{"id":1547,"date":"2023-12-05T10:20:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-04T23:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homebrewradio.us\/blog\/2023\/12\/05\/the-beginning-of-my-radio-life\/"},"modified":"2025-07-22T18:02:03","modified_gmt":"2025-07-22T08:02:03","slug":"the-beginning-of-my-radio-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.homebrewradio.us\/blog\/2023\/12\/05\/the-beginning-of-my-radio-life\/","title":{"rendered":"The Beginning of MY Radio Life…"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n
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Unlike Pete (see below), I don’t have any cool pictures of me in front of an early station. But in the picture above, there I am, at the Thanksgiving table in 1973 age 15. I was on the air by this date, on CW as WN2QHL. Armed with a Lafayette HA-600A and a DX-40, I was tearing up the ham bands, especially 40 meters. Look at the tension in my face, the grip of my fist… I just wanted to finish that turkey and get on the air! But no, I had to have Thanksgiving dinner. <\/b><\/div>\n

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I recently realised that I have been a ham for more than 50 years. Is there an HCWA? <\/b><\/div>\n

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This and the recent movie from India led me to think about the timeline of my early radio days: <\/b><\/div>\n

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— Christmas 1972. Santa brings me a Lafayette HA-600A general coverage receiver. With jeweled movements. Age: 14<\/b><\/div>\n<\/p>\n

— April 27, 1973. Novice Ticket becomes effective. WN2QHL. Age 14. <\/b><\/p>\n

— July 19, 1973. First contact (with Elmer WN2NEC). Age 14.<\/b><\/p>\n

— February 1 and 2 1973. A grumpy old-timer calls — during the Novice Roundup! — to tell me that I’m putting harmonics onto the 20 meter band. I get scared and go off the air. Geez! I probably just needed to retune the tank circuit. <\/b> Age 15. <\/b><\/p>\n

— February 23, 1974. I go back on the air with a DX-100. Age 15. <\/b><\/p>\n

— March 5, 1974. I take the General Class exam at the FCC office in New York City. I pass. Age 15. <\/b><\/p>\n

— April 11, 1974. I buy the Drake 2-B from WN2NEC. This revolutionizes my radio life. Fifteen meter contacts become possible. Age 15. <\/b><\/p>\n

— April 13, 1974. I work ZL2ACP on 15 meter CW. I wake up my parents to tell them. Age 15. <\/b><\/p>\n

— April 21, 1974. END OF NOVICE OPERATION. Apparently we were still working under a one year limitation on Novice operation. Could the expiration date have been marked on the license? <\/b><\/p>\n

At this point the FCC screwed up and sent me a Technician License instead of a General Class License. My father got on the phone to Gettysburg and straightened this out. Thanks Dad. So I was only a Technician for a few weeks. <\/b><\/p>\n

— April 9, 1974. General Class License effective. I become WB2QHL, a man of substance. Age 15. <\/b><\/p>\n

— May-June 1974. I acquire a Heathkit HW-32A 20 meter SSB transceiver from the Crystal Radio Club. But I have to build the power supply from an old TV. Somehow, I survive. Age 15. <\/b><\/p>\n

— June 11, 1974. First contact with the HW-32A. Age 15. <\/b><\/p>\n

— November 9, 1974. Last contact with the HW-32A . Age 16. <\/b><\/p>\n

— March 15, 1975. First contact with my Hallicrafters HT-37. Age 16. <\/b><\/p>\n

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Above is my only photo of my teenage ham radio station. I can date it via the QSL card above the map. I still have that card. I worked W7RUK on March 25, 1975. That contact was on 20 SSB, but when this picture was taken I was on CW (the key is plugged in, not the microphone). <\/b><\/div>\n

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— June 1976 I graduate from High School. Age 17. <\/b><\/div>\n

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— I was active and on the air through the summer of 1976. <\/b><\/div>\n

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— July 1976 — QST article on the Herring Aid 5 receiver. I try to build it and fail. Age 17. <\/b><\/div>\n

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— October 1976 — I depart for Army Basic Training. <\/b><\/div>\n
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There is someone else who needs honorable mention here: My sister Trish. Here she is, next to me at the Thanksgiving table in 1973. Trish helped me keep my ham radio log book. Thanks Trish! <\/b><\/p>\n


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Pete Juliano, Field Day, 1959. With a DX-100B and (gasp!) a QF-1. <\/div>\n

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Unlike Pete (see below), I don’t have any cool pictures of me in front of an early station. But in the picture above, there I am, at the Thanksgiving table in 1973 age 15. I was on the air by this date, on CW as WN2QHL. Armed with a Lafayette HA-600A and a DX-40, I … Continue reading “The Beginning of MY Radio Life…”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[150,292,59,149,167,41,103,106,293],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dx-100","category-dx-40","category-hallicrafters","category-heathkits","category-herring-aid-5","category-juliano-pete","category-knack-stories","category-lafayette-ha-600a","category-novice-station"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.homebrewradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1547","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.homebrewradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.homebrewradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.homebrewradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.homebrewradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1547"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.homebrewradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1547\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1553,"href":"https:\/\/www.homebrewradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1547\/revisions\/1553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.homebrewradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.homebrewradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.homebrewradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}