Way back in 1975 when I was about 14 years old, my parents got me one of those old Radio Shack 75-in-1 electronic breadboard kits for Christmas. I'm sure some of you remember those; a bunch of parts mounted in a box with springs used for making the wire connections. I played with that thing for hours making tone oscillators, light triggered switches, and crystal radios. About this same time, CB radios were starting to become popular. I first purchased one of those little Radio Shack "base station" radios. These were basically toy, 100mW, single channel radios that were built to look like a table top set rather then a walkie-talkie. I believe I paid $10 for it, used from a friend. Another friend of mine, Steve, from the next block also had a CB radio but his was a "real" radio in that it put out 2 watts and had space for more then one channel. Mine just had channel 14. Not too long after, I also had a "real" radio. We put up some crummy antennas and talked endlessly. I'm surprised we didn't torch those radios because the antennas we made were just chunks of other antennas sticking out the window and connecting to the radio's antenna with aligator clips.

At this point, Steve's dad, Bill, K9IIK, said enough is enough. He made 11 meter dipoles fed with honest to goodness coax for both of us. We strung them up and were actually able to talk to people beyond our little quarter mile circle we were previously confined to. This peaked my interest in talking further. Steve started to study and soon became WB9WXN. Not wanting to miss out on the fun, I also started to study. One evening, Bill said he wanted to give me a practice morse code run. After it was over, he said "congratulations, you passed!" I was first licensed in ~1978 as a Novice with the call of WD9FZR. I upgraded to Tech then to General over the next few years. I played radio for a few more years while going to school then, for some unknown reason, I lost interest and let my license expire..........

About Me: Present Day.....

I am a Staff Electrical Engineer for Motorola designing automated test systems for laser tuning high power 800 MHz linear power amplifiers (now that's a mouthful!) Dave, who sits in the office next to mine, and I were talking one day about all the new (relative to when I was originally licensed) digital modes available in amateur radio these days. My interest was being peaked again. Dave soon became K9DNA. He came to work telling me of interstate PSK QSOs running 20 watts using his new Icom 706MKIIG. I was hooked. I studied the code for a few weeks (this 5wpm Farnsworth is WAY easier to remember then the 13wpm I needed for the General test), took some of the on-line tests for Tech and General, and found the nearest VEC testing center. For yuks, I asked to borrow Dave's Extra Class Study guide the Thursday before the test on the following Monday. I sat out on the deck with a cold, adult beverage and buzzed through the study guide. Come Monday night, July 24th, 2003, I start with nothing as far as a licence is concerned. I get to the VEC test, see a familiar face or two from the "old days", chat with them for a bit, then sit down for Element 1. 9 out of 10 right! The one I missed I actually had right at the top of the QSO but copied wrong at the bottom of the QSO. My dit-dah-dyslexia changed a Q to a Y from top to bottom. Since it was the freshest one in memory, I wrote the second call sign down. Took the Tech, then the General, passing both. I don't remember my scores but I do remember I had room to spare. Being the tightwad that I am, I figured I may as well take the Extra since my $12 exam fee was still good. I got 90% on that one! Having a prior amateur licence and 20 years of engineering experience sure helps. All in all, a very productive evening.