Amateur Radio Biography

I was first licensed in April of 1989 with my current callsign.

How I got into the hobby is somewhat interesting. I was surfing the BBSs and Compuserve, remember them, and I came across some pictures someone had captured from one of the NOAA LEO Weather Satellites. 

I was fascinated and began looking into how I could acquire this capability.

In those "pre information on demand days" you had actually leave the house (computer) and go to the library, visit shops and try and find some local help. And, I did those things.

One stop along the was was a store by the name of Allied Radio. Allied was a very small shop. But it was also very specialized. 99% of the equipment for sale was amateur radio gear. However, they had the equipment I was looking for and that's what led me to the store.

Oliver Shirah, who owned Allied, was not only a purveyor of ham gear, he was also a bit of an evangelist. And it was he who got me interested in getting my license. I spend perhaps 3 hours in the store chatting with him and left with "Now Your Talking!", the American Radio Relay League's excellent and constantly upgraded guide to obtaining an entry level amateur radio License. I had temporarily, or so I thought, deferred on the Weather Satellite hobby for something that looked a bit more interesting.

When I got home I immediately began studying. I also downloaded several programs that taught morse code (a requirement at the time for a Tech License).

Within a month I was parked outside of the Bemis Library, in Littleton, Colorado waiting to take my tests. But, the gods were not with me that time around. It had snowed the night before and the tests had been cancelled.

Not to worry, a week later there was another exam session being held at another location and I went and took my tests. And surprise of surprises, I passed. Actually, passing a test for a Tech license isn't all that difficult.

In those days long gone it took 6 to 8 weeks for your license to arrive from the FCC, and it was a long wait. However, I filled the time checking out various radios and attempted to decide on just what my budget at the time could bear.

My first radio was the Yaesu FT-470 HT. Like a lot of new hams, I saw the greatest potential for diverse use with a handi talkie (HT). I could use it anywhere. And I did!

Over the years since I've acquired the usual collection of radios. And I've become involved in various aspects of the hobby.

ATV - back in the early 90's this was my first major interest. I was pretty active in the Denver area on ATV.

Satellite - I've never really been much of an operator on satellite. However, I did do some digital work on the birds back in the early 90's. While I haven't been much of an operator on the air, I had always been interested in satellite tracking in and of itself. I wrote a Quick Basic program to manage Satellite Element files. And a couple of years back, I turned out a Windows based version of the program. That's available at the "Element Manager" web site.

Skywarn - I used chase the storms on the north eastern plains of Colorado. If you have the time, this is a really fun aspect of the hobby. Actually, there are lots of chasers who are not Hams. But, one important aspect of this activity, it seems to me, is to be able to assist the National Weather Service with spotting reports. I never leave my home repeater coverage area. As I feel my prime responsibility is to make those reports.

Public Service - In July of 1990, I was talked into helping out on the MS 150 bike tour. This is a two day event involving up to 100 hams, up to 3500 bike riders and lots of other volunteers. It was a real kick.  I used to be the assistant ham coordinator for the event. While holding down that position I ran the MS 150 Amateur Radio web pages. Haven't done much of that in the past few years as the various ARES groups have taken over coordination of the amateur radio involvement in that event.

License Upgrades

I was a Tech through most of the 90's. When my computer reminded me my license was going to expire in one year, I remembered a promise I'd made to myself. I always planned to upgrade to General and had maintained my rudimentary code skills and periodically over the years had attempted to upgrade my speed capabilities to 13 words per minute so I could get a General class license. With 12 months to go on my original ticked, I finally got serious. I spent the summer of 98 glued to my computer practicing like mad. In August of that year I was finally ready and went and took the tests. I passed.

So for a month I was a General. Since the code was the major impediment and now out of the way, I quickly upgraded to Advanced in September.

For the remainder of '98 I was on HF fairly regularly. I did my Worked All States on 40 meters during the early morning hours on the Triple H Net. The net's main purpose is to help hams acquire their WAS certificate. Lots of fun.

When the FCC dumped the 20 word per minute requirement for an Extra Class license, I took the bait and passed my written for that class. So, while I'm not a "real" extra, you can consider me a "slow-code extra". I had always really admired Extra class operators for their perseverance in passing that 20 wpm code test. Some folks can get up to that speed with little difficulty. For me it was practically insurmountable. And since the requirement was dropped, I guess I'll never know if I would have had the right stuff to acquire this ability.

That's it for now. Perhaps I'll come back and edit this page someday to reduce the babble.

73 - Rick, NØKKZ