What Is Radio?
My first awareness of radio, besides being a source for music, entertainment, and news, came when I discovered the SW switch on our RCA radio. I guess I was about 5 or 6 years old. When I turned the knob to SW and started to tune around, I heard all sorts of strange sounds, including a lot of thumping. Of course, I was listening on AM, and I guess I heard some RTTY and CW. Then I came upon some voices, but not in English. Curious stuff.
We moved from our apartment on the east side of Manhattan to the outskirts of Peekskill, northern Westchester County. We (my Mom, Dad, and little brother) lived in a nice house we rented while my folks hunted for a more permanent home. No more radio until we moved to a huge house with 13 bedrooms that seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. The big attraction for my dad was that this house was on 96 acres, an old apple and peach orchard. But it was quite far from my school friends.
One of my dad’s oldest friends was Perry, W2YOM. Perry would visit us occasionally, and at one point, he brought me a wonderful gift. A Meisner one-tube receiver kit. We would build the kit each time he came, but this took a long time. Finally, the radio was finished, and we turned it on. Wow, we were hearing the local radio station, WLNA.
Perry was living in the Bronx, but his job with Western Digital (ATT) took him to Nutley, NJ, and he had no room in his new apartment for this big (6-ft.) black rack of electronics. This was his homebrew, 20-meter transmitter. Over many months, he brought the transmitter and a BC-348 receiver to our home, and slowly, we set it up. We had it all in a bedroom on the house’s third floor. This room later became my shack. A 20-meter dipole was strung, and we finally got on the air. We made a contact or two, as I remember.
I was entering the 7th grade and moving to the new high school. We had home rooms, and my homeroom teacher was none other than W2KMQ. Mr. Housekeeper (Peter) had a side business of fruit tree spraying, and my dad hired him to care for our orchard. All that summer, I was working on learning the code, and in late August, I took the novice test! In September 1956, I received my ticket. Now, I was KN2UTV.
My First Contact
No one told me how to make a contact. I didn’t know about sending CQ or what CQ was. Hearing someone else sending CQ de their call was meaningless. Talk about being green as grass. I was!
To make my first contact, I asked one of the older radio club members at my high school to meet me. He turned up his nose a little as if to say, “Phew, make contact with a lowly Novice?” but he did anyway. Now, here’s the really scary part. I learned how to send by reading something and sending what I read. To make this contact, I needed a script! I didn’t have one! So I kept sending AS, which is shorthand for the wait, while I frantically wrote down what I wanted to say. Talk about sweating bullets.
Well, I got through it. Now I had to teach myself to send by thinking about what I wanted to send so I could go right from brain to hand, not eyes to brain to hand, if that makes sense.
I don’t remember very much of my year as a Novice (1956-57), but I do remember struggling with an antenna, trying to increase my code speed and generally learn more about ham radio. I read in QST (yes, I joined the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) right away) that one a week, an operator at W1AW (the station at ARRL HQ), would listen and contact a Novice! WOW. So at the appointed day and time, W1AW called CQ for Novices. I had but one crystal for 3727, safely in the middle of the Novice band. Well, the operator at W1AW started listening at the beginning of the band (3700) and tuned up, working the first station he heard calling him. I had no chance! What to do? I had some money, so I bought a crystal for 3701, the bottom of the Novice band. Now, these crystals could be off in frequency, so there was the danger that I could be outside the band and suffer the dreaded “pink ticket” from the FCC. A pink ticket was a notification of violation! Yikes! Well, I wasn’t outside the band, and I got W1AW on the first try!
Getting My General
The Novice license was good for one year. It’s purpose was to be a stepping stone. There was another license, Technician, but that would only allow you to operate in the VHF bands of which I knew nothing about.
On the day after Thanksgiving in 1957, my uncle took me to NYC and the FCC. The federal building was not far from the famed Radio Row, with all the stores and shops filled with the latest and greatest gear. We got to walk around and window shop a little, but at age 15, I didn’t have the funds to do much more than that.
Well, we got to the FCC office, and it was a mob scene. The waiting room was filled with teenagers all wanting to take their General class exam. We sat and waited while the infamous Charlie Finkleman examiner. Here’s a link to a story I found about him: https://www.rfcafe.com/references/popular-electronics/you-want-be-ham-dec-1954-popular-electronics.htm
Well, Charlie was downright scary. He smoked a cigar. He would look you up and down and ask, “Do you think you’re ready?” “Naw, I don’t think you’re ready.”, he would say, putting the cold shivers down your spine. Sadly, he was right. I just couldn’t cut 13 WMP. What I didn’t know was that to pass 13 WMP code speed, you needed to have the ability to copy (write down) Morse code sent at 18 or 20 words per minute.
Well, it was a very disappointing trip. I knew that if I didn’t get my general, I would lose K2UTV, so the only thing I could do besides work on my code was to take the Technician class exam, which I did. Now, my identity was safe.
Well, I kept working on my code speed. I couldn’t get on the air, but I could copy W1AW, which I did.
Finally, I was ready. I went to FCC and passed both the code and technical exam. Now, I’m General!
Getting on Phone – NOT!
As a new General class ham, I had phone privileges! I couldn’t wait to make my first contact. I didn’t have a VFO and had to rely on crystals to get on a frequency. My mentor, W2KMQ, loaned me one for the 75-meter band. I plugged it into my new Heathkit DX-35, tuned up, and called CQ. Nothing… I did it many more times, but no callers. Then, a W2 in New Jersey came near my frequency and called CQ. I called him back, but a stronger, closer station worked him.
Oh, I was frustrated! After tuning up, I grabbed one of my crystals for 3590 and called CQ in CW. Wow, two guys called me. I came back to one, and we chatted a little. He told me that a traffic net called ESS (the Empire Slow Speed Net) would start on this frequency in a few minutes and asked if I would like to join. I had never heard of a traffic net but had seen something in a booklet I had from ARRL called Operating an Amateur Radio Station.
I grabbed it and frantically read about CW traffic nets and how they worked. At the appointed hour (5 PM as I recall), the Net Control Station is calling CQ ESS. I listened while others checked into the net, and finally, I got up the courage to do the same thing. This was quite an experience, but it was one that made me want more.
Each night at 5 PM I would check into the net. Finally, I was given a piece of traffic to deliver. Wow!
Into the Big Leagues of Traffic Handling
After several months at the slow-speed net, I was invited to move up to the New York State Traffic Net (NYS). This was a little scary because I had just graduated from kindergarten into high school.
A few days after my first check-in, I received a wonderful letter from the net manager, Clara Reger, W2RUF. The letter was very welcoming and full of great tips on operating in NYS and handling traffic in general. As my CW got better, I had the opportunity to do more. I became a net control station, running the net and facilitating the passing of messages (called traffic). From here, I was invited to be a relay station from this state net to the region net (2RN). I became the representative to this level,
Well, this all moves along pretty quickly, and from the region net, I went to the larger area net, covering the eastern time zone, called Eastern Area Net (EAN). Now, this is the professional level, as it were. I am the rep on Saturday evening. My memory is a little vague about timing, but the big deal was that at the appointed hour, I and another station were on frequency for EAN, but there was no net control. The other station said he had traffic so he couldn’t be the Net Control Station (NCS). Gulp. I had experience as an NCS at the lower-level nets, so I knew how it all worked. I started the net, and stations were checking in. I started moving stations off the net frequency so they could exchange traffic. It all went rather smoothly until God checked in!
God was George Hart, W1NJM. George worked at ARRL Hq and wrote a monthly column about traffic handling and emergency communications. He was the National Emergency Coordinator and the inventor of the National Traffic System… and HE just checked into my net. OMG! Now, I’m all fumble fingers and shaking a bit. I had never experienced being so close to anyone so famous before.
Well, from that point on, I couldn’t do anything correctly. I was all shook up, as the song goes, but I managed to get through it all. Whew.
A few days later, I got a letter from George. He realized how nervous I had been and offered advice and encouragement. This is not the last time I would have contact with W1NJM.
I continued with my very hectic traffic handling for the next two years. I managed to do pretty well in school and graduated in 1960.
In the fall, I headed off to college in Illinois.
College and I Didn’t Get Along
Illinois was quite different from New York. They didn’t speak the same language (:->). Pizza was all thick and bread, whereas New York pizza was thin, crust and crunchy. Hamburgers were served with catsup and mustard. NY was just catsup. And who ever heard of a grinder? Naw, they are subs.
I was in Galesberg, IL, at Knox College. One of the Lincoln – Douglas debates was held here.
All the time in high school, I excelled in math and thought I wanted to be a math major until I hit the brick wall of Calculus. OUCH. After two years at Knox, I needed a break so I left college and went home.
if you aren’t going to college, you need a job. That summer, I saw an ad for openings at a new Lafayette Radio store in Scarsdale, NY. If you don’t know Lafayette Radio, it was the predecessor to Radio Shack. It’s the same sort of electronics. This was a brand new store, and I entered on the ground floor. I helped set up the ham shack with all sorts of neat equipment.
after three years, I realized there was no real opportunity here, so I went looking for a new position.
I applied for a job at IBM and almost made it, except for the nepotism there. If a senior official had a relative looking for a job, they were given preference, and that’s what happened to me. Ohhhh, was I mad.
ARRL and Moving to Connecticut
Having had some correspondence with George Hart, W1NJM, and visiting HQ and W1AW when I was 16, I wrote George a letter asking for any opportunities there. I was expecting to work in the mail room or some such. Well, George replied and said they were considering giving him an assistant. Would I be interested? Oh, boy, would I. Woo Hoo!
Connecticut License Plates
In December 1963, I moved to Hartford, CT, taking a room at the Hartford YMCA while I looked for an apartment. One of the many things I had to do was to register my car in Connecticut and apply for a new call. Since Connecticut had call letter license plates, I applied for one with K2UTV on it. A week later, Perry Williams, W1UED, a senior secretary at HQ, gets a call from the Connecticut DMV asking about my application and whether it was legit. Perry laughed, and it was legit, and the applicant was working at HQ!
A few weeks later, I got my K2UTV plates and proudly put them on my car.
I was driving in Hartford the next day when a policeman pulled me over. He was a ham and spotted my plates (:->). We had a nice chat.
K2UTV Becomes W1BGD
FCC required a licensee to apply for a new call representing the call area they lived in, so I put my address as ARRL HQ. I didn’t know that some were betting that I would be the first WA1 to work at HQ. Perry Williams, W1UED, was taking bets and laughing all the way. One of the many things Perry did was sort through the incoming mail, looking for items addressed to a specific HQ member. One morning, my license arrived. Perry grabbed the envelope and trotted downstairs from the mail room to my desk. He had a big grin as he handed me the envelope and waited for me to open it. To my delight and his shock, my new call was W1BGD! This put me second only to Ed Handy, W1BDI, on the HQ staff alphabetical list. Perry had his tail between his legs, and I was grinning like a Cheshire Cat!
Where to Live?
I had never had to find an apartment, so several folks at HQ told me about Rilla Selden and her house in West Hartford. Rilla had been hosting guys from HQ for years. I went to the house, met Rilla, and got a room.
I settled in, brought some gear from NY, and put up an 80-meter dipole fed with an open wire line. I was on the air! I got on the Ct Section Net (CN) and quickly got involved with it, 1RN and EAN. I also got excited about the then-new Heathkit SB line. I bought the receiver and started to build it.
Enter Contesting and DXing
I sat across from Ellen White, W1YYM (later, W1YL), Queen of Contesting, and Bob White, W1WPO (later, W1CW), King of DXCC. The Whites were very kind to this new kid on the block and often invited me to their home in Burlington for lunch. I would give Bob a hand if he needed to do some antenna work, and I got to operate from Mount Nosebleed. Of course, the conversations turned to contests and DXing.
In October 1964, Ellen announced a special trophy she was sponsoring for the top CW score by a HQ staffer in the SS. Bob was the favorite because of the great location and antennas. The new kid, with his 100-watt rig and 80-meter dipole, wouldn’t have a chance. Others in the mix included Gary, W1ECH, and Don, W1TS. Well, with no experience in a contest, I did the best I could in my first SS.
When the dust settled, it turns out my score was top because if you ran more than 100w, QSOs were worth 1 point, but if you ran less, QSOs were worth 2 points! I beat Bob by running 100w! Wow, it was my first contest, and I won. The bug was biting hard now. Next up was ARRL DX. In those days, it was a two-weekend affair with quotas. For those who don’t remember, ARRL DX for US/VE stations was working DX but only 5 QSOs per country, per band. The strategy was very different.
I remember the first night on 40. Here was a G with a pileup of W’s. A DL with a pileup of W’s, etc., then here’s W4KFC with a pileup of DX! Wow, who is this guy?
A Big Opportunity
I remember this very well. It was 196. I was at the ARRL New England Division convention at the old Swampscott Hotel. I was chatting with several HQ staff members, including John Huntoon, W1LVQ (General Manager), when Gene Zimmerman, K1ANV, later W3ZZ, joined that chat. Gene and I knew each other from Field Day at Conn Wireless. Gene asked me, “How would you like to operate CQ WW CW with the team from W4BVV?” Wow, who, what, where? I thought. OMG, CQ Magazine and ARRL were in a war of words then. I asked John, W1LVQ, if that would be OK, and he said, “Sure, have fun”. So, that year, I had Thanksgiving with my family in New York. On Friday, I drove to VA and the big W4BVV multi-multi station. Big doesn’t do justice to Tom, station. Huge beams 40-10, full gallon amps, operating stations for each band. wow. I’ve never seen anything like it. I set up my gear and got familiar with the 20-meter position. Oh, wait, I’ve never used a beam! How do I know where to point it? This was a huge learning experience, for sure.
We have some dinner, a great buffet that Tom’s wife, Lavona, set out, then back to the station to get ready. Geme comes over to me and wishes me good luck. He says, rather causally, “your competition at W3MSK is Bob Cox, K3EST”. Who’s that, I wondered.
The contest was a blur. I remember working stuff that I had never heard of before with just my wires. In the end, W4BVV was number 2 in the M/M category behind K2GL in Tuxedo Park, NY. Gene, K1ANV figured we lost because of the 45-minute K2GL had on 40 into Europe.