(formerly KN5TVC, 1959) DX-20 and SX-28 into long wire. Had a ball........

(formerly WV2HMM, 1959) I got started in Radio as an Air Explorer Scout, at Mitchell Air Force Base on Long Island. That is were I took my Novice test. At the time I lived with my folks house in Westbury, NY.; and went to W. Tresper Clarke High School. I…

(formerly KN4FMA, 1959)

(formerly WV2GPZ, 1959) My ham career began in 1959 as a sophomore in high school in Cortland, NY.  I took my novice test at the local ham radio store, Winchell's, from noted SSB innovator, Bill Russ. (It was rumored that he was frequently on the phone with military electronics experts…

(formerly KN5WNH, 1959) Kermit, Texas Like so many of you, my fondest memories in ham radio are those early days as a novice struggling with a low power rig to make a contact. Hams today just shake their head and say, “how could you possibly enjoy CW….that’s work, not fun”.…

(formerly WH6DKD, 1959; KH6DKD; WA1IRG; WB4YOJ; WB6AIN) “Sputnik is Launched!” Many folks remember such headlines from October 4, 1957. The newspapers practically screamed about how the Soviet Union had beat the USA into space by launching the first Earth-orbiting satellite. Sputnik was the first volley in the Space Race between…

(formerly WV6GUL, 1958) I cannot remember how I came to be a radio ham.   It wasn't an exact event- more like a series of accidents.   As close as I can recall, it began as an interest in electric trains, followed by afternoons spent with names ike Philmore and Remco; both…

(formerly KN0OCJ, 1959) I was originally licensed as KN0YCJ in Colorado. But, I really was not in the Novice ranks too long. Since I lived in S. Colorado, more than 75 miles from a FCC office, I almost immediately upgraded to what was then known as a "Conditional Class" license,…

(formerly KN9STH, 1959) From LaPorte, Indiana (northwestern Indiana, about 50 miles from Chicago), at 1913 hours on 30 September 1959 I was calling CQ on the 15 meter Novice band when KC4USB, located at Marie Byrd Land, Anartictia, answered my call.  I was running a WRL Globe Chief 90A transmitter…

 (formerly WV6KVS, 1959) In 1959, I was first licensed as WV6KXS (now K7FA). Events that led me to become a licensed novice occurred years before with the combined influence of my father and of "Elmers":

(WV6HYE, 1959, WA6IYK) Saturday night was time for Gunsmoke on channel two if my memory serves me correctly.  The family Emerson black and white 19 inch TV was hooked up via 300 ohm twin lead to a bow-tie antenna that also picked up interference from our neighbor three doors away. …