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Re: Topband: Made it! 80 Years a Ham

To: Wes Stewart <wes_n7ws@triconet.org>, "topband@contesting.com" <topband@contesting.com>
Subject: Re: Topband: Made it! 80 Years a Ham
From: Hugh Valentine <HSVDDS@outlook.com>
Date: Thu, 19 Jan 2017 18:40:16 +0000
List-post: <topband@contesting.com">mailto:topband@contesting.com>
What an inspiration!!!

Val
N4RJ

-----Original Message-----
From: Topband [mailto:topband-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Wes Stewart
Sent: Thursday, January 19, 2017 1:19 PM
To: topband@contesting.com
Subject: Re: Topband: Made it! 80 Years a Ham

Paul,

Congratulations, well done!

I'm "just" 75 years of age and 59 years a ham and became interested in topband 
only in the last year or so. I hope to do as well as you.

All the best,

Wes  N7WS

On 1/19/2017 8:34 AM, PAUL M ELLIOTT wrote:
> Made it! 19 January 2017, is the 80th anniversary of my first ham 
> license, Class C operating privileges with W5GGV as my call. Was 14 
> years old at the time. A little over a year later I upgraded to Class 
> A.  Many years later the Extra Class (with no added privileges) came 
> along. Upgraded. Some years later the FCC announced that hams with an 
> Extra Class license who had been licensed 25 years could apply for a 
> two -letter call, no place on the application to request of a specific call.  
> Was assigned W5DM.
>
> First rig made from junked Atwater Kent radio parts. First antenna was 
> a wire going out a hole in the window screen to a tree.  First DX was 
> VK2SS on
> 40 m CW, September 1937. (An aside. There were no phone privileges on 
> 40 m for USA hams). The VK2SS QSL card is hung on my wall. My card to 
> him was written on a postcard (Great Depression=no money to buy QSL cards).
>
> Been fairly active over the years, except, of course, for WW II.  If 
> interested in WW II, you can do a web search on DD 792 for a small 
> part of my history.
>
> The first 20 or 30 years I built my transmitters (all low powered) and 
> receivers. Operated CW only until SSB came along. Then I built a low 
> powered phasing rig. A BC-348H receiver was made dual conversion using 85 kcs 
>  (kcs
> then= kHz now) IF transformers from a BC 453 receiver.   Had a blast working
> the world with a homebuilt "cubical quad" on 20 meters.  Since then 
> mostly CW.
>
> I may have made one small contribution to ham radio.  In the April 
> 1958 issue of QST, in Technical Correspondence there was a letter from 
> me that, I think, was the first mention in a ham publication that the 
> formula for determining the length of a "cubical quad" antenna was not 
> correct.  Since my measurements were made using a BC 348, a grid dip 
> oscillator, and a 100 kcs crystal oscillator. I don't know whether I 
> was just lucky to get as close as I did or did a fairly good job with what I 
> had.
>
> In the early 1990s started out to get 160 m WAS from a 120 x 120 foot 
> electrically noisy city lot (SE NM) with a long ( ~3/8 wavelength)  
> but low semi-inverted L antenna.  Ground radials of varying length in one 90 
> degree
> segment. Made 160 m WAS.   Then started chasing DX.  Now have 189 countries
> confirmed on 160 m, 324 on all bands.
>
> Age, not surprisingly, has taken its toll.  CW now down to 20-25 
> wpm-at one time it was 35-40 wpm.  Finger dexterity way down-has taken 
> me over 3 hours to type this email. Physical realities remain physical 
> realities--I am now a disabled, crippled old man. But---
>
> No complaints-many people are worse off than I am.
>
> Thanks to all who have had the knowledge and the kindness to help me 
> over the years.
>
> 73 Paul W5DM
>
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> _________________
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>

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