Topband: A Ham for 75 Years

[Paul Elliott]

                                    A Ham for 75 Years

 

Seventy five years ago today, 19 January 1937, I was issued a Class C
Amateur Radio Operator License and my Station License W5GGV by the FCC. At
the time I was 14 years old and a sophomore in high school in Kingsville,
TX.  My code test was given by a Class A Operator who worked mainly 160 m
phone.  I still have in my mind a very clear image of his end fed antenna
being clipped directly (no blocking capacitor!) on the output tank coil
(1500 volts)  The antenna exited the room by going thru a one inch hole in a
window screen. 

 

My first rig, built with parts from defunct Atwater Kent radios, consisted
of a UX45 tube in a TNT circuit (maybe three or four watts output on 40 m)
and a 2-tube regenerative receiver.  My antenna, clipped on the output tank
(200 volts), also went out through a hole in a window screen-but I did use a
blocking capacitor.  My key was made from a hacksaw blade.

 

I did not get on 160 m until I moved to Hobbs, NM, after retirement in the
late 1980s (Hobbs was chosen because of my other hobby-glider pilot).
Trying to work 160 m DX from an electrically noisy 120 x 120 foot city lot
in SE NM is not for those who are easily discouraged.  I have managed to
confirm 183 current entities on 160 m and have the credits, cards, and LOTW
for 9-band DXCC and 321 total current countries overall.  I have two antenna
tuners and two transmitting antennas:  one bent piece of wire and one
slanted piece of wire.

 

Some thoughts that tell me that I might be getting an to be an old 160 m DX
chaser:

 

1.     I remember that I talked to Civil War veterans when I was a child.

2.     I remember the Great Depression.

3.     I remember that every kid who was building a crystal set KNEW that he
couldn't use any old oatmeal carton for his coil form -it had to be a Quaker
Oats carton or his set wouldn't work.

4.     I remember what happened when I tried to make a galena crystal
because I didn't have a dime to buy a piece of galena.  The dictionary said
galena was lead sulphite, an ore of lead.  I had access to lead, sulphur,
and a small gas-fired heater.  Nuff said.  What I got didn't appear to be
galena-but it worked. 

5.     I remember that, when I became a ham, there were no 60 m, 30 m, 15 m,
nor 6 m bands.  There was a 5 m band.  There was no phone on 40 m.  There
was no SSB nor FM on any band.  There were three classes of  Operator
License:  A, B, C.                                              

6.     I remember WW II (The Pacific Ocean is very big).

7.     I remember that I was the first ham in South Texas to operate SSB in
the 1950s.

8.     I remember I have had a pilot license over 70 years.

9.     My CW speed has dropped from 35-40 wpm to 25-30 wpm.

10. I still log on paper by hand.

11. The size of any amplifier I have is limited by the weight that my XYL
can lift.

 

Kind and knowledgeable people on this forum have, at times, provided me with
help and information.  To them I express my deepest thanks and appreciation.

 

Now it is on to the next 75 years (and how I can improve reception on 160 m
at my QTH). 

 

 

73 Paul W5DM