I remember the term vividly, mainly because for many years of my youth, I was a HAM radio operator - W3JQL. Wow, that was a long, long time ago.

Almost forgot, I live in West Mayberry - and anyone that has been here will attest to that.

Gary

why not just use your cell phone?

Ha Ha Donny - This past summer, my Brother-in-Law (lives in Western MD) and I were trying to make contact with each other while standing in our back yards - each of us aiming antennas at a passing satellite (had a receiver and transmitter/booster on board). My other brother-in-law was there in MD and he said "hey I can call Randy if you'd like to speak to him". HA HA. Yep phones are easier but sending signals through the air is still a ton of fun.

Gary - In the good old days, I was WA3TMO (Too Much Oscillator) when I was licensed in MD. Now I am N4SAX. Go figure.

Randy, I got my general class license in 1952, which was about a decade prior to the A designation in the license. Back then the FCC had a novice class, which I got in 1951, which made my call license WN3JQL. When I took the General class you had to be able to draw schematic diagrams from your head, which I understand you no longer have to do. I can clearly recall a question on the test that said "Draw a simple schematic diagram of a full-wave rectifier." Don't think I could do that today, though.

Also had to be able to send and receive Morse Code at 25 words per minute. Back than I could do 50 and when I was in the Navy I could easily do 60 WPM with ease. However, in order to send that fast I had to use a keying device known as a Bug.

Gary

Gary - Yes, the good old days. I got licensed in '70 and we had a 1 year Novice license (5 WPM) to get the ticket and within a year you had to upgrade to 13 WPM for General Class. That's all changed now - no longer a Morse Code requirement although there are still plenty of "brass pounders" on the airwaves (Including me). When I had my General Class test in Baltimore, we had to identify circuits from the diagrams they provided and in some cases "Identify what is missing from this circuit". It's no longer like that - now the FCC posts the actual question banks on the internet and you can practice them (same questions you will encounter on the tests). So for the Extra Class license, you have to get 75 out of 100 questions right and the question (practice) bank has about 800 potential questions to study from. Changed a lot since the early days but still a lot of fun!

Randy,

Nice QSL card, I never did get around to having some printed

73
W1DAM

Good question and there are fewer hams today because of cell phones and newer technology. The question becomes what happens with a tragedy like a storm that wipes out cell phone towers? What’ do you do then? Ham radio operators save the day, in the last few years there have been major storms where ham operators became the vital communications link. Ham radio is a fun hobby too!

Ham Radio operators were the only link available during several battles of the Pacific during WWII. The Australian Coast Watchers, who were among the bravest individuals on the planet at the time, used HAM radio to communicate with US armed forces and pinpointed Japanese ships and armadas passing through the Tonga Straits, which led to the demise of one of Japan's largest battleships. Australian Coast Watchers and Ham Radio were a key ingredient to the US winning WWII. (I'm old - that's why I know this stuff! )

My greatest achievement in HAM radio, IMO, was when I constructed a single 6L6 transmitter that put out just 2-watts and was able to communicate with another HAM guy in Soviet Russia. In order to do this, I had to string a 161-foot, long-line antenna from the peak of our roof to a tree-top in the nearby wooded area. A couple days later, the antenna was struck by lightning and destroyed both my transmitter and receiver. I served newspapers and circulars for six months and was able to purchase a Halicrafters SX28. It was the neatest thing I ever saw, back then.



Those were the days, my friends, I thought they'd never end,

Gary

Gary

HA-HA-HA That made me laugh

That's what I'm here for, Lar.