How 1 HAM came to be

Amateur radio, HAM radio, what ever name you have for it will make most people look at you as if you are from Mars when you bring it up.

For years I listened to the HAMs now and then on my scanners and wondered how and why they did it. I was under the assumption that you had to take a test that you would be certain to fail in your first 5 attempts, learn how to send messages to the other side of the world in Morse code at a blinding speed, build a radio from only the scraps in the garage, and only then be accepted, almost voted in, by this seemingly secret group of people. I didn’t know anyone with an antenna farm in the backyard, or any of the people with numerous antennas on their cars, those people were not from around my area, and those people must be up to something.

Then it happened, one afternoon while listening to my scanner, I heard a weather net come up. "This is interesting", I thought to myself, as I pressed the monitor button. These guys in the cars with all of the antennas are doing the same thing I am, watching the skies for the storm that is brewing to the west. Only they did more than watch, they reported on what they were seeing, the net operator requested an operator come to my town, he asked him to make sure and report in what was happening in my area. “Why would he do that”, I asked myself? I found out shortly there after. The spring storm, that I thought was just like the rest we had experienced over the years, was about to get ugly, very ugly. In the 15 years I had lived in my small town I had never once heard the sirens go off except for a test now and then. I do not remember the operators call sign, nor do I remember what exactly was said, but I do remember that it scared me! He mentioned a lowering and rotation. I knew what that meant, and it wasn’t good! I told my girlfriend that we needed to get into the bathroom because there might be a tornado coming. “How do you know that?” she asked. “I heard it on my scanner” I told her, just before the sirens went off in Justin, Texas for the first time in many years. The tornado never touched down in town but did cause some damage a mile or so down the road.

I gained a new respect for the guys in the cars with the funny antennas that day. I decided that I could further my hobby of weather watching and help people at the same time by gaining access to this world known as Amateur Radio. But, I was intimidated by all of the STUFF I would have to do first, dots and dashes, building radios, taking tests... Not knowing anyone that was a HAM I had no other information to go on, only what I had heard and read here and there. This went on for several years until I ran into a guy with lots of funny antennas on his car in a Wal-Mart parking lot.

When I approached him he seemed almost aggravated that he had been spoken to, then I told him about my interest in amateur radio. His whole attitude changed! “So you would like to get into this would you?” he asked me with a smile on his face. I told him yes and he gave me his phone number and told me to call him after I had read a book called “Now You’re Talking”, and he would set me up to test and help me get started. I bought the book about a week later and read it in a week. I was ready to get started and called his number. I did not get an answer so I left a message. My call was returned a few days later by his son. I was informed that my “Elmer to be” had passed away. I didn’t know what to say other than “I am sorry for your loss” and I hung up the phone. “What now? Who do I turn to? I don’t know what to do now.” I said to myself.

I can count on one hand how many times I have quit something because I was stuck. I decided that I was going to get my ticket and went to the internet to find out how. I found web sites and chat rooms full of people willing to help out. I received e-mails from people telling me where the next tests were being held, and offers to come see how it is done! I found out that the first man I talked to in that parking lot was not just a good guy, but one of the thousands who are interested in preserving this hobby by helping others and mentoring them along to become an amateur radio operator. I have traveled all over this country and have met a lot of people that were into a lot of different organizations, but I have not yet met a group of people that are more approachable and helpful than HAMs.

I have now passed my test and am impatiently awaiting my name to be added to the database so I can make my first on air contact. I never knew the man's last name that I met in the Wal-Mart parking lot, I do not know his call, I only knew him as Jim.

Jim, this first contact will be because of you taking the time to introduce me to a group of people that cannot be explained in words, they can only be explained in actions, and little dots and dashes.

73 my friend,
Charlie
(Soon to be ??5http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif)


****not part of the story****
I can be reached at "ctaylorjr@attbi.com"

[KD5RNN]

it's nice to hear of a good ending to your story.

the next thing you'll know you will be just like "jim", your car will be coverd with a heap of antennas and wires and you'll be just a friendly and helpful as almost any other ham radio operator.

Your situation was alot like most that knew no other hams ( or if you did know one you didnt know that they were) and were seeking help. such as myself, my parents were not operators.

Now days with the power of the internet lots of poeple just like you find out how to become a ham radio operator.

As for myself at the age of 7 i heard morse code on my dads scanner and thought of it as some sort of communications amungst spies. now i am 14 and am a General and love every bit of my hobby, but cannot seem to interest the youngsters of today to get into ham radio.

As for Skywarn or other storm spotting nets it is very valuable and life saving knowledge to have. whenever a class comes up i try my best to be at it wether it is a basic or advanced class.

when you get on the air i am sure that you'll find yourself a repeater and get yourself some close buddies.
who lead you to clubs and from there a world of knowledge of radio related topics.

I wish you well in your journey into the bottomless pit called Ham radio.

73's and good Dx'ing
N5EIL , Neil

[n0srq]

Nice Story and welcome to this wonderous world of Ham Radio. You will soon run into many opinions about this hobby and where it is headed. #Just remember, you are as vital a part of this hobby as anyone else so don't get discouraged by others. #This hobby is whatever you choose to make it. #My Best Wishes and I hope to work you one day soon.

73 #Ray

[W5IDN]

Congratulations on passing the test. Welcome to the group. I
know you will be an asset to the Amatuer community. It is a lot of
fun and a lot of nice people. Hope to see you on the air.
W5IDN, Garland http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[KC9AIE]

Thank You for sharing your story. I know you will find Ham Radio to be everconstantly rewarding; something you will surely enjoy for the rest of your days. Not many people would keep trying like that, in fact, i find it hard to convince most people to become hams even when presented with all the information they need to know right off the bat. Hope you get a good callsign!

Dan, KC9AIE
Age 14 in IL.

[N9OQT]

Congratulations KD5USS,

That sounds like a wonderful call. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif
Maybe it just reminds me of Star Trek, anyway,

Your New call (http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/UlsSearch/license.jsp?licKey=2472518)

Taylor Jr, Charles E
2722 Pinery Ln
Richardson, TX 75080

I wish you the best in the New Year, and always.
Welcome to Ham Radio!!

I look forward to working you on the air sometime.

Patrick Twigg
N9OQT
Tolono, IL

[KB1IPK]

Crongatulations KD5USS!!
I've been a ham for 6 months and I enjoy it a lot! http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif #http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif
I know you will have a great time with the hobby and I wish you all the best.
Happy new year!!

73, KB1IPK #... Jonathan 14 yrs.

[KC8RVB]

http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif Congratulations KD5USS and welcome to the wonderful world of ham radio. It's an exciting and very interesting hobby!!!

Deb
KC8RVB

Hi Charlie, I'm no electronics engineer, but if I can ever help answer a question, or elmer in any way, just e-mail me.
73's Gregg
kd4jvg@peoplepc.com

[w6th]

Hello Charlie,
# # Congrats om, join the ranks of wisdom and entertainment.
# # # # # # # # # # 73, # W6th

[N1YR]

Welcome, Charlie! Yours is a very good story. One thing I like to tell people, is that ham radio is about 300 different hobbies. Some like to experiment, some like to contest or DX, some watch the weather and others just talk. Others love to build, and would never think of getting on the air more than to prove the project works. Some like FM, AM, CW, RTTY, PSK31, SSTV, ATV, or packet. Some stick to HF, some VHF, others to microwaves.

The moral is twofold: if you find your interest slipping away, try another angle. If some of the hams you meet have interests that don't match yours, look a little further and you'll find some that do!

73 de N1YR

[K5USS]

One of the main things I like about this hobby is the camaraderie that many seem to share. The homebrew aspect is something that I love and have been doing for years with antennas for the scanners that got me interested in this. Since my first on air contact, last night, I have been having a lot of fun and have learned even more. My fiancé just asked me to bring her my "Now You're Talking" book. Looks like she has gained an interest as well.

Charlie
KD5USS

[N0NB]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (KD5USS @ Jan. 01 2003,16:23)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">My fiancé just asked me to bring her my "Now You're Talking" book. Looks like she has gained an interest as well.[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
That's how recruitment works. One enthusiastic person sparking the interest in another. While ham radio is many things, it is really only one thing--people.

Ham radio is a social fraternatity unlike any other in the world. It is somewhat exclusive, but it's open to all with the requisite interest and the motivation to pursue the goal.

Congratulations on your acheivement, Charlie, and welcome to the Amateur Radio Service. Your story serves as a testimonial to personal accomplishment and should be an inspiration to anyone pursuing a goal.

[kc0hxi]

Congrats Charlie. Now you just have to stay one step ahead of your fiancé (hi hi)! You'll have to let us know how your first field day goes this spring.

I'm sure Jim is smiling, out there in the great DX.

73 and God bless.

[wb6bcn]

KD5USS, Felicitación, Congratulations, Félicitation, Congratulazione, Glückwunsch
In a few days a letter will show up from the FCC: You have only started on what could many decades of enjoyment and fulfilment.
I, like others have no squaks about helping other hams. I feel that everytime I help another I have just re-enforced another memory cell and it helps me keep my gray matter in the pink. So don't be afraid to ask me any ham related, or electronic related questions. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[sq5ebm]

Nice to see another one :-)

hpe to cu/hear u on air

just hope u will enjoy it a lot... and soon i hpe u will also get into all sorts of HF scanning too

i myself got into radio at 11 yrs old (im 24 now)
1st the CB came and with it - SSB dxes, then in 94 my 1st vhf/uhf lis , and in 99 both my father and i passed HF lis.
now also my mother is a ham (SQ5GM) ... she had no choice :-)

best tu and urs
73 de SQ5EBM
Maciej "Miles" Muszalski
Warsaw,Poland
ko02me

[sq5ebm]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (KD5USS @ Jan. 01 2003,15:23)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">#My fiancé just asked me to bring her my "Now You're Talking" book. #Looks like she has gained an interest as well.

Charlie
KD5USS[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
My fiancé also is into ham but quite slowly :-)
what is great is that She understands the hobby and supports me (i think it has to be involved with us - hams -males spending time at our home - so we are always in a visible place - easy to check :-))

It's funny when i sometimes do some hf scanning and She chases me off the radio so She can do some listening herself

73 de SQ5EBM
(as Tony W2FJ said "SQ5 Empty Beer Mugs" )

Welcome to the hobby, Charlie. I'm sure that you will certainly enjoy it. I too got into amateur radio via the scanner and soon found that there were many helpful people around here. Now I have to recruit some classmates at school. Hope to talk with you on the band sometime soon.

God Bless & 73,
Jeffrey, KG4QWR

[VE3LEG]

Welcome to the hobby, you'l enjoy it and learn alot. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[K2MIT]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (N9OQT @ Dec. 31 2002,09:31)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Congratulations KD5USS,

That sounds like a wonderful call. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif
Maybe it just reminds me of Star Trek, anyway,

Your New call (http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/UlsSearch/license.jsp?licKey=2472518)[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
N9OQT:

How did you figure out his call? I did not see KD5USS before your post. Did you use his name and look in 5 district for all matches in ULS?

--Jeffrey Steinberg, K2MIT

Hey Charlie. I am a new ham as well. My father was a ham since he was 13 and just passed away in September (w1vvk) http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif . He never thought I would go for my license. Well, I did. A little late, but better late than never. He was mostly into 2 meters and weather monitoring as well. I Just installed his 2 meter rig in my jeep!

I joined a club in the area and got my tech and am going for my general ticket. I am starting class on tuesday. The classroom was a much better situation than just reading the book for me.

I never knew how much I would enjoy ham radio. I just wish old dad and I could have had a qsl or two.

Take care and 73

Spencer KB1JDK (soon to be W1VVK)

[K5USS]

Spencer,

First of all Spencer is a special name to me, it is my youngest son's name.

I sort of understand your feelings, as I have the same about Jim. The main thing is we both continued with what we wanted to do and are willing to continue our education to keep this great hobby alive. Much like your father, I too am mainly interested in 2 meter and weather events at this time, but who know what is in store for the future. One thing I have learned about amateur radio, IT IS ADDICTIVE and I have found that I have to continuously experiment!!! Hope to have a great QSO with you in the future.

Charlie
KD5USS

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I do believe we may chat on the air if I figure out oscar. But there is a 2 meter link in my area.

On my end it is KB1CDI repeater out of rockyhill amongst other spots in the state.

There are 440 and 10 meter links to it as well. Pretty interesting to do DX off a handheld. Have not gotten into echolink, I am a mac guy.

73 again, Spence

[n8doe]

Congrats are in order. I've been in ham radio over forty years and I love it jnust as much now as I did as a kid your age. Welcome aboard and I hope your journey in radio is as fullfilling as as mine is. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[n1ame]

Hi, great story! And of course not every ham is a TV repairman or an electronics engineer, usually just a "normal" everyday person. Welcome to ham radio.

[K8AG]

As I have said in past articles, it is a shame that non-hams have the impression that we are a secret organization whose entry requirements are just short or impossible. I am very glad that you fought to finish your ticket. I hope other non-hams read this article and are encouraged. Congrats. Hope to work you some time.

[kg4ttj]

Congratulations KD5USS ! I'm a relatively new ham too - I've had a Technician-class ticket since mid June 2002. You're coming into a great hobby, loads of fun for everyone. You'll really like Field Day - it was my first event, and I had a blast - my favorite "contest" yearround! http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

But welcome to the hobby - if you ever get on IRLP, dial up nodes 4660 and 4900 - Nashville, Tennessee, and give us a holler. We'd love to hear from ya. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

Have fun with it - that's what we're all about. Good luck, and hope to hear you on the airwaves... http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[kk4ken]

I have to say that my story of becoming a ham isn't all that exciting. I first got interested in radio through CB when I was 10 years old. There weren't very many people to talk to on CB, but I tried. I got my own CB handheld radio and I listened to the static, hoping to hear something. I didn't know much about CB back then, only that it was a magical place where people talked across lots of land without any wires between them! I wanted to do that too.

My first contact on CB was less than encouraging. I talked to a gentleman who never said his name or anything. He did bother to take the time to tell me that as a child, I shouldn't be talking on the radio. That discouraged me a little bit. Not a lot though. I still listened to my CB but I didn't try talking on it after that. I heard that guy on a few more conversations with others and they swore all the time on the radio. I almost gave up on radio altogether.

Fast forward 10 years. New CB handheld, different state. I decided to get a new CB because I was tired of the computer (at the time) and I wanted to try something and meet some people. Well, I had an interest in radio and I figured that would be the best way to do it. I never heard anything for the entire year that I sat and listened on various channels. Nothing but static. I don't know how it happened that I ended up in a dead-to-the-world area as far as CB was concerned. I couldn't imagine why my CB couldn't hear anyone in range. I found out later that many truck drivers did use CB in that area, but they were usually the only ones ever on it and they were generally only on early mornings (when I was asleep or at school).

Fast forward again, this time, to 2000. I moved back home to Montgomery, AL. Again, I listened to the CB and I talked to some people on there. I met one person on AOL and talked to him on the CB ... barely. My handheld couldn't reach him. I could hear him barely and he could hear me, but it was not what I had wanted. I talked to him some more on the internet and he mentioned ham radio to me. I thought to myself "Wait! I remember ham radio! When I was a little kid I was interested in that. I got an Archie comic and became a temporary ham operator through the Archie club!" I did a search on the internet and found out about the local radio club here. I went to a meeting and met a few guys who were willing to lead my along the way.

And here I am, three years later. Still a technician no-code. No incentive to move forward, I have tried to learn the morse code, but I am afraid that it evades me. I've learned it some, but some is not good enough. I want to move up, but I have no reason to at the moment. 2m and 440 are fine with me. They offer me APRS, SSTV, Satellite chats, etc. I will eventually grow beyond my technician license, but in the meantime, I'm having a blast as I am! http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

KK4KEN
Ken