[CW] Morse Captioning Added - Last Eastward Trans Atlantic Voyage of RMS Queen Mary/GBTT 1967

[stan levandowski]

I got my novice license at age 13 because of Boy's Life magazine stories about those two kids who always saved the day with ham radio rescues.  By the age of 15, I was an experienced General with a couple of homebrew rigs under my belt.  I had a GREAT WW2 navy radioman (Grif, W2LOR, SK) for a mentor who taught me how to use a bug and challenged me to get the ARRL 20 wpm certificate which I earned in June 1965.  When I turned 16 I joined Army MARS.  At 18 I enlisted in the Navy.  My MARS experience and ham license got me a deal where the navy guaranteed me the radioman rating and E5 (Petty Officer 3rd Class) as soon as I finished their schools.  They sent me to BEEP school (Basic Electricity and Electronics), Radioman "A" school and Class "C" high speed telegraph school, all in San Diego, one after the other.  Then on to the fleet.  I think I'm a pretty decent CW operator as a ham, at least in part, to the military experience but I think the Navy benefitted from having me "pre-trained" as a ham too.   It's always a joy to meet another former radioman or signal corps vet on the air.  de Stan WB2LQF (still an RM2 at heart all these years later).

> On November 28, 2020 at 1:48 AM Joe Pontek Sr <v31jp1957 at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> 
>     Well, I went into the USAF in 1961, I was lined up for an electronics training
>     and career, mainly because of my ham radio experience and license. As an
>     heart anomaly was noticed, they required additional tests for me. So, I had
>     an afternoon of heel cooling before the tests the next morning. As I was
>     strolling down a hallway, I heard code coming out of one room.  There was
>     a table with paper by the door and took out a pencil and was writing down
>     copy.  A Sargent saw me and started to drag me into that room. Fortunately,
>     my recruiter  was there and pulled me back, telling the other Sargent, "He
>     is going into electronics." Whew !
> 
>     I had a neighbor who was a Navy operator in an apartment I was living in
>     with my wife. He used to come over and we practiced CW, more my teaching
>     him. He was interested in electronics, so I was helping him there as he was
>     bored as just an operator, not repairing any gear. In fact, I was able to get
>     NAVPERS Navy courses for my skill level up grade and I shared them with
>     him because he could not get them himself. Duh. He got interested in ham
>     radio, but I don't know if he ever got a ham ticket. When I was out at one
>     of our sites near his one station, I would visit.  He had me sit his circuit while
>     he refilled our Java cups.
> 
>     I knew many hams that got into communications in the military, all branches.
>     One dear friend was in the US Coast Guard. He was an excellent CW operator,
>     but he wanted his Extra. As an excellent carpenter, we traded. He improved my
>     carpentry skills and I trained him in electronics. I got my ham shack completed
>     and Stu passed his Extra written. Stu was a ham before his service, but many
>     military operators became hams after, from many branches, and from other
>     countries as well.
> 
>     73, Joe, K8JP/K5
> 
>     On 11/27/2020 11:07 PM, D.J.J. Ring, Jr. wrote:
> 
>         > > Hans,
> > 
> >         Usually the best military and commercial operators ARE amateur radio operators.
> > 
> >         In the past I've seen some absolutely amazing amateur radio operators, and what did they do? They became commercial operators.
> > 
> >         Finding operators as good as GBTT and KCEJ on the ham bands when they've never been Navy, USCG or commercial operators is quite a challenge. 
> > 
> >         That's not an insult, that's just an observation. 
> > 
> > 
> >     > 
>     -- 
>     Regards, Joe, K8JP/V31JP, Ronnie, Martin & Sidney Pontek
>     175 Diamond Loch Rd., Apt. 5
>     Gilmer, TX 75644-9374
>     U.S.A.
> 
>     903-204-2318 (My TX cellular)
> 
>     Member FOC-1743 Feb 2001, QCWA-LM21894, OOTC-4607, A1OP, SKCC-3171T, NAQCC-5798, Flying Pig-2819, FISTS-7625CC951, A1C-2299, SOC 1075, CFO, 10-10 22977, PG1915841, CW Rag chewers #21,
>     Facebook: Joe Pontek
>     Skype: v31joepalooka
>     LotW
> 




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>     =30=
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