When I was still riding a bicycle as my means travel, I always wanted to become a Ham Radio Operator, known as Amateur Radio. In my early 20's, I made a meager effort to learn Morse Code, getting some "LP's" to learn Morse Code, then tried attending a class (taught by a blind person), and just never got the hang of it.
Move forward past getting married and raising a family, to approaching retirement...
As a matter of convenience, I took the Technician test in Hot Springs, Ar.
Read the book for the General Class license and took that test in Ava, Mo.
By this time, plans were underway to eliminate the requirement of passing a test on Morse Code. It may seem silly, but I want to take and pass the Morse Code test, even if only Five Words per Minute was the requirement. I just felt like it was something I needed to do, at least to prove to myself I could do it.
A testing session was scheduled here in Mountain Home, so took the Morse Code test and passed.
With that, it seemed like the thing to do was study for the Extra Class license, and later I took that test here in Mountain Home.
My first "Ham" radio, a Yaesu FT-897D, was purchased from Memphis Amateur. After a couple of years I was overcome with the desire to get my hands on a Yaesu FT-817ND. It was known as a QRP radio and really "cute" looking and had all the capabilities of the FT897D, except the 897 was capable of 100 Watts RF Output and the 817 was only capable of 5 Watts RF Output.
I found the FT-817 was a fun radio to use, and every contact I made to places overseas, against others using radios with 100 Watts output or higher, I became a big QRP fan.
|