Semi-Brief WA5IYX Ham Biography
1957 - at age 10 my intense interest in astronomy spread out into radio
with the launching of the Sputniks and later Explorer I (I never heard either). Oblivious to being in the midst of historic Solar Cycle 19.
1958 - attending an open house event at nearby South West Research Institute
I became acquainted with the American Basic Science Club, a local maker of
a set of eight scientific kits (electronics, optics, etc). One of the
kits included how to learn the Morse Code and a Q&A booklet for the Novice Class
License.
I went so far as to fill out (but never mail in) a Form 610 obtained from
the Houston FCC Office. I just didn't have enough confidence with my
ability to receive the code. So, the next five years were spent as an
SWL - starting out with a Knight-Kit Ocean Hopper, thru a Philmore CR5-AC (1959),
and then onto a factory-built SX-110 (1962).
1959 - got WPE5ABW "assigned" from Popular Electronics, replacing that very-generic
SWL-K5 that I'd been using on my homebrew QSL cards. This was also my first instance of catching some Ch 2 Es (Andalusia, AL -
rather short-skip and, in August, late in the season). The stage was thus set
for my interest in VHF propagation.
1960 - my first full VHF Es season with the TV (although rather limited by only
one set for the family!)
1962 - in a bit of serendipity the June issue of CQ magazine was picked up
off a newsstand. It contained the mid-term report that the Monroes (K7ALE,
K7ALF) in Arizona were doing on 6-meter propagation. I decided to start taking TV Es
data in their fashion - though that really didn't get solidified until the
next summer. The same issue also contained an Es primmer by W3ASK!
This was also when I found out that there was a winter TV Es season and
finally realized how to use h.f. short-skip as an indicator of possible
impending VHF Es events.
1963 - the most extensive TV Es season yet for me. That fall my High
School Radio Club finally gave me the confidence to go for the Technician
License - since that would enable me to gather 6-m Es data there. Back then
the exam was sent via the mail, with mine arriving on Saturday, November 23, 1963
- a very easily-remembered date. By the following Friday I had a proctor (K5UKN,
SK) set up - and the ticket arrived on Christmas Eve.
The initial rig was a Lafayette HE-45a, with its 6AQ5 not doing much to
Heising modulate a 2E26.
1964 - a homebrew dipole antenna was soon supplanted with a loaned halo,
with which my first 6-m Es QSO was made May 7 (W7KRV, AZ - SK). I had a
5-element Cushcraft up in time for the major summer events, but with just
crystals for 50.124, 50.238, 50.400, and 50.550 MHz life could be very
frustrating. The HE-45 didn't have a bfo, so cw/ssb signals required that I
beat the 2nd harmonic from the local oscillator in the SX-110. Any cw sending
was a case of using the PTT button on the mike! QSL cards finally printed up in July.
1965 - in February a Utica 650A, with bfo, vfo, and much better audio. It did
provide for a key, but having that activate the B+ to the OA2 in the vfo was a
bit dubious. I managed to work several double-hop Es stations that summer
season - one particularly monster event (June 18) required QSYing to above
50.7 MHz to get clear of all the am heterodynes!
Near the end of that season I was gifted an old WRL Globe LA-1 linear
(80-6 m, four EL-38's in grounded grid). Its original internal 5R4GY power
supply had been replaced with an external behemouth using a pair of 866A's!
1966 - the rising trend to ssb operation was becoming more obvious that season,
as I moved to Austin to attend UT there in pursuit of a BS in Physics. Get to run a
few of my simple FORTRAN creations there on IBM1620 and CDC6600 mainframe, key-punched card era (had learned some
of that language in early 1964).
1967 - in April I heard, but couldn't work, my first 6-m F2 signals of Cycle 20
from Argentina. It was then that I decided that some sort of 30-50 MHz receiver was
needed in order to track the MUF. It would be that fall before a simple Radio
Shack ($25) Patrolman was obtained - opening up an entire new world of signals
for me to monitor.
1968 - that April my first 6-m F2 QSO's were made (Argentina, Chile, Uruguay)
on cw and am. Seeing the increasing dominance of ssb in DX pursuits, I got a
Swan 250 by late August enabling me to partake in TE and backscatter events.
1969 - in changing Austin QTH's in May, the 5-el Cushcraft replaced by 3-el version
1970 - back in San Antonio, after many failed attempts, I finally was able to
catch some Es on 88-108 MHz in July with an ancient (1949) rf-ampless Stewart-Warner set
that had been fixed back in 1962 (but had only managed to get tropo). I started as editor of
VHF Utility DX columns in the WTFDA VUD (thru 1980).
The large magnetic storm of March 8 provided my first experience of seeing F2 on Ch 2.
1971 - a brief tenure at the Office of Telecommunications in Boulder, CO enabled
me to do some /Ø operating and also attend my first CSVHF meet in Sioux Falls, and the 3rd Seminar on Midlatitude Sporadic E
held at Utah State University in Logan, UT where I presented my 1964-1970 50-MHz Es
data.
1972 - March issue of Radio Science carries some of the Logan Conference papers. A
more ham-oriented version of mine also appeared in the August 1972 issue of CQ.
1973 - acquire (and rehab) an old SX-62 for 30-50 and 88-108 MHz monitoring.
1974 - December issue of ham radio magazine carries my article on VHF effects of
Solar Cycle 20.
1975 - my first catch of high-VHF TV Es with Channel 7 from Wheeling, WV on June 30.
In Sept get "permanent loan" of an SP-600-JX-10 and see what sharp selectivity and fine tuning are like
in the 30-50 MHz band.
1976 - complete 6-m WAS (#143) with KL7IBG QSO in June ARRL VHF contest. Take quick advantage of the new FCC regulations enabling us Techs to use the
Novice hf cw bands in July. By October a used Swan 500 is in use for that (though
having to swap a common power supply with the 250 until next Feb.)
1977 - catch Ch 13 Es on Feb 7. Upgrade to Advanced in May (FCC quarterly visit) and get First Class Commercial Phone.
By Jun have the 5-el instead of the 3-el Cushcraft up again for the first time since May 1969.
1978 - April first 6-m F2 events of Cycle 21 to South America.
October 16 hear my first BBC and French TV audios.
10-m liaison net for 6-m begins, eventually ending up at 28.885 MHz by next Jan.
1979 - just in time for the fall of NASA's Skylab, a 3-week July trip to VK to visit relatives, get VK4ZG license, but only one 2-m FM simplex QSO!
The unexpected intensity of Cycle 21 enables 6-m paths to ZL (51 MHz) in the spring and
Europe (mostly crossband) that fall. My first scanner (Bearcat 210) simplifies MUF tracking.
October the current FM-DX tuner, Realistic TM-1001. November feeding into a standard US TV set i.f.
thru a preamp am able to "see" BBC Ch 1 (45 MHz) video.
1980 - March with a 35-mm SLR I am able to take some better TV-DX images. April get on 144-MHz at last with a used Swan TV-2C transverter (14-MHz i.f.) and
catch my first Es there later that season. Aug 10 an F1 tornado from Hurricane Allen damages antenna system masts.
Finish off 6-m WAC with Africa and Asia that fall.
1981 - May get IC-551D to replace the "aging" Swan 250. Dec same with IC-730 for Swan 500.
1982 - Feb get used Swan Mark 6B linear (pair of 3-500Z's) to assist in pileup busting.
April 2-way QSO with VK2BA at 52 MHz. Jul 13 experience my first 2-m aurora QSO with WØPW in Colorado.
1983 - July present some of my 88-108 MHz Es data at the CSVHF in Kansas City. Oct attend the
ARRL National Convention (and subsidiary SMIRK 10th Anniversary Gathering) in Houston.
Nov get an Atari 800 computer (though a year before a disk drive).
1985 - attend my first (and so far, only) WTFDA convention in New Orleans the week
after the CSVHF one in Tulsa.
1987 - get a VCR to tape TV DX after impending Ch 2 allocation for Fredericksburg is announced.
1989 - huge March magnetic storm provides 2-m auroral signals from Colorado, Oklahoma, and Kentucky.
Get modem for Atari (300-bd, then quickly 1200-bd).
1990 - October QEX publishes some of my 88-108 MHz Es data.
1992 - March QST publishes my 88-108 MHz Es data for 1980-1990. Attend and
participate in the CSVHF meet at nearby Kerrville. August manage first 2-m meteor scatter (random) QSO.
Upgrade the computer system to a 386-SX-16 (2M RAM, 85-M HD, with Win 3.x.)
1995 - start using Internet E-mail thru local BBS.
1996 - in a continuing-quest for a "good" 108-118 MHz receiver, manage to get
a 1950's vintage Narco Omnigator performing.
June computer upgrade to 486-DX-66 enables getting SW Bell as an ISP by early next year.
1997 - Sept start WWW Home Page on SWB server.
Soon after that a Pentium-166 obtained with Win 95 OS.
Page Created: August 19, 2000
Last Modified: September 15, 2000