When I was reading articles published on the Internet, I got the idea to write an article that would inspire radio amateurs to make this hobby of ours more visible... I got to know radio at a very young age. My older brother Jim became a radio amateur in the early 1960s at the age of 11. His call sign was K9YQQ (nightmare on the CW!) and the hams he chatted with called him "young duck". I still remember his log cabin in Chicago, an old desk overloaded with tons of old anchors…
Today, radio amateurs have to put together or spend a lot of money on equipment. As a 4-5 year old I was not very welcome in his cabin as I kept hanging out and turning off my brother's VOX when he was trying to chat with friends on SSB. But what would you expect from such a small boy who knew nothing about radio stations?
But the memories still remain. I watched Jim grow up and build and modify his equipment. He got a job in a small local TV repair shop, from where he brought home various devices and parts. I even remember him bragging to his family when he built a VOX from an old game (pinball) and some parts he found at work among the junk. Ah, the good old days. When I close my eyes, I can still see it - the old ham radio equipment and the brother trying to work on the CW. I remember the voices coming out of the speaker and wondering why those voices had a certain sound that you only hear in a certain phase of the SSB signal on the low bands. I couldn't help but think how great it was.
But years passed, my brother got married and moved away. His modest beginnings in amateur radio were replaced by a brilliant career in television broadcasting. He is now an engineer for digital television. My interest in radios hasn't waned over the years, but unfortunately I was very stubborn to accept the idea that if I wanted to become a radio amateur, I had to learn telegraphy.
This aversion to CW led me to the alternative study of CB. When I got to CB, people just had bells, everything was well organized. It wasn't a bad hobby. Sure, there were some limitations, but I met a lot of nice people in a year, and today some of them have been my friends for over 20 years. Almost everyone is a radio amateur today.
Things started to change gradually. The idiots who were just messing around on the bands are disappearing. It's not so much fun to stream and be forced to fight jerks from different corners of the world to talk to my friends. But life goes on. I moved to Florida. I was still interested in radios. I was still hooked on CB, but the stupid crap was really bothering me.
Only once one day, shortly after I decided to throw my equipment in the trash in disgust, I ran into one person during the broadcast - a radio amateur. I will not mention his name as I respect his privacy. He had been a radio amateur for a long time and did everything radio amateurs do to make friends with people on the band. He forced me to get my license. In short, he was relentless! Not a day went by that he didn't pressure me to study CW for my license. He even started typing out Morse code when we were talking on the phone. At first, of course, I got angry. But after almost 25 years at CB I was ready for a change. I guess my love for amateur radio was overshadowed by the noise I had to deal with when I wanted to talk to friends. But even so, there are many nice people to talk to on CB. Sometimes it reminded me of a big zoo. Total anarchy, the person with the best amp wins.
Finally, CB is limited and it doesn't take long to explore all it has to offer. I just hated the idea of learning stupid telegraphy. My interest in radios was great, as always, so I finally took up the fight. I can honestly say that thanks to my friend's persistence, I have never enjoyed this hobby more. I can't thank him enough for everything he has done for me. After about a month of studying, I took the test, but failed. Of course I was very disappointed, but I was still determined to do it. My friend continued to help me and teach me. I got my technical license and tried the 2 meter band. I really like 2m, and I enjoyed the comfort and ease of broadcasting. There is an amazing local band. I could do the same on the CB, but of course not with such ease.
My friend warned me not to fall into the trap of hanging on VHF/UHF. After passing the exams, I got to the 10m band, but it was still not what I wanted. Finally, I took both the general theory test and the morse code. I was very happy. You can't describe the feeling when the examiner handed you that piece of paper and said that I passed. Only then did I start experimenting with real bands. Determined to go one step further, I began studying for a higher level license. After several failures I succeeded.
My friend was very proud of me. Thanks to my laziness, I didn't get any further. But finally I can broadcast on HF, I stopped hating CW too. I am completely fascinated by the lower bands. There is something about the sounds I hear at night on 75 meter signals. Maybe it's a flash of my past. Broadcasting on HF is just as exciting to me as watching and listening to my brother in the 1960s.
Unfortunately, my friend is no longer with us and I miss him very much. He got cancer and died before I had a chance to catch him on HF. But I will never forget the smile that appeared on his face when I showed him my license, which at least confirmed that his learning was not in vain. Why is amateur radio great? Because in addition to meeting a lot of interesting people, you can also make lifelong friends. Radio amateurs can somewhat force their friends to pass the exam if they share the same love for a common hobby. A lot of people will do it if we show them that learning CW is not so terrible! And they will surely thank you for it one day.
If my boyfriend hadn't been so persistent, I probably would have hung everything on a nail forever. I've met a lot of interesting people since I got my 95 license. Some are... but I don't want to be rude... but others are very nice and good friends. As there are good and bad moments in life, there are good and bad people who broadcast, of course the good ones prevail. That's why I think that amateur radio is a nice hobby. It gives you a chance to try bands where there are no idiots that you need a dictionary to understand! You can meet doctors, lawyers, engineers, pilots, entertainers and people with various other professions.
Yes, the Internet also provides all that. And I love computers, but one thing is for sure, a computer will never replace your radio. I consider the computer to enrich the radio, not to replace it. No computer can give you the sound of an open band and signals coming from all corners of the world. How does this tiny electrical wave travel thousands of miles through the air and appear in your speaker? It's just great!
And then there are radio amateur meetings. Yes, I know, it's not what it used to be. The modern world is rapidly and irreversibly changing the face of this hobby of ours. But you can still get a taste of friendly gatherings and share interesting and humorous stories. Unfortunately, these ham radio gatherings have turned into flea markets selling everything but ham radio stuff. But that's life...
Despite all the lamentations and tears with which here on the Internet (including CQ.sk) meet, we must remember that even if we don't agree on everything, there is one essential thing that we all have in common, and that is our love for radios! That is our common bond. And that's why amateur radio is great!
73 Rich
Translated by YL of MW3SDO, corrected and revised by MW3SDO.