[Fists] First QSO

[Larry Makoski]

I remember my QSO quite fondly.  I didn't get my ticket until I was out =
of high school.   I remember taking an adult study course at a local =
high school in the fall of 1978.  It was right around Christmas time, =
weeks and weeks after passing the Novice test,  that I got my callsign - =
KA2DOH. =20

I didn't get on the air immediately, as I had to finish building my =
receiver first!  It was the Heathkit HR-1680.  It was the first Heathkit =
I ever built!  And it worked the first time, too!  My transmitter was a =
Drake 2NT. It was 75 watts out and rock bound; but I figured out a way =
to hook up the output of an old Knight VFO to the crystal input of the =
Drake and I was ready to go!

I got the receiver finished, the transmitter squared away; and a random =
wire antenna strung up between my room and the garage.  It was Sunday, =
January 29, 1979 when I put out that first shaky CQ. To my surprise, =
Adam KA9CIH came back to me.  What a thrill and a panic at the same =
time!  All those Morse characters, which I had so painstakingly learned, =
didn't make sense all of a sudden.  But a cooler head prevailed and soon =
I had my first QSO under my belt.

Many more CW contact followed as I studied hard and practiced code until =
it poured out of my brain!  I got my General that July of 1979; and =
quite frankly, I was ready to give up CW forever!  I was a General, one =
of the "big boys" now!  I wasn't limited to 75 watts OR the code now!  =
Then I got a rude awakening!=20

For passing the General, I splurged and bought a used set of Kenwood =
Twins - the T599D and R599D twins.  I fired them up with my new General =
ticket, grabbed the mike and got on the air --- only to cause the most =
massive TVI problems encountered by man!  Every time I got on SSB, it =
was the same thing; but with CW there was no problem.  The TV ran clean =
as a whistle with code; but with SSB it became an angry buzzsaw of sound =
and something more resembling a Jackson Pollack painting on the screen.

It could have been a major disappointment, enough to dissuade me from =
being a Ham.  But I picked up the straight key again; and pretty much =
have never put it down (even though it's a paddle now!) Oh, I still pick =
up the microphone every now and then.  Good grounding and other =
techniques have removed all the TVI problems decades ago; but sending =
and receiving Morse Code has become, is now, and always will be, for me =
at least, the magic of Ham radio.

Larry W2LJ


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