There is not a day goes by that I dont think about the wonderfull people that helped me get to be a ham radio operater..It for me was many years of hard work raising a famliy..with a wife that hated radios..lol..but when i married the wonderfull lady of my life she supported my hobby and became a ham herself..Now im older so many of my elmers are silent keys.. What i would not give to have just one more chat with so many wonderfull people long gone..How many of you have set at the controls and listened for that faint voice of a old friend..Knowing full well in your heavy heart they are just not there..KEEP IN TOUCH HOWEVER YOU CAN..h.f..v.h.f. u.h.f.phone, postal mail..e-mail..ecolink..what ever works..New friends are great but the old ones are still dearly missed...bill 73s
I'm appreciative of the people that took the time to teach me radio. The license is easy, many people teach the license. That is a disservice to the hobby/service.
Because I was lucky enough to have a good elmer, I pay it forward and teach classes. I just had a nice round of 16 this time.
Whenever I get a class through, I make sure I drop him an email. Not to "float my boat", but so that he can see that his efforts have been passed on to many new hams.
OK, it sounds like a pyramid scheme, but you know what I mean.....
He's back home on the other coast, but every now and then he pops by and we get to have an eyeball.
Jonathan
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Yes, I am an ARES DEC. However, 97.113(a), should stay as it is!!!!
My blog (new, will be adding a lot of ham radio links and such) www.kb1kix.net
i really don't have what i would consider an elmer in the classic sense of the concept. rather, i discovered the hobby by basically stumbling on a Field Day operation and then found out the license information and test sites on the internet.
my background in electronics was enough to have a solid foundation for the three tests - i simply needed to get up to speed on the Part 97 regulations and some of the more esoteric aspects of ham radio operation. i had to learn CW to get on HF and that was a stumbling point for me.
i joined a local club and a contesting club - members from within both those clubs have helped me, again, no one person has mentored me. no one sat next to me when i made my first HF QSO.
a list of those who have and continue to play a big part in my evolution in the hobby includes WB1FXX, KU3HN, W3MC, K3ZO, W3YOZ, KE3Q, K3DI, NN3W, W3LPL, WX3B, KD4D, WR3Z, W3UR, N3GT, W2OK, N3YPI, and K8JW.
i do look forward to teaching my sons the ropes. the oldest is asking me about getting his license. not bad for being 8 - he will surpass my CW skills very quickly, but it will be nice to have someone to share my hobby with.
Oh, yea, had a few Elmers who did a lot for me....
Dick, K8RBW, who lived across the street from me. When the neighbor lady learned that I was interested in radio, she immediately walked me over there to meet him, and he immediately showed me his radio, gave me a License Manual, and, when I was ready to take my test, arranged for that, too. He didn't yet have his general at the time. And, when my ticket came, allowed me to sit in his "royal throne" and have my first contact from his station (DX-100 & SX-111). Also took me to my first local club meeting.
Dave, K8PJY, who gave me my novice and technician tests.
Carl, W8NS, who was one of the old guard hams in town Hooked up with him on 10m AM with a Globe Chief 90A with the screen modulator and a crappy attic antenna. He had a 'scope on his receiver (75A3), and told me I was severly flat-topping, then patiently explained to me how to tune a screen modulated rig up. The rest of his station was a 100V & a KW amp -- probably two 4-440A's
Keith, W8BQG, a barber who gave "ham hair cuts". The cuts weren't exactly the best in town...but each haircut was a hamfest. His rig was an Eldico 100F and a T-bolt amp. The receiver was probably a 75A-4. He also had a great sense of humor and made some very classic quips from time to time. Went by W8 Bald Queer Guy!
The guy who owned Electronics Supply in Pontiac, MI. The store was there for Radio & TV repair shops to get parts at wholesale, but he also sold to hams at the same price. Novices could by stuff to specifically transmit and receive with...generals and above could buy anything. He didn't have a license himself (wonder why?) but he loved hams and would do anything for them. Also had a Stereo Realist camera and projector and would do stereo slide shows in town.
Dick, K8RBW, is still active. The rest are either inactive or SK Thanks for a thread to remember those guys. There were others, of course, but those are the primary ones.
Great thread. I love hearing about the old radios and the earlier days of ham radio and the not so early days as well. Thanks. It actually reminded me of a story in CQ back in the 70's. It was about a couple guys in Korea during the war. They built a station out of spare parts and they even burned some QSL cards on to some film they scrounged up. They ran the station for about a year as I recall. Great stuff.
My Elmer was Virgil Day. I dont recall his call and have miss layed the QSL he gave me so man years ago. He acually didnt need to tach me anything. I was a Radioman in the nave and had learned all the theory and Morse code I needed in RM A school. Virgil drove his truck into the ship I was mechanicing in with his Ham license plated truck. I asked (dumb question) if he was a ham and that was the beginning of our friendship. Then, you had to go to the FCC office or wait for the anual "road show" totake the tests. Virgil made sure that I got to the test site 30 miles away for my general and 10 months later I went up to portland for my extra (about 250 miles) Virgil gave me my first rig, a HW101 and presented me with a mic after I passed my test. He was a grand old indian that I am greatfull for having known. I think that I'm a better person because of him. He died in a car crash a while ago. I no longer have the 101, I gave it to a young ham to be (with holding the mic till he passed his general exam). Hopefully that old radio has helped several new hams get their start in the magic of ham radio..
I didn't have a real "Elmer," but the closest to that was Neal, W2KME (SK).
Neal lived about a mile away from my parents' house, where I was living when first licensed as a kid, and I met him on the air. His signal was so huge and he was working so much stuff I couldn't hear at all, I just had to find out his "secret" so I looked him up in the Callbook and rode my bicycle to his house. He was home and invited me in...
...to see an entire ham station that was 100% homebrewed, wall to wall and floor to ceiling, except for a Vibroplex bug, a 10D microphone, and an HRO-60 receiver. Everything else visible, dozens of rigs, transmitters, amplifiers, rotator control boxes, preamps, converters, power supplies -- just "everything" was 100% homebrewed. Rack cabinets full of stuff.
Neal was an engineer with Western Electric and was a master builder. All his homebrew gear looked as good as anything commercially built. His two meter kilowatt was a pair of plate modulated 4CX300A's, modulated by large glass tubes using a modulation transformer that was bigger than any equipment I had. He had a homebrew "W2AZL" 417A receiving converter ahead of the HRO-60, for receiving 2m signals.
But his "secret weapon," and the reason he was working dozens of stations I couldn't hear, was his 15 element Telrex 2m yagi on a 28' boom up over a 60' tower -- which was also homebrew -- all fed with RG17A/U very low-loss coax.
I "vowed" I would have something like that one day...and a few years later, I did.
Talk about a big difference. My "working radius" on 2m AM extended from maybe 100 miles to well over 300 miles, beginning the day the big Telrex went up.
Neal said, often, "it's all in the antenna, son."
He was right, and it was a great lesson learned. Neal was one of a kind.
We appreciate your support.
remembering our elmers
What i would not give to have just one more chat with so many wonderfull people long gone..How many of you have set at the controls and listened for that faint voice of a old friend..Knowing full well in your heavy heart they are just not there..KEEP IN TOUCH HOWEVER YOU CAN..h.f..v.h.f. u.h.f.phone, postal mail..e-mail..ecolink..what ever works..New friends are great but the old ones are still dearly missed...bill 73s
Thanks for a thread to remember those guys. There were others, of course, but those are the primary ones.
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