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- Web site created December, 2012, a few days after the end of the Mayan Calendar. We're still here so I figured I had better rebuild my web site! read more...
- Club Bulletins added
Welcome to the NE6I Web Site
I was first licensed in March, 1972 and was issued the callsign WN6OYV. I was thrilled to get my license after ten weeks of classes provided by the Antelope Valley Amateur Radio Club K6OX. I don't recall how many we had attending the classes but I think we had a nice mixture of youngsters like me as well as guys in their 20's, 30's, 40's and 50's. It wasn't a huge class but we had a nice mixture.
I didn't know squat about electronics then. I was only 15,
and I was very green. I was mainly focused on learning
Morse Code and memorizing the answers to the questions
that would be on the test. I had my ARRL License Manual,
and I did a lot of practicing of the code at home.
I remember that only a few of us passed the test. The code
was the hang up for most. I passed that part easily enough
(and in later years, that would become my forte). The
written test wasn't as easy for me but since there was a
nice balance of rules and some theory, I managed to pass.
(I could memorize the rules while I needed to actually
comprehend the theory so that any juggling of the wording
of the questions wouldn't trip me up. At age 15,
comprehending electronics theory wasn't coming easily!)
A month or so later, my license came. I was ecstatic!
There was only one problem. I didn't have a rig!
No matter. A friend nearby had a small station and
graciously allowed me to get on the air. A few months
later, my parents allowed me to purchase a Heathkit HW-16.
After a couple weeks of assembly, I was ready to power it
up and begin testing. I plugged it in and anxiously turned
it on. SNAP!
Something popped. I didn't know what, but all of the
lights came on and the receiver was making some noise. The
good kind. I turned the radio off, unplugged it, and
closely checked things out. I couldn't find any problem,
so I turned it back on and made all of the checks
described in the assembly manual. Everything seemed to
check out except there was no Relative Power output
indication on the meter. Or almost none. I didn't know how
much to expect so I thought all was fine. Unbeknownst to
me, it wasn't.
I put it on the air and began calling stations to no
avail. I called CQ endlessly, and had no one calling me.
This went on for weeks. I had my friend (who wasn't yet
licensed) listen for me. He could hear me fine. Hmmm.
One day, I finally worked someone a hundred miles or so
away. He gave me a very low signal report, but HE COULD
HEAR ME! I was ecstatic! Later, I worked a few locals too.
I eventually figured out that I was not outputting any
real wattage but I still couldn't figure out why. I was a
true Novice, and I didn't understand electronics yet.
I found a 15 watt transmitter project in Electronics
Illustrated. It used a 50C5 audio tube and was built on a
piece of wood. I gathered all of the parts and put it
together, even winding my own coils on plastic pill
bottles provided by my grandfather. My heart really
pounded when I fired it up and was really making some
light out of the bulb I used as a dummy load! With that
little contraption, I finally began making real contacts!
I even worked some nearby states! This was pretty amazing
when I think back. My antenna wasn't at all resonant.
Remember, I didn't understand electronics or antenna
theory yet. I'd seen pictures of an inverted vee, and my
grandfather and I hoisted one up on the 30 foot TV tower
at my parent's house. But there was just one problem. I
end fed it! I didn't have an SWR meter yet so I had no
idea that it wasn't matched. Still, I began making
contacts and was having a ball. One night, I even worked a
fellow novice out in Indiana!
Many moons later, a General Class ham began exchanging
mail with me and helped me troubleshoot the HW-16. In the
end, I discovered that the final screen choke had shorted
to the chassis and opened. With no screen voltage, there
was virtually no transmitter output. Finding that burnt
choke was almost as exhilirating as my first contact! I
ordered a replacement from Heathkit, and carefully
soldered it into place after it arrived. NOW I had full
output power! I was in heaven! I soon discovered that I
needed to center feed my inverted vee, and then the pieces
began to fall into place! I really started filling in the
logbook with all sorts of contacts. I was finally on the
air in earnest!
The Novice Class License was valid for two years only back
then. As 1973 began to wane, I studied hard to upgrade to
General Class. The code wasn't a problem. I'd found some
other teenagers on the air that were CW fanatics like me,
and we pushed each other to copy faster and faster. We
were on the air every day after school, and we were having
a great time. The written test however, now that was going
to be a challenge. There were many more questions on the
test than the Novice test! But pass it I did, and the call
became WA6OYV in February, 1974.
It wasn't long before I was itching to get my Advanced
Class License in order to make more frequencies available
to me. No code test this time; just another written test.
I passed this one soon enough but then the Extra Class
started beckoning me. All of the good DX on CW was below
.025, and very few were listening in the General band.
Back to the books, and in November, 1975, voila!
The next thing that began tugging at me was to get a
shorter call sign. I was watching as all of the California
contesters I knew were upgrading to the new 2 x 1 calls.
And there was a lot of chatter on the air about the
advantages of those shorter call signs. Even though I'd
only been licensed about five years now, I'd already
become attached to WA6OYV. We hams really get emotionally
attached to these things, you know? But I overcame that
and decided to get one of those new fangled calls. By this
time, the A*6 calls were gone and the FCC was into the K 2
x 1's in California. However, I decided that an N 2 x 1
sounded really cool, and I set my sights on NC6 or ND6.
Back then, there was no internet and no really good way to
know what calls were being issued other than to listen on
the air and watch QST (the mag was publishing the latest
issued call signs). As you might imagine, these methods
were not very timely but calls weren't exactly flying out
the door either. Still, I panicked when I learned that
NC6's were being issued! I hurriedly sent in my
application for a call sign change and waited for the
sequential issuance of my new call.
On the day that it came, I was nearly breathless with
excitement. The envelope was from the FCC and naturally,
it was sealed. I knew that opening that envelope meant
that I was giving up WA6OYV and getting a new call sign.
Emotions ran wild. Crazy, huh? I finally opened it
and,,,,gasp! NE6I was printed on the new license!
THAT wasn't what I was looking for! In fact, there had
been much discussion about the suffix ending in a "dah",
such as ND6A or NC6M. But I now had a call sign full of
dits! Could it be any worse?
For the next few days, I contemplated continuing to use
WA6OYV and ignoring the new license for a while. Maybe it
would just go away. Maybe I could return it to the FCC as
"Refused", or some such thing. I really wrestled with it.
But eventually I realized that I was stuck with this new
dit filled call sign. And I began using it. And you know
what? It began to grow on me. It wasn't bad at all on SSB.
Phonetics help. And on CW, I started to notice that I was
cracking some pile ups a little more easily. And what's
this? I can send it faster than others can send their
calls, especially those with 2 x 3 calls. Gee, this is
really helping in the pile ups!
So over time, I began to write off those that said call
signs ending in a "dah" were better than those ending in a
"dit". And I began to really like my new call. Plus, the
new NE6 prefix was attracting a lot of prefix chasers. In
fact, the CQ WPX Contest became my new favorite contest!
And now I've become quite happy with and emotionally
attached to my current call sign. Heck, I even have a web
site! Thanks for reading!
- Licensed 50+ years
- Active DXer
- Former President of SCCC