Changes

In 1967, I decided there was no real opportunity at ARRL Hq, and with my dad’s help, I decided to go back to college.  I took a semester of courses at Central Connecticut State College.  I didn’t know what I wanted to major in, so I took several courses that I thought might be interesting.  I took an Accounting course and landed a job that summer doing bookkeeping, but that wasn’t it.

That fall, I went to the University of Hartford, where I majored in Psychology and became what is called a “Rat Runner.”  I did learning experiments with white rats, teaching them to press a bar for a pellet of food and then extending that to add more steps before they got a reward.  It was all interesting, but I had no clear future.

Now I was about to have a life-changing encounter, but I didn’t know it at the time.  I was having lunch with some friends in the cafeteria when I spotted this beautiful gal.  It was one of those head-turning moments.  Oh, who’s that, I thought.  I got my lunch and sat with my friends.  At that point, the young lady was at the cash register.  I asked my friend and his girlfriend if they knew her.  “Yes”, said my buddy’s girlfriend.  “That’s Bobbie.  But she’s dating someone.”  Sigh.

The Love of My Life

But, a year later, an opportunity arose.  Bobbie had parted ways with her boyfriend.  She had her mother’s car on campus and was heading home for the weekend, but the tail lights were out, and she needed help.  My buddy immediately told me and introduced us.  I proceeded to her car, got in the trunk, and checked the wires.  I traced the wires under the back seat, which I had to remove.  I found a bad connection which I was able to repair.  The lights were working once again.   Well, Bobbie was really happy and relieved. “How can I repay you?” she asked.  Well, I looked at my shirt and pants, which were all dirty from rolling around in the trunk.  I simply said, “Well, you could wash my shirt if you like, and I haven’t had a good meal in a long time.  Perhaps we could get together for dinner”.  Well, that was it.  Bobbie has been washing my clothes and making meals ever since.  This was the spring of 1970.  We both graduated in May.  Our parents came to graduation and we all had lunch together.  On Memorial Day, 1970, I asked Bobbie to marry me and she said yes!  Our wedding was July 10, 1971.

A few of my contesting buddies kept contesting quiet.  I wanted Bobbie to know about it and how important it was for me.  Happily, she not only understood but became my partner, helping me with food and drink.  At one point, I decided to upgrade my antennas in NY.  I had a TH6 and wanted to change to mono-banders, which I built.  The big deal was installing an 70 foot tower.  I had to dig a hole for the base and guess who was right there, helping me dig?  Yep, Bobbie!  I knew then she was the right life-partner for me.

A New Home and Antennas

Contesting from Peekskill and living in Cromwell, CT, was difficult.  It ment a 1.5 hour drive each way.  In 1978, Bob and Ellen White quietly approached me and asked if we would be interested in buying their home.  The house was nothing special but it did have a number of items that Bobbie and I considered must haves.  There were two towers with beams, a short, flat driveway, a photo darkroom and everyting on one floor.  We bought the house and sold our condominium and moved in the fall of 1978.

The next year was spent settling into our new home.  Antenna work was needed, especially new coax.  The old stuff was pretty well shot.  I was able to get some 52 ohm hardline and make up some connectors.  The 15-10 duo-band yagi didn’t work very well, so I stripped the 10 meter elements off it and made a 4-element 15 meter yagi that lived on the 70 foot HBDX tower.  That beam turned out to be incredible as you will see.

The other tower was a crank-up with a 3 element Telerex on it.  That tower was on its last legs and when I was cranking it down, the cable broke and down it came like a piledriver!