think much about it then but I saw an ad taped to a garbage can at a local department store from the local radio club saying they were going to have a free information session at the local library to talk about radio and allow registration for licence classes for anyone interested. I had just turned 12 so I convinced my parents to take me and that was it. I got in the classes and got my Novice licence. A couple months later I took my tech exam. I stuck with that a couple years until high school and then got my General with 13WPM code. I didn't bother to get my Extra until about 10 years ago. I was living in Canada and had got my licence there (Basic plus 5 WPM code) so I didn't have much incentive to upgrade my American licence. The Canadian CW test was harder than the American one I took in 1991. While technically the Americans could test sending, in practice, they never did (in that era) because legally you could take proficiency in receiving as evidence that you could send proficiently as well. In Canada, I had to both send and receive and it wasn't fill in the blank or X amount of solid copy. It was solid copy with a maximum of three mistakes! But 5 WPM is painfully slow for anyone who has operated CW for any length of time so it was a cinch.

Ham Radio is one of those hobbies that seem to go hand in hand with FTA. I do work satellites via ham radio, too! It's fairly easy to get into ham satellites. All you need is 2m TX & 70cm RX FM capabilities, build or buy a directional antenna (mine is only 7 elements on 70cm and 3 elements on 2m) and you're set! I notice a lot of hams are also pilots or into astronomy. Funny how a lot of these hobbies have the same people involved!

 

[jayn_j]

My first day at Junior High in 1961, I was walking down a hall after school and heard the sounds of a code machine coming out of the closet. Wandered in and found a few kids trying to figure it out. This was the first week of the school opening, and everything was in boxes. One of the teachers had convinced the board to let him have equipment without a station license or any committed students. Naturally, I ended up spending all my free time there for the next 6 years. I helped set up the station (WA9KDQ), and my new friends and I all studied and got our General licenses in the next year (WA9OHS) Having each other to egg us along really helped in reaching that goal and we all made it.

 

[JeremielMontanez]

When I was about 10 years old, (that was sixty years ago) one day I stuck a dinner knife into a wall outlet and discovered electricity. Good thing the knife had a plastic handle so I didn't get killed. I started collecting old radios that people threw away in the trash and I'd try to make them work. I got so that I actually could make them work. Once a week I would make the rounds on trash day and collect old discarded TV, radios , anything electrical, and strip them for the parts. Started building transmitters and receivers from the parts I collected in this way. Then got my novice license at about 13 years old. I've been at it ever since.

 

[wallyhts]

My late granddad (wb9bti).

I still remember Watching him talk on his mobile when I was 6.

He was so happy when I got my tech. (out of 10 or so grand kids I was the 1st to get on board my cousin got his too. Luck for me since he sent all his goodies to me)

I really do miss him.

 

[radio]

My station engineer and his wife are both in ham radio. They asked me to take the first exam. Did it! Just got a radio given to me, not hooked up yet, but soon......It's strange thinking of being on a band or two where people talk "back"....I'm used to the commercial bands! Maybe that's why I haven't jumped in yet even by the 'net.

 

[A Man of Extra Dimension]

I know the same folks as "radio". I swapped a mini lathe for a "Standard" hand held. I didn't even have my licence. Took a lot of flash tests on line and passed the first time I took the test. (and I'm just not that smart) It's been about four months, and I'm abolutely digging this! Everyone I've met is GREAT. 73 to all. "kd8sro" is clear.

 

[TheForce]

I was 13 when I built my first crystal radio. My dad was into radio back in the 40's and did radio repair with a shop at home. So, he guided me to build a short wave radio tube set from old radio parts. After listening to other hams for over a year, I began studying the code and connected with a great uncle who was original owner and CE at AM radio station in Reading PA. He gave me the test and I received my call letters WA3BJR. My Dad bought me a Clegg99 6 meter transceiver. I also built a few Heath kits. I got my General Class when I was 17 and got involved with the MARS program too. I also was president of our HS Amateur Radio club for a year. Before I graduated from HS I passed my Advanced Class. Between Army, working part time, and going to Electronics school I was pretty busy but managed to get my A.S. in Broadcast Engineering and shortly after turning 21 got my First Class FCC license. While at the examiner's office, waiting between the second class test and the first, the examiner suggested I sit and take the Extra ham test, so I took that too and barely qualified on the code. It was the longest day of testing I recall but completed everything by 5PM.
My ham activities included mostly building my own gear, including one of the first upside down tube double sideband transmitter. Built complete SSTV system and modified CCTV for SSTV. I built my linear amplifier with two 4-1000 tubes. I still have that today, rusting away in storage. Did a little moon bounce too in 1967. I was pretty active throughout the early 70's living in NY ( WB2NIJ )but in 1974, I got interested in scuba diving and in 3 years was certified as a YMCA instructor, teaching at a local college and 3 YMCA's in the area. Ham radio took a back seat and I let my license expire in the early 80's. It was a great experience for me as a kid and early adult. I don't see me returning to Ham Radio. My cousin, who I gave his Technician test, is still active from his home in PA. I think he now has his Extra license too.

 

[Zorak]

My father was in the Signal Corps in WWII. When I was young I would play with some of his old kits he had (Allied Knight kit 10 in 1 with vacuum tubes, etc.). That led to becoming an SWLer and a couple school buddies and I got the itch and our licenses when we were teenagers. What a great hobby!

 

[Anole]

I was interested in technology as a young kid.
My Dad worked at White Sands missile proving grounds in New Mexico when I was about 3.
By 4 or 5, we moved to Florida, where he worked at Cape Canaveral.
Ham radio was the only technical hobby I was exposed to, so I guess it was inevitable.

Several years in Vietnam were made easier with an electronics background.
Both in my communications job, and helping at the local MARS station.

I've had a ticket for about 40 years.
Of course, in the last 10-20, computers, cell phones, and satellites have been major distractions.

 

[KE4EST]

I've had a ticket for about 40 years.
Of course, in the last 10-20, computers, cell phones, and satellites have been major distractions.

Boy ain't that the truth, but ya know I still fall back to my radio roots. I just fired up a yaesu FT-2200 I got at a Hamfest in the early 90's. I talked to a couple guys on the local repeater and then was fortunate that guys wants to send me a radio, he don't need....how about that.

 

[Anole]

one old story

Most of my jobs as technician, engineer, and later as a consultant have NOT been with communications companies.
(most were floppy- and hard-drive related, back when a hard drive was the size of a washing machine!)

But I did have one gig with X------x Radio, who's just 20 minutes away.
They wanted a computerized system to do quality control (QC) on production radios.
(think they came fully assembled from Japan)
They tuned up and sold a lot of commercial and marine radios in those days.

Engineering hired me to make the system, not Production.
Turned out, one guy was in charge of both production and quality.
And he had his own specs to determine if a radio shipped.
I took specifications off the data sheets and manuals.

There seemed to be some discrepency, and a whole lot of conflict-of-interest.
Needless to say , rejecting out-of-spec radios made me pretty unpopular there!
One of the few jobs where my Ham background really paid off!


That was 20 years ago, and no way represents current practices.

 

[cyberham]

AM band and SWL DXing started things off. First ham licence arrived 42+ years ago after a full school year of study with a friend at a local ham's home via once-weekly evening classes. This was just after they removed the minimum age restriction of 16 years old. I was president and he was vice-president of a 2-member school ham radio club. When he tells the story, it's the other way around. 10wpm sending and receiving CW, written/oral electronics and regulations questions associated with drawing schematics of radios and accessories were all included for the test. It was 1-on-1 with the radio inspector and they didn't give a hoot if you were 15 or 60 years old...everybody was grilled and nobody got a licence unless they knew what they were doing.

The tug of radio caused me to shelve my entire home chemistry lab that allowed me to make jars of hydrogen (to explode!) and other gases and which had consumed my free time for years until then. Interest in radio was driven by books from the local library and magazines like Popular Electronics and related publications. In later years, ham radio companies in Japan became my employers and are to this day. I have lived off and on in Japan over the decades as a result. I may again soon and, if so, I wonder if there's a microHD distributor over there??

 

[jorgek]

I also started as a SWL when I was around 13. I used a multiband portable German made Nordmende radio. I got QSL cards from all over the world. I also developed an interest in electronics via Popular Electronics. CB radio came on the scene, which delayed my move to ham radio (only 19 channels in Canada back then) and a group of use joined REACT. It wasn’t until 1977 that I got my Amateur license, 10wpm. So for the first 6 months we were limited to CW ( never did like CW) then you could get the voice endorsement for 10 meters. In 1981 I wrote the Advanced, 15wpm, and got voice privileges on all bands. I remember listening to W1AW every night for about 6 months to get my speed up to 20 wpm. That really helped me pass the CW test. The tech test consisted of hand written essays on a variety of topics. My first HF station was the Heathkit, SB303 and SB 401 combo into a longwire antenna.

Well my misspent youth did in the end land me a job in the land mobile radio industry. First as a tech and ending in managing a trunked mobile radio network for a government agency.

73's

 

[cyberham]

What serendipity. If you want to buy some superior quality trunked mobile radios, let me know!