[Antennas] It's not just a hobby

[Robert Lay]

For those who like stories about Ham Radio - pull up a chair!

It's 1947, and I'm a High School Junior in Columbus, Indiana. I've already
decided that I'm going to become a Chemist or Chemical Engineer - it's all
I've thought about for several years.

Then my school chums, Bill and Scott, somehow get me interested in radio and
electronics. The War Surplus market helped a lot. You could get some
fantastic electronics gear at yard sale prices in those days. None of us had
any real money, so $40 or so for a surplus tank radio seemed like a real
treasure.

Meanwhile, just getting a one-tube crystal oscillator with power supply
built and running was a real challenge. I never did get that thing to work.

Somewhere along the line we all decided to study for the Amateur Radio
license, and we obtained ARRL documentation and a copy of the Questions and
Answers by Nilson and Horning. The real stumbling block, however was the
code test. In the basement of the church near Bill's house there was a small
room that the janitor set up as a code practice room. He was a retired
telegrapher from railroad and State Police service. We provided some
equipment and he pounded brass for us, which we diligently copied. Sending
code was never a problem, it's receiving code that is difficult - why is
that?

I learned from experience later, when learning a foreign language, that the
same phenomenon occurs. You can speak the new language, but you have great
difficulty understanding when someone else speaks it. I finally figured out
that this is because there is a diode in your head, which makes it harder to
hear than to talk.

After months of practice we were beginning to be ready for the big test in
Indianapolis. During Spring and Summer of 1948, all three of us won our
coveted callsigns, I became W9DMK, Bill became W9ERG and Scott became W9FJL
(now W8AM).

We had our separate commercial receivers; we had our MK II Tank
Transceivers; and eventually we built home brew transmitters. The important
thing was that we were experiencing the thrill of communicating with other
hams all over the world (usually in the middle of the night), with very
rudimentary equipment, not very expensive and very little power. Every new
contact was a thrill. Eventually, we got so familiar with a certain band and
mode that we would actually run into the same person that we had already
made contact with previously and you would become involved in rag-chewing -
you know, going beyond the exchange of signal report, WX and QTH.

For several years the only coax that appeared in my equipment was the short
piece connecting the VF-1 VFO to the DX-40 Transmitter. I always used a long
wire antenna that came out of the PI coupler, went through a window and went
to the nearest telephone pole that those screw-in steps. (The telephone
company servicemen would disconnect my tie line and throw it on the ground
occasionally, but I just put it back up that evening - Hi!) My favorite band
over the years was 40 m CW. I had mastered the use of the crystal phasing
control in my Hallicrafter SX-40 and had finally learned to copy words and
phrases instead of characters.

We all got busy with college, military service, establishing a family and
moving through our careers. Over time we would grow apart and then stumble
onto one another. Scott and Bill never left the hobby. I suffered a hiatus
of several years due to lack of time and a new thing called TVI.

I came back into the hobby with a vengeance in 1995 - our careers in
engineering never allowed us to get too far away from the technology. We
regained a tighter relationship over the air in the past 8 years, and now we
keep in touch via radio and the internet on a daily basis.

The greatest reward of ham radio is the friendships that you have through
common challenges and successes. Don't ever let anyone suggest that it's
"just a hobby".

73 and a Happy Thanksgiving to One and All

Bob Lay (W9DMK) in Dahlgren, VA
http://www.qsl.net/w9dmk