I have decided to begin by describing how I first became interested in amateur radio - and then my experiences from there in somewhat chronological order, interspersed with my current experiences as they happen.
So--to begin ...
When I was really young in the 1960s, my dad and a neighbor were into Citizen's Band (CB) radio. My dad even had a Citizen's Band Radio Service license with the call sign "KOX1266." I remember he had an old tube-set CB radio mounted in his 1950s Chevrolet station wagon. Later on he put it into his 1969 International Harvester "Travel-All." (I called it "the Trouble-all") For a time, he also had a base station radio mounted in the kitchen with a quarter-wave ground-plane antenna on the roof (the same antenna we got our kites caught into on occasion).
When I was really young in the 1960s, my dad and a neighbor were into Citizen's Band (CB) radio. My dad even had a Citizen's Band Radio Service license with the call sign "KOX1266." I remember he had an old tube-set CB radio mounted in his 1950s Chevrolet station wagon. Later on he put it into his 1969 International Harvester "Travel-All." (I called it "the Trouble-all") For a time, he also had a base station radio mounted in the kitchen with a quarter-wave ground-plane antenna on the roof (the same antenna we got our kites caught into on occasion).
The mobile CB was a 10-channel crystal-controlled "rig" with the channels labeled "A-J." The CB radio in the house was a Lafayette 23-channel base station. (Originally, CB was assigned 23 channels. Later, 17 more were added for a total of 40). I remember my mother talking to dad on occasion and dad talking to the next-door neighbor. I thought this was kind of cool.
As a Cub Scout, I had an "official" Cub Scout crystal radio set. One night my dad and I put it together and, amazingly, I could hear signals out of the air through the earphones. Again - I was fascinated.
Later on, when I was about ten years old, I discovered a portable radio my dad had. It was a typical AM/FM broadcast radio, however, it also tuned the shortwave broadcast bands.
I would listen to the shortwave portion of the radio at night, tuning into whatever stations I could from around the world. It was pretty fascinating to me to be able to listen to radio signals travel around the world. I wasn't really interested in the content of the programs, though.
Then at age twelve, when I was in the Boy Scout program, my dad was the Scoutmaster for awhile. Since he was the Scoutmaster, he had all of the scout troop's equipment at our house. I loved setting up the old canvas tents in the backyard, playing in them during the day and sleeping in them at night.
Among the Scout equipment were two Morse code "practice keyers" which consisted of a plank of wood with a brass "keyer" (J38) attached and wired to a speaker and a transformer with an AC power cord. There was also a sheet of paper with the letters of the alphabet made up with "dots" and "dashes" on each letter. I figured out the dots and dashes on each letter represented the Morse code for that letter.
Over a period of time, I learned how to send each letter of the alphabet from memory on one of those practice keyers. I desperately wanted someone else to practice with. I did get one of the neighbor boys to do it for a brief period of time, but he soon lost interest and I was left to learn Morse code on my own.
About the same time, my dad told me about "ham radio." He told me about being able to talk to other "hams" around the world with Morse code and voice. The discouraging part was when he told me about taking the exam to get a license. At that time, The FCC administered the exams. They would come around to different locations throughout the country to administer the exam once a year. The closest place to me was Salt Lake City. You would study for the exam, then go take it when the FCC was in town. If you failed, you would have to wait a year before you could take it again. This just seemed too much for me at the time, so I set my interest in ham radio aside for a period of time.
In about November of 1988, I was at my brothers house. He had his police scanner going, as usual. He had always been interested in law enforcement, but was unable to make a career of it. He had this eight or ten channel, crystal-controlled scanner he had bought used a few years earlier. I picked it up and started listening. I thought it was kind of cool, but I really couldn't understand a lot of what they were talking about because of the codes they used. I was intrigued enough though that I decide I wanted to learn various codes so I could follow along with what was going on.
So - for Christmas that year, I bought myself a Uniden BC100XLT 100-channel handheld scanner. I listened to that scanner as often as I could. I soon learned the codes they used and was able to follow along with what was being transmitted. I started digging around for as many frequencies as I could get my hands on. I would also listen to the ham operators on the two-meter and 70-centimeter bands. This got me thinking again about ham radio.
During the 1980s and 1990s, I worked for a computer networking company. I found out two of my co-workers, Mark Richardson, KB7DAL (now W7HPW), and Steve Robertson, WC7K, had ham radio licenses. For several months, I would ask them questions and they would tell me about their experiences with ham radio and encourage me to get licensed. I asked about how to get a ham radio license. I found out the process was MUCH easier than it was in the 1960s and 1970s. I decided I had enough of just listening to radios--I now wanted to be able to transmit.
I bought a ham license study book in 1989. Even though I was really interested in getting licensed, it still took me about a year before I got serious enough to take the exams. At that time, five words-per-minute Morse code was still required. When I started to re-learn Morse code, it turned out to be pretty easy because I had learned it as a scout. It only took me about a week until I had it down again. I still had one of the brass keyers from when I was a boy scout.
Later on, when I was about ten years old, I discovered a portable radio my dad had. It was a typical AM/FM broadcast radio, however, it also tuned the shortwave broadcast bands.
I would listen to the shortwave portion of the radio at night, tuning into whatever stations I could from around the world. It was pretty fascinating to me to be able to listen to radio signals travel around the world. I wasn't really interested in the content of the programs, though.
Then at age twelve, when I was in the Boy Scout program, my dad was the Scoutmaster for awhile. Since he was the Scoutmaster, he had all of the scout troop's equipment at our house. I loved setting up the old canvas tents in the backyard, playing in them during the day and sleeping in them at night.
Among the Scout equipment were two Morse code "practice keyers" which consisted of a plank of wood with a brass "keyer" (J38) attached and wired to a speaker and a transformer with an AC power cord. There was also a sheet of paper with the letters of the alphabet made up with "dots" and "dashes" on each letter. I figured out the dots and dashes on each letter represented the Morse code for that letter.
Over a period of time, I learned how to send each letter of the alphabet from memory on one of those practice keyers. I desperately wanted someone else to practice with. I did get one of the neighbor boys to do it for a brief period of time, but he soon lost interest and I was left to learn Morse code on my own.
About the same time, my dad told me about "ham radio." He told me about being able to talk to other "hams" around the world with Morse code and voice. The discouraging part was when he told me about taking the exam to get a license. At that time, The FCC administered the exams. They would come around to different locations throughout the country to administer the exam once a year. The closest place to me was Salt Lake City. You would study for the exam, then go take it when the FCC was in town. If you failed, you would have to wait a year before you could take it again. This just seemed too much for me at the time, so I set my interest in ham radio aside for a period of time.
In about November of 1988, I was at my brothers house. He had his police scanner going, as usual. He had always been interested in law enforcement, but was unable to make a career of it. He had this eight or ten channel, crystal-controlled scanner he had bought used a few years earlier. I picked it up and started listening. I thought it was kind of cool, but I really couldn't understand a lot of what they were talking about because of the codes they used. I was intrigued enough though that I decide I wanted to learn various codes so I could follow along with what was going on.
So - for Christmas that year, I bought myself a Uniden BC100XLT 100-channel handheld scanner. I listened to that scanner as often as I could. I soon learned the codes they used and was able to follow along with what was being transmitted. I started digging around for as many frequencies as I could get my hands on. I would also listen to the ham operators on the two-meter and 70-centimeter bands. This got me thinking again about ham radio.
During the 1980s and 1990s, I worked for a computer networking company. I found out two of my co-workers, Mark Richardson, KB7DAL (now W7HPW), and Steve Robertson, WC7K, had ham radio licenses. For several months, I would ask them questions and they would tell me about their experiences with ham radio and encourage me to get licensed. I asked about how to get a ham radio license. I found out the process was MUCH easier than it was in the 1960s and 1970s. I decided I had enough of just listening to radios--I now wanted to be able to transmit.
I bought a ham license study book in 1989. Even though I was really interested in getting licensed, it still took me about a year before I got serious enough to take the exams. At that time, five words-per-minute Morse code was still required. When I started to re-learn Morse code, it turned out to be pretty easy because I had learned it as a scout. It only took me about a week until I had it down again. I still had one of the brass keyers from when I was a boy scout.
I soon started learning the information necessary to pass the novice and technician written exams. There were five classes of license at that time. Most people would go in and take the novice written exam, the five word-per-minute CW test, and the technician written exam so they could began using voice rather than starting with CW.
The first exam session I went to was on July 18, 1990, at the old Utah County court building in Provo. I found my way to the room where the exams were being administered. I went into a small room where there were people all over the place taking exams in the few chairs that were there, along with others sitting on the floor. I walked up to a table where one of the examiners was sitting and asked about taking the exam. He told me what I needed to do, then handed me a paper exam. I kneeled on the floor in front of the table and took the exam.
Later, I found out the ham at the table was Carl Ralphs, WR7M. Carl helped administer exams every month for many years and would continue to do so for many more.
I took the exam and handed it in. After being corrected, I found out I passed, missing only two questions. The two questions I missed were two questions that had changed in the question pool since the study book I used was published. It really didn't matter though--I PASSED!
I left that evening with my Certificate of Successful Completion of Examination for Element Two, signed by David Cohoon, WN7P; Steve Bash, WZ7L; and Carl Ralphs, WR7M.
One test down--two to go!
For the next month, I studied the technician exam and practiced CW. I attended the test session on August 15, 1990. This month however, the exam session had been moved to the "old" campus of Utah Valley Community College in Provo. In addition, the exams were taken on computer. First, I took the technician exam and then the five word-per-minute Morse code test. I only missed two questions on the technician exam, but again--it was a "PASS."
I took the five word-per-minute Morse code exam, confident I would pass with 100% copy. I nervously listened to the CW through headphones, transcribing the dots and dashes to letters. Just before the end, I heard the word "YAESU" however, the code I heard was "Y-E-A-S-U." I knew it was spelled "Y-A-E-S-U" but I wasn't sure if I heard it sent incorrectly spelled or not. I was pretty sure that it was sent incorrectly, so that is how I wrote it down. Later, I found out that it had, indeed, been sent incorrectly spelled. As I hoped and expected, I had 100% copy. Passed, passed, and PASSED!
I received my Certificate of Successful Completion of Examination for elements 1A and 3A, signed by David Cohoon, WN7P; Randy Haymore, AA7DH; and Carl Ralphs, WR7M, proving I had completed elements 1A, 2, and 3A. I was now an official FCC licensed, Technician Class Amateur Radio Operator!
Well--not quite.
I still had to wait until I had a hard copy license from the FCC. I waited eight l-o-n-g weeks until the middle of October, when my license finally arrived.
Part of the thrill of receiving your license is finding out what your FCC sequentially assigned call sign would be. For ham radio operators, your call sign becomes as important - or more so - than your name. These few letters and number would be your identity among the new world of ham operators you would soon meet - on the air and in person. Many of your friends and acquaintances would know you, and refer to you more often, by your call sign than your name.
Every new ham anticipated a call sign that flowed well in CW or else had unofficial "phonetic" letters another ham might assign that would be somewhat "catchy" making it easier to remember than the standard "alpha-bravo-charlie" phonetics.
Of course, as soon as I received the envelope in the mailbox, I ripped it open to see what my call sign would be. I had estimated by seeing the latest call signs that had been assigned in my area and about how many licenses were being issued per month, that my call sign would be "N-7-P-something-something." I was right - however, what I saw caused me to be a little disappointed.
There on my license was the call sign "N-7-P-P-W" -- "November-Seven-Papa-Papa-Whiskey." I felt at the very least, I was in for a little "ribbing" but worse--a lot of confusion. I thought it was bad enough to have so many letters that ended with the "ee" sound, but two letters the same in a row, and worse yet, two "P's" in a row with the official phonetic word of "Papa."
Now--is that "Pa-pa" with the emphasis on the first syllable, or the second?
You know what though--it grew on me. For the foreseeable future, I would be operating Amateur Radio Station "November-Seven-Papa-Papa-Whiskey."
NOW I was OFFICIAL!!
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