Topband: Made it! 80 Years a Ham

[Howard K2HK]

Paul,
The years may have slowed your fingers but they have added to your knowledge and experience which you have so generously shared with others in the hobby. Congratulations to you and I wish you many more enjoyable years.
Howard K2HK
Sent from my iPad

> On Jan 19, 2017, at 10:42 AM, DXer <hfdxmonitor at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Paul,
> 
> Thank YOU for this wonderful message.
> 
> Please accept my heartfelt congratulations!
> 
> 73 de Vince, VA3VF
> 
>> On Thu, Jan 19, 2017 at 10:34 AM, PAUL M ELLIOTT <paab at valornet.com> 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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