WA8UEG My Story

 

Over 50 years ago,  I received an envelope from the FCC containing my Novice licensee. It was also the day that eventually determined my path in life. Some say Amateur Radio is “just a hobby” for me it is, and always has been, much more than a hobby.

 

 

In 1961 I was sitting at our kitchen table finishing up my homework when my brother walked in carrying a strange looking box. “What’s that ” I asked? A 2 way radio he explained followed up by “you wanna help setting it up”? A friend of the family, Tim had sold the property and buildings his Dads plant sat on when his Dad passed away and became a multi-millionaire at a very young age then retired. My brother said that Tim had a bunch of 2 way radios left over and had given him 2, one for the home and one for his car. He also gave a couple of my brothers’ friends one for their cars so they could all keep in touch.

 

 

As it turned out he needed to install an antenna for the radio to work and my job was to dig the hole for the pipe that would hold it, I should have known!

 

 

Once everything was set up we could hear other stations talking, I was fascinated and asked if I could talk to one of the stations. That’s when my brother informed me that you needed a CB licensee and to get one you had to be 18 years old. He then showed me a document that stated that any illegal operation of the radio would be subject to a fine, removal of all equipment and could result in being sent to prison. He said I could listen all I wanted but if I ever pushed the mic button Feds would be at our house within the hour, I believed it and think he did also. Well listen I did, in 1961 CB in a small Midwest town was very respectable. Everyone used call signs and all conversations were polite. Sometimes “skip” would come in and I would hear stations in Texas, Florida and other states, I spent hours monitoring.

 

 

One day while listening Tim came over and sat down, he explained that CB was for just talking local, what would be of much greater interest would be Short Wave Listening and Amateur Radio. He proceeded to explain SWL’ing and the difference between Ham Radio and CB. He also left a number of Popular Electronics (at the time there was a section on short wave listening) along with some 73 & QST magazines for me to look over.

 

 

After reading the magazines and with Christmas just around the corner I made it clear that the only thing on my list was a short wave receiver. My parents were at best on the low end of middle income and they made no promises that a short wave receiver was a realistic Christmas gift. I told them Tim could probably advise on a low cost receiver that would work and kept my fingers crossed.

 

 

When Christmas morning arrived I bolted out of bed and ran to the tree, my heart sank as there was a headlight for my bike, a couple of model cars and the wrapped boxes appeared to be clothing. I opened the first box, a turtle neck sweater. When I opened the 2nd box my heart skipped a beat, in it was a Knight Kit Span Master shortwave receiver kit. In another box marked “from Santa” was a soldiering iron, soldier, wire strippers, diagonal cutters and a assortment of screw drivers. I later learned that these had come from Tim.

 

 

When my parents got up I was reading and trying to understand the assembly instructions. My dad said before I started I was to give Tim a call, which I did, and he asked that I read and study the instructions and match everything in the kit to the parts list to make sure nothing was missing. He said he would be over the next day around 10AM and help me get started.

 

 

When Tim arrived the next day he had a bag with him, we went upstairs to my desk where I planned to assemble the Span Master and set up the station like the stations I had seen in the magazines. In the bag was a plate with terminal strips mounted on it and some wire. He first showed me how then had me cut & strip all the wire pieces on both ends. Next he explained and showed me how to tin the wires and finally had me install the wires on the terminal strips he had brought after which he demonstrated the proper way to solider. I must have soldered more than 60 wires on the terminal strips.

 

 

Before we started assembly Tim took each component and explained what it was and what purpose it served, resistors, disc capacitors, transformers, each tube, variable capacitors everything. It seemed like it took a lifetime as I wanted to start building but it was actually a just over an hour. Finally we began; he made sure I was careful to make sure everything was done proper and neat. All leads had to be as shot as possible; all wires had to be bent at right angles and neatly ran. After he was convinced I had everything down pat he left and told me to take a break every 30 minutes. He asked that I call him prior to plugging it in and giving it the “smoke test”.

 

 

A couple of days later the kit was complete, I had a 100 foot long wire antenna installed and ready to connect so I gave Tim a call, he was at my house in less than 30 minutes. He spent a while looking everything over and praised me for a job that looked better than most store bought receivers he had seen so we connected the antenna and plugged it in. After it warmed up and I set the regenerative control and with a small turn on the band spread I heard a station, it was the BBC in London. Tim said he had to run but had something in the car for me, it was a headset “so I wouldn’t drive my parents crazy.”

 

 

For the next couple of months I sent and received QSL cards from broadcast stations but started to listen more and more and more to the ham bands, I sent out several SWL cards to hams and received a return card for everyone I sent out, most had a note saying they hope to meet me on the air some day. One day I heard a very strong station and thought it had to be close to me but his call was not in my very old callbook that Tim had given me so I had no way of knowing where he was. I told Tim about it and he said not to worry he had a cure and dropped off a newer call book for me. I looked up the call and sure enough he was only a couple of miles from my house, it was now spring so it would be an easy bike ride. On Saturday I went looking for the house and it was easy to spot, a huge antenna on a tower in the back yard, I introduced myself and gave him my SWL card filled out with the contact info I had heard. He said “welcome, my name is Tony” and spent the next hour with me explaining his station, antenna, amplifier, etc. then he got on the air and let me talk , no more listening to the broadcast stations for me after that. He had a novice licensee manual and gave it to me on my way out.

 

 

I told Tim I was going to start studying for my Novice and he suggested I learn the code first. The following Monday there was a code practice oscillator, a hand key on a heavy base and a ARRL book on learning morse code, I started immediately. Once I had learned the code he suggested I listen to the W1AW practice sessions. I tried but to say tuning W1AW in on my Span Master was tough was an understatement. Tim told me he had something that should help and a few days later brought over a BC454, a schematic and all the parts to build a power supply for it. He later admitted he had a power supply but wanted me to learn how to read a schematic plus the practice of building the supply from scratch. With his help we had the BC454 running in a few hours, W1AW code practice sessions were no longer a problem and before I knew it I was copying 10 WPM and studying for the Novice. Back then the licensee manual gave a question then a brief explanation of why the answer was the correct answer. It also referenced a section in the ARRL handbook to go for further information. You guessed it; Tim supplied me with a handbook and insisted I know the reference material in the handbook then quizzed me on it.

 

 

In the spring of 1964 I was on my way to work at my summer job and there was an accident, which made me pedal an alternate route through the ritzy country club housing division in our town. From a distance away I spotted a 5-element beam on top of a very tall tower and made a mental note to come back the same way and check it out. After work as I was approaching the house  I saw a man parking his car in the driveway, I pulled my bike next to him “are you a ham?” I asked. “Yes, my name is Jim and I have been one for over 20 years ” He replied. I explained I was working on my Novice and he invited me in to see his station. By now I had been in several area ham shacks but this one was special, a custom console housed a Collins S line, rotor indicator, antenna switch and most impressive was the room itself. Thus far all the “shacks” I had been in were in the basement with wires and cables running everywhere, this was a room on the main floor and no visible signs of wires anywhere!

 

 

He explained that his wife’s mother was in Colorado and very sick and she was with her family in Colorado for the next several weeks so he had lots of time for the radio. We arranged to meet on Saturday after work; he said not to worry about dinner as he would have a pizza delivered while we hammed it up. I said I was not sure if my parents would approve but he said just to give them his name as he knew both my oldest brother and dad well. When I told my parents they said no problem, seems he owned the largest Oldsmobile dealership in central Ohio. During our visits he operated CW at slow speeds and had me write it down as he copied it in his head then he would put the dummy load on and send while I copied, Then he would have me send and fine tune my wrist. He also went over the theory with me asking questions and then explained what the answer would be used for in the real world, if I was still unsure he would explain further. 3 weeks later I was over and he said lets practice at some higher speeds and so we did. When he was done and looked over my copy he said congratulations, you just passed your novice code test at 13 WPM, the same as the general requirement. He said he would send away for the written portion and should receive it in a week or so. I told him that he should hold off for a few months as I needed to save enough for a transmitter. He asked me to wait a second and disappeared. About 10 minutes later he returned with a transmitter (Globe Scout) and said “this should do just fine” and told me it was not a gift but a loan that I could use at long as I wanted, it had been his novice transmitter. He went through the crystals he had in a box and removed all that were not in the novice bands, there were quite a few but only two for 80 meters the only band my BC454 would work on but that was just fine with me.

 

 

Feeling pretty confident about passing the novice written exam I began thinking about a 80 meter dipole. Here I was very lucky, my brother worked at a company that made ballasts, when they would get toward the end of the large spools of wire they would discard the remaining wire on the spool which was usually 100 to 150’ of #14 solid copper. Near me was a surplus store that sold 2’X2’ sheets of 1/ 2 inch polycarbonate very cheap. I cut a rectangle piece from the sheet and rounded the corners then mounted a SO239 in it drilling 2 holes on both sides of the SO 239 for strain relief on the wires. I then cut 2 more rectangles for the end insulators. The very first ham I had met (Tony) often stopped by and happened to going by when he saw me in the yard working on the antenna and stopped to see what I was up to. He asked how I planned on tuning it, I said I cut it to the formula 468/FQ in MC I had learned. He said that may or may not be close but that he had a grid dip meter and we could check and tune it with that. He also was impressed with the homebrew dipole and asked what I was using for the feedline, I told him I still needed to buy some coax. He had a deal for me, I make him an 80-meter dipole and he would give me the coax I needed. That night I made another center connector and two more end insulators then cut and assembled a duplicate 80 meter dipole except cut for the center of the phone band per his request. After we checked both with his meter (neither needed any adjustment) Tony helped hang it in the trees and get the feedline through the upstairs window to where the shack was located. As he was leaving he said I should make up Novice band 80 & 40/15 meter dipoles and sell them at hamfests.

 

 

While waiting for my “ticket” I began making dipoles, Tim suggested I also make and sell just the center connector and end insulators so I made a lot of those also. At the first hamfest Tim and I attended I sold enough antennas to purchase a Heathkit Cheyenne receiver and power supply plus a DX40. I returned the Globe Scout and Tim said to keep the BC454. The new receiver made a huge difference and now I was also on 40 & 15. I decided to build a 2-element beam that I had seen in QST for 15, when that was in the air I began working DX on 15. The hole I had dug and the pipe I helped to install for my brother was well worth my time as it was now my tower for the beam as my brother had graduated and moved out, he had left the small rotor attached to the pipe.

 

 

At the next hamfest I sold enough antennas to buy a brand new Heathkit DX 60 kit and a new HM102 SWR/watt meter kit, which I had assembled and on the air in about a week.

 

 

Prior to Dayton Tim took me to Detroit where I passed my General followed by a trip to the Ford Museum, it was a great day, a day I will never forget!

 

 

At Dayton I sold a ton of antennas, my DX60 & Cheyenne and bought a Heath TX1 Apache & RX1 Mohawk along with the SB10 sideband adapter. In the flea market I found the 6 and 2-meter converters for the Mohawk at a great price and bought those also. At the Cincinnati hamfest I picked up a TA33 & Warrior amp with the money I made from antenna sales!

 

 

A year Later a friend told me about a ham near me who had a Marauder and was in poor health so was selling his station at a very low price; I went over and took a look. I couldn’t pass it up and the Apache and SB10 were on my tailgate at the next hamfest, I decided I had the station I wanted so did not make or sell any more antennas. The Apache and SB10 sold quickly and I was going to make an early day of it when I saw a Seneca for 6 & 2 meters for sale along with a Mosley 6 element wide spaced 6 meter beam, It was the missing piece to the station and both the antenna and beam went home with Tim & I.

 

 

Fast-forwarding a couple of years I will complete the rest of the story.

 

 

My brother got me an after school job in the engineering department where he worked; my job was cleaning up the labs and putting equipment and tools away. It was only my 3rd day on the job and a Friday, the lab Techs were trying to hook up a light fixture and measure volts, amps, and watts with separate meters at the output of a mercury vapor ballast operating a light fixture. They were frustrated and it was after 5, the manager of the department was there trying to help to no avail. I asked if I could give it a try, he looked at me like I was nuts but I assured him I was pretty sure I could get all the meters attached where needed to make the measurements. He said, “go for it.” I drew out a schematic of the circuit and where to attach the leads from each meter, and it worked. That night when I got home I became nervous and double-checked what I had done. I was convinced everything was OK.

 

 

When I went to work the following day the manager said that Jack wanted to see me in his office, Jack was the Senior VP of Engineering and in charge of all the labs. Ought oh, what went wrong, did I kill a meter, start a fire, mess up the test somehow? I went up to his office and told his secretary he asked to see me and she told me to go in that he was expecting me. I knocked on his door and he said “come in” then he said “close the door and have a seat,” beads of sweat were forming on my forehead. He pulled the schematic I had drawn from his draw and said “this is very good” and asked how I knew so much about electronics. I explained that I was an Amateur Radio operator and had passed the General exam at the Federal Communications Commission office in Detroit Michigan and that I had also passed a 13 WPM Morse code test. I went on and told him that I had built transmitters, receivers, test instruments and antennas and that my interest started when I was 12. He said he never thought he would say this to a part time high school student but that I was over qualified for cleaning out labs and if I would be interested in working part time as a lab technician, my pay would be doubled. After working out the summer as a lab tech I was offered a full time position till the fall when I started college. Further, they let me work as many hours as I could while attending college. Five years later I was working as senior test engineer for their Photometric Lab when I was offered a position as Manager of Engineering for another lighting company based in Pennsylvania and accepted the job at the ripe old age of 26. Still I loved the time I spent wheeling and dealing and selling at the hamfests a few years earlier and found myself becoming more and more involved in the sales end of the business. After 5 years with the company I left and started my own independent rep agency for commercial light fixtures back in Ohio.

 

 

In Ohio I met several new hams and we all became good friends (see FRIENDS link). The 6 of us went to up state Michigan every year for more than 35 years, set up a station and fished for 3 or 4 days. We still arrange to meet for a long weekend a couple of times a year with our XYL’S and set up schedules during the year to chat. The 6 of us have now been good friends since 1977.

 

 

Today I’m still in the business, although winding it down working as a certified lighting consultant and lighting designer for major multi location national accounts specializing in automotive, high end fasion and resteurant industries .

 

 

To me Amateur Radio is a passion. It has been responsible for my career, along with lifelong friends and introduced me to new friends almost every year since obtaining my licensee. None of this would have happened or even been possible were it not for Ham Radio. Amateur Radio has been much much more than “just a hobby” for me.

 

 

Although he never smoked or drank and only ate healthy food my dear friend Tim passed away at the age of 59 from cancer, we remained close friends up to his last day. A few months ago I read in the silent keys section of QST that Tony had passed away, after I moved from Ohio we talked on the air for a few years then lost contact. Jim, sold the car dealership and moved to Arizona 30 years ago and we never were in contact after he moved, his car dealership is still going strong and still bears his name in my home town.

I recently received the contract to remodel the showroom with LED lighting, it turned out beautiful.

 

Me, well after 50 years you can find me on the air most everyday somewhere between 160 & 6 meters rag chewing on CW or SSB, chasing a DXpedtion or new country, operating a contest, checking into a 60 meter net or chasing a new grid or country on 6.