Congratulations Paul W5DM !
Thanks for telling us about your history. Truly an inspiration. Your 160m
accomplishments from a RF noisy lot gives me incentive to stop complaining
about my S 20 over RFI and get to trying for 160m contacts.....thanks again
for your contribution and many more years
Greg
--------------------------------------------
On Sun, 1/22/17, topband-request@contesting.com
<topband-request@contesting.com> wrote:
Subject: Topband Digest, Vol 169, Issue 14
To: topband@contesting.com
Date: Sunday, January 22, 2017, 12:00 PM
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Today's Topics:
1. Re: Made it! 80 Years a Ham (Gary
Smith)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Sat, 21 Jan 2017 12:05:12 -0500
From: "Gary Smith" <Gary@doctorgary.net>
To: Topband@contesting.com
Subject: Re: Topband: Made it! 80 Years a Ham
Message-ID: <588394C8.11430.28A38F76@Gary.doctorgary.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Paul,
You are a hero. What a wonderful
experience Ham Radio has been for you.
My father, Earl, passed in 2014 but was
active on the air to the last. He was
first licensed in 37 as W8QXF, then to
Hawaii during WWII & became KH6RD for two
years after the war. Back in PA and after
the districts changed he became W3QXF.
With a move to CT in 62 he became W1BML.
He too was highly involved in the greatest
parts of Ham Radio, perhaps you had met,
you would have both enjoyed that.
Thank you for sharing your story and thank
you for your service.
73,
Gary
KA1J
> Made it! 19 January 2017, is the 80th anniversary of my
first ham
> license, Class C operating privileges with W5GGV as my
call. Was 14
> years old at the time. A little over a year later I
upgraded to Class
> A. Many years later the Extra Class (with no
added privileges) came
> along. Upgraded. Some years later the FCC announced
that hams with an
> Extra Class license who had been licensed 25 years
could apply for a
> two -letter call, no place on the application to
request of a specific
> call. Was assigned W5DM.
>
> First rig made from junked Atwater Kent radio parts.
First antenna was
> a wire going out a hole in the window screen to a
tree. First DX was
> VK2SS on 40 m CW, September 1937. (An aside. There were
no phone
> privileges on 40 m for USA hams). The VK2SS QSL card is
hung on my
> wall. My card to him was written on a postcard (Great
Depression=no
> money to buy QSL cards).
>
> Been fairly active over the years, except, of course,
for WW II. If
> interested in WW II, you can do a web search on DD 792
for a small
> part of my history.
>
> The first 20 or 30 years I built my transmitters (all
low powered) and
> receivers. Operated CW only until SSB came along. Then
I built a low
> powered phasing rig. A BC-348H receiver was made dual
conversion using
> 85 kcs (kcs then= kHz now) IF transformers from a
BC 453 receiver.
> Had a blast working the world with a homebuilt "cubical
quad" on 20
> meters. Since then mostly CW.
>
> I may have made one small contribution to ham
radio. In the April
> 1958 issue of QST, in Technical Correspondence there
was a letter from
> me that, I think, was the first mention in a ham
publication that the
> formula for determining the length of a "cubical quad"
antenna was not
> correct. Since my measurements were made using a
BC 348, a grid dip
> oscillator, and a 100 kcs crystal oscillator. I don't
know whether I
> was just lucky to get as close as I did or did a fairly
good job with
> what I had.
>
> In the early 1990s started out to get 160 m WAS from a
120 x 120 foot
> electrically noisy city lot (SE NM) with a long ( ~3/8
wavelength)
> but low semi-inverted L antenna. Ground radials
of varying length in
> one 90 degree segment. Made 160 m
WAS. Then started chasing DX. Now
> have 189 countries confirmed on 160 m, 324 on all
bands.
>
> Age, not surprisingly, has taken its toll. CW now
down to 20-25
> wpm-at one time it was 35-40 wpm. Finger
dexterity way down-has taken
> me over 3 hours to type this email. Physical realities
remain physical
> realities--I am now a disabled, crippled old man.
But---
>
> No complaints-many people are worse off than I
am.
>
> Thanks to all who have had the knowledge and the
kindness to help me
> over the years.
>
> 73 Paul W5DM
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> _________________
> Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_topband
>
------------------------------
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