I have always been fascinated by radio since my earliest memory. As a child, I frequently “borrowed” my uncle’s expensive transistor radio and listened to it stealthily under my pillow. My grandfather had a short wave radio that provided endless hours of listening. Unfortunately, between not knowing CW and his radio being only AM, there was plenty of broadcasts that remained mysterious.
I heard about amateur radio just before my teens listening to Jean Shepard’s ravings on the subject and wanting desperately to get on the air. I recall going into our local Lafayette Radio store and looking at all the cool equipment that I could not possibly afford. I had no Elmer, so learning the theory, learning the code, and getting to a major city to take the test seemed insurmountable.
Around this time, a friend of mine was given two Radio Shack CB walkie talkies. They were huge, 3 channel crystal controlled, and put out a whopping 3 or 4 watts. Since he needed someone to talk to, he lent me one of the radios for several years. I spent many hours talking to him and meeting other people from far away lands of nearly a ¼ mile. One of the people I met on the radio was Brian, who became my closest friend and later my best man. He was also very interested in radio among our many other shared interests including music and photography. Eventually, the later high school years arrived and radio took a major back seat for over a decade.
After graduating from school, getting the job, and purchasing a home, I once again started thinking about radio. So, one day in my late 20’s I was taking to Brian, and said, “remember that radio thing we never did when we were kids”. Well, we worked each other up, and to make a long story short, got our novice licenses. Later, we moved up the ranks, with myself getting an Advanced and Brain an Extra, WX2A. I never could get that code straight at 20 words a minute. When I finally settled down, a few years after we were married my wife Robin also got her license, N2YQE. Around the same time, I also convinced my father to finally get his license, KB2ULP, which proved a godsend in his later years.
Well, that was all over 30 years ago. Radio took yet another major back seat during that time with work becoming all encompassing. However, I finally did get back into the hobby and am currently enjoying learning the new digital operating modes, meeting new friends, and reconnecting with old friends. I am a member of the David Sarnoff Radio Club and the Delaware Valley Radio Association.
73,
Karl
KB2FA