First I cut my teeth on a metal 6SK7, glass tubes don't taste good, then I strung a wire in the trees I was climbing and became an SWL. Listening wasn't satisfying, I wanted to TALK into the ether. Ether, not air, I was a student of Tesla by way of the Rahway library, and ironically Nikola had a lab only 2 blocks from the library, and I took to high voltage like a fish to water. Soon 11M Chicken Band became a learning experience, studying radio theory, building and experimenting prepared me and several friends to take a step up to Amateur Radio, the rest is as they say... history.
From K2PG in West Creek, NJ I worked the world on 20 making friends everywhere, 15 is a good DX band when the sun has freckles. 10 is a dual band, DX and local 10M CBer groups, one guy being a longtime friend from the 11M daze. 6 was my favorite, it's not called the magic band for nothing, and I worked every propagation mode except EME, pure magic. Speaking of EME, you know that brute force is needed because a pock marked sphere doesn't make a good reflector. I may miss being radio active but I don't cry in my beer because I don't have beer to cry in. Digital modes moved me into another satisfying hobby, computing, and here I am for better or worse.




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