My given name is Rory, but I discovered early on that as
a very uncommon name outside Scotland and Ireland most of the Ham operators
I have chatted with have a very hard time with the second 'R'. So,
rather than fight it, I changed it... as a result most Ham acquaintances
know me as 'Roy'. It was at a very early age that I became interested
in Radio and Electronics. If it were not for the continuous prodding
by my father, Bob Bowers and my best friend since the fourth grade, Richard
Stevens (WB6BSR), I would never have gotten started. I was born and
raised in Imperial Beach, California; the most Southwesterly city in the
continental United States. In 1971 I passed the Novice exam and
became WN6POI. Richard and I spent many a late night tuning the band
at his house looking for "rare DX". By our definition that was
anything that didn't start with a 'W' or a 'K'. My first Ham station was a
Hallicrafter receiver and a Globe "Chief Deluxe" fixed frequency
transmitter. I had to clarify that since many of you who read this
will not remember when Novices were not permitted to operate anything but a
Crystal controlled transmitter. After two years pounding the straight
key I finally felt ready to try the General Class test. Richard and I
hopped on the bus (no driver license yet) and went into downtown San Diego
to the old 6th Street Field Office of the Federal Communication Commission.
I was scared to death and, unfortunately, it showed in my C.W. exam... I
passed the written but failed the code test. I left that day with my
Technician class license and became WA6POI. My only option was to
venture into the world of "VHF and up". The small VHF / UHF
transceivers we have become so accustomed to were not yet on the market,
most Hams were running modified commercial equipment, either RCA, G.E. or
Motorola surplus equipment and most of which would only operate on four
channels maximum.
My First VHF home station:
Single frequency
Motorola "A Strip" tooled up on one of the local 2 Meter FM repeaters.
My First Mobile Radio:
Four Frequency General Electric
"Progress Line" 15 Watt UHF trunk mount, tooled up on two of the local UHF
repeaters.
I managed to fall in with a good group of local Hams; John Austin, WA6RLV
(now K6RLV); Jerry Gastil, K6DYD... the 'Old Man' of San Diego VHF DX; Brian
Kantor, WB6CYT; Ron Patterson, WA6VQZ (now W6FM) and Mike Colburn (now KV6Q)
just to name a few. Over the next many years I learned about the
construction of repeater and remote base systems and the essentials of VHF
radio maintenance and repair. I built my first UHF repeater with a 6
Meter remote base on 52.525 Mhz FM on Hubbard Hill in Escondido, while
working for the City of Escondido as a Radio bench Tech. Later, that
same system was moved to Palomar Mountain to improve the coverage and a 220
Mhz repeater access was added to it as was a VHF remote base on 146.46 and
146.94 Mhz. When the FCC announced that they were
revamping the Amateur Radio callsigns upon my next renewal I became N6CKS.
After doing some 'job hopping' for a few years I got into the Cable T.V.
business with A.T.C. in San Diego. I left San Diego because of my
allergies and moved to the Coachella Valley where I went to work for the
Cable T.V. service supplier there as the Senior Trunk Technician.
Along with that responsibility came the maintenance of the Microwave system
used to deliver the 'headend' signals to the various communities for
distribution. My wealth of knowledge about the operation of these 'headend'
and microwave distribution systems landed me a job as Chief Engineer
designing, building and operating a system that spanned from Memphis, Tenn.
to Senatobia, Ms. where I spent two years living and working.
When I
returned to California in 1980 I was totally burned out on radio as a
profession and entered into Law Enforcement Academy. My L.E. career
was a long and rewarding one, however; one serious injury that resulted in a
year and a half in physical therapy ended it all and I was medically retired
as a Sergeant. Not ready to be retired yet, I found myself back in
commercial land mobile radio as a repeater and bench tech where I re-honed
my skills and learned new ones.
The radio business had changed a great
deal and everything was much smaller. I studied for my General Class
and passed the C.W. exam in Yuma, Arizona. After a few more years I
landed a very rewarding position with I.I.D. Energy's
Communications Section where I still am today. Imperial Irrigation
District (I.I.D.) is a publicly owned governmental agency Power and Water
District serving all of the Imperial County Power and Water needs and the
greater Coachella Valley electric service needs in Eastern Riverside County.
The total service area covers a little more than 6,000 Square Miles of
Southern California. My responsibilities include maintenance and
repair of a six site wide area 800 Mhz Motorola SmartZone™
system and approximately 1400 mobile, portable and base station subscribers.
I also am frequently called upon to maintain our system wide microwave
system and Point to Multi-point SCADA communications systems. This
year we will begin back building the old analog microwave system with a new
Harris Digital microwave system, an 18 month project that again will be a
source of knowledge and a new challenge. This year I have again I
found myself with my nose in the books, studied for my G.R.O.L. and passed it
at a local V.E. testing session. Not wanting to lose what I had worked so hard
for, I studied for another month and passed my Extra Class In February this
year. For me, Ham radio has been more than just a hobby; it has been a
source of many close friendships, an anchor for a rewarding career and a
challenge to increase my knowledge and skills in Radio, Electronics and
Communication systems. The challenges are as boundless as you care to
explore and the friendships are as lasting as a lifetime.
