It didn’t take long before I took the next step in my Amateur Radio career. The Novice license was a one-shot deal: it was not renewable back then. (It is no longer offered today, but had become renewable later on.) It lasted two years and you either upgraded or quit.
The next step up the ladder, at the time was General Class. It gave you the whole enchillada, every band, every mode, full 1kw power. To get it, you had to pass two tests: a 13wpm Morse Code test and a written test on theory and rules.
After only about six months, I was more than confident with the code. The theory would take some study, though. Another friend, Mark Christensen, was thinking of taking the General as well and we began to study and plan. Mark was a year younger than me, but we knew each other from school and had followed the same path beginning with crystal sets etc. Mark had his drivers license and before we knew it, we were driving to Buffalo and the FCC office in the Old Post Office Building, which is part of the ECCC Campus now. Continue Reading…
I really don’t remember when or how I got interested in Ham Radio. Somewhere about 5th-6th grade, I found a book in the library on electronics and built a crystal radio. I remember my father taking me to Buffalo to an area on Main Street that had several raqdio parts stores and we went from one to another with our list of parts. Little did I know that I would one day work in one of those stores. 
Many of you that know me, know I am a Ham Radio operator. You probably remember me being very active in it and doing lots of weird things that probably made little sense to you, but were very interesting to me. You’ve seen big antennas at my home and lots of radio equipment. You think I do this stuff all the time.