[ADXA] The lady in my SWL days whom I later QSOed as KN5QHS and K5QHS..

Sat Sep 26 15:45:20 EDT 2020

Nick.. 
You had my curiosity up so I searched and found my “gal” who was born in 1915, 105 years ago and whose license expired in 2015, so she would have been about 100 at time of her death.  In the 1956-57 timeframe she would have been about 45 years old. So nice and many QSOs over the years.  I was right on the Bryn Mawr, PA QTH on my initial ADXA comment.. Funny I can remember these things from a remote timeframe but can NOT remember what I ate this morning or last night!
  She was : W3BIW   Eleanor J Hammonds
                                   Kerith Bethel Ln
                                   Bryn Mawr, PA 19010
Some of the older ADXA guys might recall W3BIW.. Very popular and on the air every day for decades.
73
San

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From: Nick Kennedy
Sent: Saturday, September 26, 2020 1:39 PM
To: ADXA
Subject: Re: [ADXA] SWLing was so fun Rick,after I started hearing hams on the air. Broadcast stations seldomQSLed.

A lot of those old stories are familiar. When we turn over to 2021, I'll have in 59 years.  License dated 1/12/1962 signed by C.B. Plummer and Ben F. Waples.

Noise back then ... can't remember well enough to say. The wide receiver BW probably let a lot more in. I remember one thing - when cars would cruise down the street I'd often hear their ignition noise. Not sure but I think it was more pronounced in Fords.

Before ham radio, I did listen to some receivers that could pick up short wave. I didn't get too interested in hearing the foreign countries, but there were lots of weird sci-fi sounds that were interesting. And I remember listening on this old Zenith in my Dad's tavern hearing guys give an ID and then say "No Traffic". So I figured it was police or some sort of agency watching the streets. Haha.

That's me on the left, tuning in the old Zenith.

Speaking of weird noises, there was some kind of transmission that just sounded like a loud roar, like an airplane engine. So I decided that's what it was. Many years later I realized it would have been kind of stupid to broadcast engine noises continuously on AM. But I found that some other hams had thought the same thing as kids.

Yes on the 75 meter phone. K5AJY was the KAAY of ham radio. 

When I was learning the code, we had one of those radios in the wooden case that included SW bands. I'd copy CW on the thing with no BFO, just the "blast of air" sound it produced. Of course there were enough BC stations in the 40 meter band that you'd sometimes get a beat note between them and a nearby CW station.

I also learned on a set of old 78 RPM records. First lesson was E I S H 5 4.  Second was T M O 0 9 X. A couple of other guys were doing it too, after school. We had a straight key we'd practice on but no CPO, so we were hearing it telegraph style, with just clicks. I could actually copy that way.  Eventually got a practice key on a bakelite base with a buzzer in it, from Burstein-Applebee.

I think the lady San mentioned was W3CUL, Mary "Mae" Burke. She was a heckuva NTS CW operator. I've got a G-E Ham News pamphlet from March 1957 that has a write up on her.

Well, this is approaching novella length so I'd better cut it off here.

73-

Nick, WA5BDU

On Sat, Sep 26, 2020 at 8:46 AM Trent Fleming <trent.fleming at gmail.com> wrote:
Well I was in Marked Tree with my Zenith TO.  Pat Lee, our mailman who was from Lepanto tried his best to teach me the code but I was a tough case. He brought me an old hammerlund to listen to but I was more interested in voice than CW. 

73

Trent
N4DTF

trentfleming.com

On Sep 26, 2020, at 8:24 AM, Richard Harris <rickai5p at gmail.com> wrote:

Wow, Dennis, that SWL card of mine is Rare hi! All I remember about the SX-111 was that it was
heavy and big! I didn't remember your original call - WA5IIS - 12 dots in a row - no wonder you
got so good at CW! Took a talent to send that call! I was big into trying to collect counties back
then - I'm pretty sure I got over 500 as an SWL and got the CQ Award but time has dimmed
what happened to the award. Of course, I got into county hunting big time as an amateur and still
enjoy giving out counties while on the road. The antenna with the SX-111 was just bell wire
strung out from the roof to a tree. I knew nothing of real antennas back then. QTH was
in Arkadelphia at my frat house right across from the First Baptist Church. Old house
probably built in the 20's by a family who owned one of the furniture stores. Think my
rent was $ 40 a month. Fun times... thanks for the memories! 73 Rick

On Fri, Sep 25, 2020 at 3:39 PM Dennis Schaefer <dennisw5rz at gmail.com> wrote:
<image0.jpeg>

Rick, I’m sure I showed this to you before.   You were a serious “ham-band” SWL at the time with that SX-111.  I also started out as an SWL.  A newspaper man from my first hometown in Hunter, AR, loaned my dad a Hallicrafters receiver of some kind - don’t remember the model.  I was fascinated, so we ordered an S-108 from the Sears and Roebuck catalog.  I did a lot of SWL’ing and used that receiver as WN5IIS in Brinkley along with a Knight T-60 that I assembled.  The receiver didn’t do well on SSB but was usable on CW.  What sparked my interest in ham radio was listening to AM conversations on 80 meters.  I remember Pappy, K5AJY, from Little Rock.

Good days!

Dennis, W5RZ

On Sep 24, 2020, at 6:25 PM, Richard Harris <rickai5p at gmail.com> wrote:

SWL days.... and the Hallicrafters S-38 receiver line... my first receiver, other than the family
console, was the S-38E. Fun times listening to the BBC, HCJB, VOA, etc. First broadcasting
QSL was Radio Nederland in 1958. Thumbing thru the World Radio and Television Guide
trying to find English programming hi. Used to listen to 160m AM guys from the Mid-West.
One night I was listening and the guy in Nebraska (wish I remember who) talked about receiving a
SWL report from me hi.... Maybe I have his QSL somewhere.... Strongly believe spending
those days SWLing sure helped me work DX later (listen, listen, listen!)... certainly prior
to the spoon-fed internet spotting today (but yes, I'll admit I use that too!).... Rick AI5P

On Thu, Sep 24, 2020 at 4:04 PM HamOP <k5yy1 at cox.net> wrote:
   Yep Rick, I started SWLing in Memphis when living there starting in 1952 and on through early 1957, using an S38A. That would put me at 68 years, including the SWL days. Gosh, time flies. Not sure if W5SJ was an SWL initially or not. If not, then I have him beat! Yeah… 
   Hearing some guys talking one day when I was tuning for distant broadcast stations is what got me interested. Ended up with about 50 of my SWL cards being answered, and then later I called or wrote most of them and we set up a schedule on the air for my “real” QSO with them. The QSO confirmations were cherished for years. One was a very well known W3 woman ham who also ran many nets in PA. Forgot her call but from Bryn Mawr, PA.
Great hobby we have, even if SWLing was the starting point for some of us, Rick.
San

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From: Richard Harris
Sent: Thursday, September 24, 2020 4:45 PM
To: adxa
Subject: Re: [ADXA] Joel and Stan started this fiasco so we real old timersmust finish it

Hmmm... only 62 including SWL days... 51 licensed... a relative newcomer
compared to the real OT'ers!  Still the greatest hobby! 73 Rick AI5P

On Thu, Sep 24, 2020 at 3:10 PM HamOP <k5yy1 at cox.net> wrote:
  You bring the white wine, I’ll bring the red. Oh, we need crackers of some sort and cashew nuts and some dip and ….. etc.  Heck, just hope we are here Bill in another year when this “50 Year” event happens… I’ll start wearing a mask during my sleep too, just to make sure. 
  Oh, and I will have Melinda get in her Razorback Head Majorette outfit and do some twirling for us and Kathy can sing for the group. But, attendees will only be those with 50 years in ham radio as a licensee.  Perhaps 7-8 ADXA members will show up. Joel, see what you and Stan started!  Maybe we can start a “60 Year Club” Bill??? 😊
San

Sent from Mail for Windows 10

From: Bill Priakos
Sent: Thursday, September 24, 2020 3:12 PM
To: HamOP; w5zn at w5zn.org; Stan Ross
Cc: adxa
Subject: RE: [ADXA] Joel's upcoming article in our newsletter ..

WOW and here I am at just past the 65 YEAR MARK, February 4th – Y I K E S ! !

Yes, let’s party! 😊

Bill
W5SJ
Bill Priakos
10 Free Ferry Heights
Fort Smith, AR 72903
479.461.8368

From: adxa-bounces at mailman.qth.net <adxa-bounces at mailman.qth.net> On Behalf Of HamOP
Sent: Wednesday, September 23, 2020 6:44 PM
To: w5zn at w5zn.org; Stan Ross <k5vr.stan at gmail.com>
Cc: adxa <adxa at mailman.qth.net>
Subject: Re: [ADXA] Joel's upcoming article in our newsletter ..

I had my 63th year in June. Can I come to the 50th Party when it happens?? I’ll bring wine.
San

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From: w5zn at w5zn.org
Sent: Wednesday, September 23, 2020 5:06 PM
To: Stan Ross
Cc: HamOP; adxa
Subject: Re: [ADXA] Joel's upcoming article in our newsletter ..

Good deal Stan...congrats quite an accomplishment!
Also congrats on 49 years. I knew you were about one year ahead of me. I'll be at 48 years in a couple of weeks. So, we gonna have a "50th Party" next year????   :-))
I still remember our old Novice days and Arkansas Teenage Net days back in the early 70's.
ZN

On 2020-09-23 15:36, Stan Ross wrote:
Great comments, everyone.  

I, too, need P5 (and FR/G) to have "worked 'em all" but I'm not losing sleep worrying if I'll work them before time to go SK. 

This Saturday, 9/26, will be my 49th ham radio "anniversary" and most of my ham career did not involve amplifiers and elaborate antenna systems... a Swan 500C (courtesy of my grandfather K5VRC before he became a SK) and a simple ATB-34 Tri-bander that I saved up for got me well on the way of what has turned out to be a lifelong love of DX'ing.

So, as we patiently await Cycle 25's better band conditions, we can wait for those elusive entities as well.

73 and good DX!

Stan
K5VR 
Sent from my iPhone

On Sep 23, 2020, at 12:15 PM, HamOP <k5yy1 at cox.net> wrote:
Good post Joel
I will try to be brief. I was on the DXAC for many years and Chairman in late 70s and early 80s, and the talk began from those DXers who were chasers for a few years only and lacked 3-4 countries and wanted the uninhabited or countries not allowing amateur to be deleted. The DXAC was strongly against this, especially when some "real old timers" who had been around 2-3 times longer than those 'newcomers' still needed 1-2 of the same 3-4 rare countries..

I will NOT discuss the allowance of Burma a few years ago at this time and the "way too fast allowing it" without proper proof of "him" being there with permission, mainly because 100s on the DXCC needed only Burma for Top of Honor Roll. In the late 1970s to early 80s there was a time when 3 of the top 5 rarest countries suddenly appeared within 3-4 months and most DXers got them, including HZ/YI Neutral Zone, etc. Then people shut up a while! You don't just delete 3Y, BS7 and No. Korea at this time and cheapen the DXCC award program for the ego of a few, politically motivated hams in our "HOBBY"... This ain't a business you know.

Anyway, good prelim comment Joel about your upcoming dissertation for us to read slowly and understand and then support the right agenda that the ARRL should adopt, without politics!  The initial Kosovo operation sorta stands out too. Hmmm.
San K5YY

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