This is a little about me and my adventures with Amateur (HAM) radio. I will try to give out some of the details about my background here so that I am less tempted to give my background in each of my posts. I will refer to those that have influenced my HAM adventures by their call-sign.
The beginning... It all started in 2004. My friend came to me and wanted me to get into HAM radio with him. We had been hanging out quite a bit and both of us liked to get our hands on just about anything technological that we could. So when he found out about HAM radio he was more than happy to drag me along. We went to the local library and checked out a book for the Technician class license. I don't remember how long it took to learn, but it wasn't too long and we tested for Tech. We waited for our licenses and when they came the only difference was the last letter, his call was KE7BFU and mine was KE7BFX. I thought that was kinda cool and since then I have decided that I won't change my call so that I can always remember my history. Plus if anyone asks what is special about my call I can tell them my story, a short version anyway. W7SAR, a HAM in BFU's neighborhood, became our "Elmer" and gave us our first radios, a set of Icom HT's. At this point I honestly didn't know that much about HAM radio, I sort of had the idea, but was still a little disconnected myself.
My first big exposure was helping in the 24th of July parade in Salt Lake City. After that I looked forward to helping more in the future and wanted to be able to do more. So we set out to do some experimenting and managed to make two J-Pole antennas with copper tubing from the plumbing section. Sadly we didn't really understand the concept of SWR and just soldered some 75ohm RG-6 TV coax to them and hooked it up to our radios. Looking back at that I laugh a little and regret it because I think it damaged my radio. It wasn't too long after we started using those antennas that I noticed I couldn't get into repeaters anymore. I could hear the repeater and transmit on simplex so I figured it had to be something to do with the tone. I forgot about the tone issue for a while and went to help out in the parade the next year. Again I couldn't get into the repeater and had to use someones spare. For a senior in High School this was a little discouraging knowing that if I had to buy a new radio I didn't really have the money. I talked to W7SAR about it since he had given us the radios and he said that he would have to take a closer look at it, but I never got around to getting it to him. I honestly was not the most outgoing at the time. I wish that I had made more of an effort to get involved because I can only wonder what I could have learned.
The second parade wasn't long after I had graduated High School and my parents moved to Washington state and I stayed in Utah at my grandparents. Also, my job at the time had me working a swing shift so my connection with friends basically disappeared and HAM radio kind of became like a distant memory. Years went by and my radio sat unused as I worked and later left to serve an LDS mission. When I got back I went to college and the Air Force ROTC program where I met my wife and eventually commissioned and went on to pilot training in Enid Oklahoma at Vance AFB in 2012. While at Vance AFB there were large storms that ripped through Oklahoma City and tornadoes cause severe damage to Moore OK. Many people volunteered and one of the biggest needs in these groups was some sort of communications other than cell phones. I instantly thought about HAM radio and dug out my radio that had made it with me in spite of the fact that I hadn't been using it. I decided I would test it by trying to listen to some of the airplanes since I could get it to monitor out of band, but when I turned it on and it just had static. You could change the channel from what I could tell but the display didn't work. After a while the keypad didn't even work. Another disappointing blow, but I already knew that it had some issues and still wanted to get back into it.
My curiosity got the best of me and I looked on Amazon just to see what a new one might cost. To my surprise I found a BaoFeng and it only cost about $35. I thought this must be too good to be true and decided to dig into it a little more, eventually buying one. At this point it had been about 9 years since I first got my license, but I had always kept it in my wallet, so I decided to go back to the same place I started and got a tech book from the library for a refresher. I took the book to work with me because events in my life put me in a position where I could do some occasional reading at work. This turned out to be a big benefit because people started asking questions and soon I was introduced to some local hams like KC5SII. I bought a BaoFeng UV-5R and took that to work one day, which brought up a few more conversations with SII and got me to check in on the weekly Monday night net. From there I started to go to club meetings and get more and more involved. SII also sparked my never ending curiosity by introducing me to a few more aspects of HAM radio, like APRS. That did it for me! I had to learn more and get more involved, and what better way than to upgrade. I got a General Class License Manual, started studying and soon took the test and upgraded.
The next big influence for me was field day. Talking to all kinds of people around the country with no intermediate network just you, the radio and equipment, a little know how and some luck with propagation and you could reach out and communicate hundreds to thousands of miles. I don't know how anyone who gets into this couldn't find that intriguing. I HAD to know more! So I Joined the ARRL, to see what it has to offer and get QST, and I have taken on a few projects including a Go-Box for the local club
W5HTK. My curiosity and desire to understand more and more has also driven me to keep upgrading and I got my Extra license.
At this point the spark of HAM radio has reignited a fire inside me that will burn for many years to come as I keep learning what HAM radio has to offer. I may get more busy at times as I continue with my Air Force career but I will look for ways to incorporate my love of radio and tinkering into my daily life.
If you have made it to this point I congratulate you for making it through my story. I hope this helps you understand what drives me and a little about my background as you go through my blog.
73's!
KE7BFX
