[South Florida DX Association] Re: New Member

[Terrence R. Redding, Ph.D.]

Scott, maybe we should all share a bit of our fascination with radio.

I started by helping my father recover parts from old TV sets in the early
50s.  I was fascinated by the color coding of resisters and capacitors, and
later with learning the secret language of Morse Code.

By the time I was 11 I had an upright all band AM receiver in my room that
had a "band span" that allowed me to tune in both AM stations and shortwave
stations.  I added a switch to the back and strung a long wire from the roof
top to the telephone pole about 220 feet into the back yard.

Friends would come over summer and weekends to listen on my wire.  By 12 or
13 I had built a beat frequency oscillator, which allowed me to insert a
beat frequency of 455 KHz into the IF, which allowed me to detect and
understand Morse Code and SSB.  Really exciting.

By the time I got into high school I was able to hear better than my friends
who were hams.  I didn't get my ham license until ten years later in the
Army after returning from Vietnam.  My wife and I licensed together and have
been able to speak to each other and family and friends worldwide via
shortwave.

I ran a MARS station from my hootch in Vietnam.  From Europe and Central
America both from field locations and my quarters.  Everywhere I have been I
have found other hams to be highly capable people able to learn on their own
and extend their own knowledge and skills in communications while having
fun.

It is a great hobby.

Terry - W6LMJ


On 12/14/06 6:35 PM, "Scott / W4PJ" <w4pj at bellsouth.net> wrote:

> Hello Melanie.  Welcome.
> 
> My name is Scott and I started my radio DXing pursuits in the early 1960's
> by sneaking out after my parents went to sleep and sitting in the car out in
> the driveway listening to the AM radio.  I would hear radio stations from
> all over the country and was captivated by the sound of those watery signals
> coming in and out of the speaker on the "WonderBar" radio in my dad's
> Cadillac.  Hockey games from the Capitol Center, The Grand Ole Opry on WSM,
> KDKA in Pittsburgh.  I later made a crystal radio and dangled a wire outside
> my bedroom window, listening with a pair of headphones underneath the covers
> when I should have been sleeping. From those meager beginnings is where I
> come to be a DXer in Ham Radio.
> 
> As Gil said, we all started with no experience.  But as long as we are
> fascinated by far away signals coming through our speakers, or headsets, we
> share that thing called DXing.
> 
> Again, welcome.
> 
> Scott / W4PJ
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Melanie Flanigan" <fatbinki at hotmail.com>
> To: <sfdxa at mailman.qth.net>
> Sent: Thursday, December 14, 2006 3:38 PM
> Subject: [South Florida DX Association] New Member
> 
> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Hi..my name is Melanie & I'm new (very new!) to the world of shortwave
>> radio. I just bought my first SW radio (a Grundig G5) and am not even sure
>> how to use it. I just joined your mailing list & would like to come to the
>> next meeting.
>> 
>> Several questions come to mind:
>> 1. Are there any girls/womwn in your club?
>> 2. Is your group an appropriate place to start or would it be over my
> head?
>> 
>> I am a registered nurse working in a local emergency room. I have always
>> loved science and sound so I'm sure I will get the hang of things in no
>> time. Any advice would be great.
>> Hope to see you at the next meeting.
>> Melanie
>> 
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