[Fists] First QSO

[Philip Cala-Lazar]

After passing the General Class exam in late 1976, I was assigned the call 
sign WD9ADE. On February 1, 1977 I accomplished my first-ever amateur radio 
QSO with Marty, WD9ABG.

Anxiously keying my Ten Tec Argonaut 509, I answered Marty's CQ on 21.166 
MHz. The rig's few watts of CW fed the Hustler 15-meter mobile whip in my 
living room and made the short trip to a nearby Chicago neighborhood. Marty 
was using a Yaesu FT-101 transceiver and a dipole antenna -- he was RST 599 
and I received a 559. We chatted for 48 minutes, and after we signed I 
proudly entered my first QSO in log book number 1 of ARS WD9ADE.

Though my first QSO spanned but a few miles, the distance achieved was 
immaterial because I knew I had my foot securely in the door to the wide 
world of amateur radio -- I was now, officially, a real HAM.

Philip, K9PL
FISTS #6753

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