AB7AR Radio

I have been involved in amateur radio for more than 45 years. I obtained my first novice-class license in 1952, and operated as WN9WJD in the Chicago area. Within the year, the technician-class license was obtained, changing the call to W9WJD. Several years later, while attending Grinnell College, I upgraded to the General-class and operated several HF bands from Iowa as W9WJD/0.

After graduation from college and a move to California, the radio activity was shelved for several years. A new call was obtained in the sixth district, and a couple of years operation as WB6GBH ensued. A move to Arizona to resume my education moved the hamming to the back burner once again.

Several years ago, the spark was again kindled, but I had to start over. First came the 5wpm code and the technician theory, resulting in the call sign KB7TRN. A few months later, the code speed was up to 13wpm and general and advanced exams were passed. Another three months of effort increased the code speed and the knowledgebase, and the Amateur Extra class exams were passed. The call sign AB7AR was then issued, and I’ll stick with this one for some time!

There is really little time to operate.  I have a Yaesu FT-890AT for the HF bands, driving a multiple dipole with lengths for 40, 30, 20, 15 and 10. I’m looking forward to supplementing this antenna with a 80-6 meter vertical, coupled with a shortened 80 meter dipole. For VHF/UHV base station and mobile, I run a Yaesu FT-5100 dual-band FM transceiver and one vertical antenna on a pole and another on a mag mount on my truck. I also have two Radio Shack  handheld transceivers, one for 2 meters and the other for 440MHz, and one of their DSP boxes (real slick).

I have a soft spot for old Hallicrafters receivers. I still have my first one, an SX-24. Later on I found an SX-25 and just recently acquired an SX-28. The SX-24 and SX-25 are still functional, but they are all awaiting restoration. I recently found an SX-16, which was the first Hallicrafters I ever used (it was borrowed). I also have a modest collection of ARRL handbooks, dating back to the 1930 edition.

There are lots of neat ham sites on the Internet.